Tuesday, November 21, 2017

NEW RELEASES: HERB ALPERT – THE CHRISTMAS WISH; MAKAYA MCCRAVEN - HIGHLY RARE; TONY BURKILL – WORK MONEY DEATH

HERB ALPERT – THE CHRISTMAS WISH

Nine time Grammy winning trumpet legend Herb Alpert continues a prolific recent run of recording and performing, with The Christmas Wish, his first holiday album in nearly 5 decades! Harkening back beautifully to the golden age of Christmas music, the versatile horn man – backed by a 45-piece orchestra, 30-member choir and 10-piece rhythm section – darts, dashes and breezes through the colorful, often Latin tinged arrangements of Chris Walden. Highlights include a graceful arrangement of a Carpenters classic and the lush vocals of Alpert’s wife and longtime musical collaborator Lani Hall on the hopeful title track. The most wonderful time of the year just got more wonderful with the addition of The Christmas Wish, oh what fun! ~ smoothjazz.com

MAKAYA MCCRAVEN - HIGHLY RARE

Raw sounds from the Chicago scene – a mighty nice performance from the group of drummer Makaya McCraven – captured on four track cassette at the tiny Danny's Tavern! The setting and recording style really works with the approach of the group – as Makaya's drums are nice and loud – beat-y and splashy – maybe more funky than on any othe records under his name, and fitted with fantastically bold work from Junius Paul on bass, Ben Lamar Gay on cornet, and the great Nick Mazzarella on alto sax! There's also some turntables from Lefto – but used musically, and not in the kind of heavy-handed way that used to ruin a jazz session a decade or so back – and the group perform titles that include "The Locator", "Above & Beyond", "Venus Rising", "Icy Lightning", "Left Fields", "RFJ III", and "Early Bird Once Again".  ~ Dusty Groove

TONY BURKILL – WORK MONEY DEATH

Tony Burkill might be making a goofy face on the cover, but the album's a dead-serious effort from a saxophonist we hope to hear more from in years to come! The style here is a solid, soulful mode that really hearkens back to the best modal moments of the late 60s and early 70s – rhythms that seem to borrow an influence from African styles, but fused into a jazz mode that's got the soaring spirit of the post-Coltrane generation – very specifically like the hippest work on the Milestone or Black Jazz labels in the early 70s – work that would be a flawless match for Burkill's style here! Tony's got a really rich tone on the tenor – raspy and full at the same time, and really diving to the depths as he expresses himself on his solos – driven strongly by the bass of Neil Innes, who also co-wrote all the tunes with Burkill – with drums from Sam Hobbs, piano and organ from George Cooper, and percussion from Pete Williams. The whole thing's amazing – rock-solid, no-nonsense, and filled with soul and spirit. Titles include "At Odds With the World", "Out Of A Shooting Star", "Beginning & End", "Work Money Death", and "Third Of All Numbers".  ~ Dusty Groove


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