Flux Music [Jazz] Essentials … [Omura, Shaw, Metheny, Elling & Strickland]

Tags

African American, E J Strickland Quartet, Jaleel Shaw, Jazz, Kurt Elling, Pat Metheny Group, Tomoko Omura

Flux Music Essentials

Greetings jazz aficionados, it’s a pleasure to be back with five more spellbinding jazz titles from the shelves of Flux Music Essentials! The following recordings fit perfectly into the mold of what I view as being the usual suspects … at least from my perspective. Although similar in context, these gems where originally recorded to create an atmosphere with just enough complex nuances and innovation painted on the canvas to make these jewels a worthwhile listening experience.

Tomoko Omura - Visions

Tomoko Omura -][- Visions – [Tomoko Omura, 2008]

Modern Jazz/Fusion, original compositions featuring an unique and sophisticated improvisational style on jazz violin.

“Visions” is a tribute to seven of the finest jazz violinists of all time, and in it, Tomoko does more than just honor these gentlemen … she really gets to the emotional core of what makes each of them tick as players. Her compositions are lovely,well-conceived tunes that are played blazingly by her crackerjack band, and especially by Tomoko herself.

Her playing here is uniformly amazing, with great ideas, great tone , perfect intonation and great feel. –-CDBaby.com | MySpace.com

Jaleel Shaw | Optimism

Tags

African American, Jaleel Shaw, Jazz, Saxophone

Jaleel Shaw is a relatively new yet powerful voice on the modern jazz scene. Get this, once you’ve heard his infallible release titled “Optimism” you will undoubtedly want to hear more from this dynamic performer. Jaleel’s warm and expressive timbre burns passionately from the core of the cold steel of his saxophone. ~ The Urban Flux

Jaleel Shaw, Optimism

Jaleel Shaw | Optimism [Changu Records, 2008]

Jaleel Shaw’s second CD as a leader, the award-winning alto saxophonist and composer further solidifies his position as one of the most distinctive writer/arrangers and imposing instrumentalists on today’s international jazz scene.

Shaw’s nine originals and arrangements of two standards on Optimism, which he produced himself and is the first release on his new label Changu Records, continue to explore the ruggedly individualistic sonic landscapes the saxophonist first featured on his recording debut as a leader – 2005’s Perspective (FS New Talent 222) which was named one of that year’s top CDs by All About Jazz and Jazzwise. Writing in The New York Times, Nate Chinen praised that album as “…a showcase for Mr. Shaw’s stout, self-assured alto saxophone playing and his smartly conceived original compositions.” Chinen added that Shaw’s …”sound [is] brawny and full-bodied, but capable of quicksilver actions – and his improvisational method is surefooted and exploratory.” Shaw, then 27, won his first ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award for “Heavyweight Champion” on Perspective.

Source: CDBaby.com