Kris Allen -][- CIRCLE HOUSE – [Truth Revolution Records, 2012] –

Tags

Composer, Kris Allen, Tenor Saxophone, Truth Revolution Records

Kris Allen, CIRCLE HOUSE

Kris Allen -][- CIRCLE HOUSE –Mp3– [Truth Revolution Records, 2012] –

Kris Allen inherited a love of music from his mother, a church organist who gave him his first lessons on a tiny xylophone. At a young age, he displayed considerable gifting as a classical pianist, but it was jazz that truly won his heart at age 14 when a friend loaned him trumpeter Lee Morganʼs album “ The Gigolo”. Kris began to devote most of his spare time to listening to great jazz records and practicing the alto saxophone.

Virginia Mayhew Quartet -][- MARY LOU WILLIAMS – The Next 100 Years – [Renma Recordings, 2012] –

Tags

Andy Watson, BKMusic, Ed Cherry, Harvie S, Renma Recordings, Tenor Saxophone, Virginia Mayhew, Wycliffe Gordon

Virginia Mayhew Quartet, MARY LOU WILLIAMS – The Next 100 Years

Virginia Mayhew Quartet -][- MARY LOU WILLIAMS – The Next 100 Years –Mp3– [Renma Recordings, 2012] –

“…a great artist who refuses to stand still.” – Tim Price, Saxophone Journal

Musicians: Virginia Mayhew (tenor saxophone), Ed Cherry (guitar), Harvie S (bass), Andy Watson (drums). Special guest trombonist Wycliffe Gordon.

“Mary Lou Williams – The Next 100 Years” celebrates the 100th year anniversary of Mary Lou’s birth with fresh arrangements by Virginia of eight Mary Lou compositions, including the popular “What’s You Story, Morning Glory?”, material from the “Zodiac Suite” and a surprise find in Mary Lou’s “Meditation” works, plus two new compositions by Virginia inspired by Mary Lou.

LIVE at the Freight by Jessica Jones | Mark Taylor – [New Artists Records, 2012 | Review]

Tags

Berkeley, CA, Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, French Horn, Jason Lewis, Jessica Jones, John Shifflet, Mark Taylor, New Artists Records, Tenor Saxophone, Tony Jones

Live at the Freight, Jessica Jones and Mark Taylor

LIVE at the Freight by Jessica Jones | Mark Taylor –Mp3– [New Artists Records, 2012 | Review] –

In recent years I’ve been afforded numerous opportunities to hear music by revered and unfamiliar artists alike. On this occasion, I’m delighted to experience new music by critically acclaimed duo tenor saxophonist Jessica Jones and multi-faceted French-horn-(ist) Mark Taylor. Consequently, with this offering they’ve drawn from a collage of intricate jazz harmonics, abstract rhythms and improvised music on their latest endeavor titled “LIVE at the FREIGHT” recorded in July, 2011 at the legendary Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse in Berkeley, California.

Erena Terakubo with Legends -][- NEW YORK ATTITUDE – [Four Quarters Records, 2012] –

Tags

Amazon.com, Erena Terakubo, Four Quarters Records, Kenny Barron, Lee Pearson, Ron Carter, Tenor Saxophone, Two for The Show Media

Erena Terakubo with Friends, NEW YORK ATTITDUE

Erena Terakubo with Legends -][- NEW YORK ATTITUDE –Mp3– [Four Quarters Records, 2012] –

Erena Terakubo is barely 20 years old, and she has already accomplished what many musicians her age only dream of…Her debut album in North America on Four Quarters Entertainment, features accompaniment by the legends of Jazz, including Kenny Barron on Piano, Ron Carter on bass, Lee Pearson on Drums, and Dominic Farinacci on trumpet.

Erena was born in Sapporo, Japan in 1992, and developed a love for the alto-saxophone, which she began learning at the age of 9. While still in her early teens she started attending workshops by famous visiting jazz musicians such as Herbie Hancock and Tiger Okoshi. When she was less than 16 years old, she attended a five week summer program at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, and her talent earned her a full scholarship to the institution, which she has been attending since 2009. At the same time, her talent and virtuosity was beginning to be noticed in Japan by the press as well as by Japan’s jazz greats like Sadao Watanabe, Terumasa Hino, and American greats like Eddie Gomez, Anthony Jackson, etc.

Tom Tallitsch -][- HEAD or TALES – [Posi-Tone Records, 2012] –

Tags

Dave Allen, Jared Gold, Mark Ferber, Posi-Tone Records, Tenor Saxophone, Tom Tallitsch

Tom Tallitsch, HEAD or TALES

Tom Tallitsch -][- HEAD or TALES –Mp3– [Posi-Tone Records, 2012] –

Tom Tallitsch unleashes a big sound and lets his horn do the talking with “Heads or Tales,” his debut CD for Posi- Tone. Joining Tallitsch on the date is label mate organist Jared Gold, along with the steadfast rhythm section of guitarist Dave Allen and drummer Mark Ferber.

Featuring a program of exciting new compositions, and one tasty Neil Young cover thrown in for good measure, this session flows like a compelling collection of short stories, and will certainly speak volumes to discerning listeners about the quality Tallitsch’s talent as player and as a composer.

Ralph Bowen -][- TOTAL ECLIPSE – [Posi-Tone Records, 2012] –

Tags

Jared Gold, Mike Moreno, Ralph Bowen, Rudy Royston, Tenor Saxophone

Ralph Bowen, TOTAL ECLIPSE

Ralph Bowen -][- TOTAL ECLIPSE –MP3– [Posi-Tone Records, 2012] –

Saxophonist Ralph Bowen reaches for new vistas and surpasses himself with his latest release “Total Eclipse.” Bowen plays with remarkable technical precision and a manifest knowledge of his materials. His sound is hard and extraordinarily well-centered, his articulation sharp, and his command of the tenor saxophone complete. Nevertheless, the depth of his artistry is considerable. Ralph Bowen is as substantial a musician as jazz has ever produced.

The musical program covers a wide spectrum of styles and sounds when Bowen’s brilliant original compositions are presented with the able assistance of a solid group of sidemen, including organist Jared Gold, guitarist Mike Moreno, and drummer Rudy Royston. Jazz fans everywhere will swing with intense delight as Bowen soars to new heights with “Total Eclipse.”

..:: SOURCE: Posi-Tone Records ::..

Dan Wilensky -][- Back in The Mix [Speechless Productions, 2012 | Review]

Tags

Dan Wilensky, Dean Johnson, Jazz, Mark Soskin, Russ Johnson, Tenor Saxophone, Tony Moreno

Dan Wilensky, Back in the Mix

Dan Wilensky -][- Back in The Mix –MP3– [Speechless Productions, 2012 | Review]

Ann Arbor, Michigan born saxophonist and composer Dan Wilensky joins us with his forth recording to illustrate his virtuosity, hard-working and endless pursuit to score new songs and re-invent the shape of timeless classics meshed together to underscored with precision on his latest “Back in The Mix.”

Thus far, I’m pleasantly surprised with Wilensky’s crisp and vibrant tonality, he noticeably enunciates his sound through the vine of nine lively and abstemious tunes which in essence solidifies his presence for new and seasoned listeners alike.
Out of the gate, I immediately hear why the legendary Ray Charles added Wilensky (who at the time just graduated from high school) as lead alto player for his big band. Wilensky called his analogous colleagues Mark Soskin on piano, Dean Johnson – bass, Tony Moreno plays drums and Russ Johnson on trumpet is here to serve up a palette of scrumptious grooves.

Charles Lloyd -][- Athens Concert [ECM, 2011]

Tags

Charles Lloyd, Eric Harland, Jason Moran, Jazz, Reuben Rogers, Socratis Sinopoulos, Takis Farazis, Tenor Saxophone

Charles Lloyd, Athens Concert

Charles Lloyd -][- Athens Concert -(MP3)- [ECM, 2011]

Recorded at the foot of the Acropolis, at the open air Odeon of Herodes Atticus, on a summer night last year, “Athens Concert” is an entrancing collaboration between Charles Lloyd, uniquely expressive US saxophonist, and Maria Farantouri, venerable Greece vocalist – the soul of Greece for many listeners. With Lloyd’s exceptional band in impassioned support, the project raises the bar for `trans-cultural’ music-making. The music sweeps the listener along in its swirling river of sound. This is music of many moods and currents – celebratory, yearning, melancholic – embracing suites of traditional Greek music, songs of Theodorakis and Eleni Karaindrou, and Lloyd originals. The Lloyd band and Farantouri perform with a commitment that underscores the essential compatibility of the idioms. The great Greek themes of love, exile, nostalgia, and departure find their correspondences, after all, in the history of jazz. And if Farantouri is not a jazz singer per se, she embodies an emotional power comparable with the greatest vocalists of any genre. Lloyd writes in his liner notes: “From her first notes I felt such a power and depth of humanity; she is a modern wonder rising up from the ruins of civilization. She is Alethea, Athena, Aphrodite, Demeter, Gaia, Phemonoe – Mother of the Universe. The resonance of her voice stirred the memory of my love for Lady Day.”