OPUS 5 –
PROGRESSION
A great
lineup, and a great sound throughout – really smoking through a batch of all
original numbers by members of the quintet – which features Seamus Blake on
tenor, Alex Sipiagin on trumpet, David Kikoski on piano, Boris Kozlov on bass,
and Donald Edwards on drums! Most of these players have sparkled for years on
other records – both as leaders and sidemen – but they have a really special
quality when they come together as Opus 5 – a sense of every individual's
strengths, rising together in a rich voice that's perfect for the well-crafted
tunes in the set! Blake sounds especially strong in the setting – more focused
and soulful than ever – possibly due to Kikoski's bold lines on piano. Titles
include "Climbing", "Walk A Waltz", "Fear Of Rooming",
"Snow Child", "For Instance Take This",a nd "Inner
Balance". ~ Dusty
Groove
MALIKA TIROLIEN - SUR LA VOIE ENSOLEILLEE
A sweet
debut from Malika Tirolien – a singer we know best for her work with Snarky
Puppy, but who's got a hell of a presence on her own! Malika brings together so
many different styles here – Caribbean roots, contemporary soul, and even some
elements of her Montreal hometown – in a blend that's wonderfully fresh, and
which has the artist effortlessly stepping between French and English as she
moves through the set! Malika plays keyboards on most numbers (pretty darn
well, too!) – and backing is from a shifting lineup of players who have the
warmth of jazz in their touch – on tracks that include "Patience",
"Oliassa", "Revolution", "Racines", "Regard
Dore", "So Long Ago", "What's It Like",
"Sew", and "I Ja Fin". ~ Dusty Groove
PAQUITO D'RIVERA - JAZZ MEETS THE CLASSICS
The
border between classical and jazz music has always been a fluid one, with
composers from each camp finding inspiration on both sides of the divide. It
wasn t long ago that Darius Milhaud, Igor Stravinsky and Bela Bartok were
studying the exciting, extemporaneous new music of jazz musicians. Of course,
many jazz musicians were just as transfixed by the historical developments made
by classical composers. The
Grammy Award winning woodwind master Paquito D Rivera has a long history with
classical music. As a young boy, he was introduced to a wide variety of music,
from Mozart to Ellington, by his classical saxophone playing father in Cuba. On
his new recording Jazz Meets the Classics, D Rivera and his wonderful ensemble
have recorded intriguing arrangements of the classical repertoire of legendary
composers, including Chopin, Beethoven and Mozart, for a jazz sextet. D Rivera
has long been a highly regarded clarinetist and saxophonist in the realms of
jazz and Latin music. As a boy, he was regarded as a wunderkind on clarinet
following in his father s classical performing footsteps. D Rivera was weaned
on the music of Mozart and Beethoven but also on that of Benny Goodman and Duke
Ellington. For D Rivera, the bridge between classical and jazz was a natural
one. For the
recording, D Rivera assembled a sextet of his regular collaborators, all
astonishing musicians in their own right: trumpeter/trombonist Diego Urcola,
pianist Alex Brown, bassist Oscar Stagnaro, percussionist Arturo Stable, and
drummer Mark Walker. Special guest pianist Pepe Rivero was also featured on two
arrangements of Chopin and an original piece that he wrote for the ensemble. The
ensemble convened and recorded the album live at Dizzy s Club Coca-Cola in New
York City on June 14, 2012. ~ Amazon.com
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