THORBJORN RISAGER & THE BLACK TORNADO - TOO MANY ROADS
This is one of Denmark's hardest working and most sought
after bands. They have played as many as a hundred live gigs a year for the
past ten years, become one of the country's hottest music exports, and have
released seven albums. Now Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado (formerly
the Thorbjørn Risager Band) are coming out with their eighth album, Too Many
Roads. Until recently the band released its records on a variety of Danish
labels, but has now signed a contract with Ruf Records. This new collaboration
reflects Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado's great international
potential, placing the band in the fine company of artists such as Walter
Trout, Candye Kane, and Omar and the Howlers. For this latest recording, the
band assembled a strong team for its recording session at the Medley Studio in
Copenhagen, with Søren Andersen as engineer and Jesper Yebo Reginal in charge
of mixing. This time the band has chosen to produce the album themselves. ~ Amazon
ERIC ALEXANDER – THE REAL THING
More than one jazz critic has claimed that listening to
tenor saxman Eric Alexander unfettered and at length, is one of the greatest
treats in jazz. This imposing improviser is reunited here with his mentor, the
veteran pianist Harold Mabern and joined by another hot favorite, the legendary
and amazing guitarist Pat Martino on three of the eight tracks. Add in the
still stunning engineering of Rudy Van Gelder and the swing engendered by
bassist John Webber and drummer Joe Farnsworth and you have a formula for
excellence, if ever there was one. Martino and Alexander perform together often
in a variety of venues and their collaborations have produced some of the most
inspired playing on disc. ~ Amazon
JOHN TAYLOR - 2081
'A family project' is how Alex Taylor, singer-songwriter as
well as John s son, labels the English pianist s latest album. A project made
all the more poignant by the shocking news of John Taylor's death, in July,
aged 72. And that is exactly what it is, considering that John, who wrote the
music, and Alex, who wrote and sang the lyrics, are joined by Leo Taylor on
drums. Oren Marshall on tuba, whose surname is not Taylor but who is most
assuredly very close to the Taylor family, completes the quartet. '2081' draws
inspiration from Kurt Vonnegut s short story 'Harrison Bergeron', published in
1961. John Taylor was commissioned to write the music by BBC Radio 3 for the
Cheltenham Jazz Festival. Originally written for octet, it was then readapted
for quartet. Alex Taylor explains: 'Vonnegut s story depicts a dystopian future
in which everyone is equal. Nobody is allowed to be smarter, better looking or
more physically able than anyone else. Those individuals who are gifted with
intellect, talent and so on are made to bear handicaps '. At times, John Taylor
s musical realm is reassuring and consistent with his own standards, while, at
other times, it conveys the mysterious, unsettling future depicted by Vonnegut,
by pursuing a hybrid sound, mingling jazz, pop and a moody soundtrack vibe.
This pursuit definitely benefits from the sonic scenarios opened by Marshall s
tuba, as well as the drumming style of Leo Taylor (already launched on a
brilliant career on the indie-rock scene with his band The Invisible), who very
often introduces modern, offbeat hypnotic rhythms here. ~ Amazon
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