Marion Meadows – Christmas With You
Marion reaches back to his childhood for the inspiration
that fuels his debut Holiday album “Christmas With You.” Marion teams up with
veteran Producer Rhani Song to record an album that has something for everyone…
“Rhani Song and I decided to get together and create something special. The
result is a body of work, musically familiar yet surprising in many ways. We
even went back with some moody tenor on ”Silent Night “and ”We Three Kings” and
invited stellar guitar guests like Norman Brown and Perry Hughes, along with
Blake Aaron, Wayne Gerard and Eric Leone. Also joining me were bass greats Chip
Shearin and Will Gaines along with Harmonica virtuoso Julian Davis. Band mate,
Will Brock offeres up a great arrangement of the classic God Rest Ye Merry
Gentlemen. Up and coming star Trez co wrote and sang on the title track
“Christmas With You”. And Gail Jhonson pens a very cool arrangement of “The First
Noel”. New comers Corey Jarell and Anetra Rene shine on the song “Christmas On
The Radi”.
Eliel Lazo - Cuban Jazz Report
A tight set of Latin jazz, and very much in the spirit of
the title – featuring a quartet led by percussionist Eliel Lazo, recorded with
some great chorus vocals from the members of the group! The record's not nearly
as rootsy or slavishly classic Cuban as others of this nature – which means
that the whole thing explodes with all these fresh colors and rhythmic changes
– almost at a level that reminds us of some of the recent forays into the
underground Havana scene by the Brownswood Records label! Players include
Javier Gutierrez Masso Caramelo on piano, Yasser Morejon Pino on bass, and Raul
Pineda on drums – and titles include "Cromason", "Havana
Chants", "One Night One Song", "Nueva Amanecer",
"A Cuban Blues", "Camina Y Ve", "Monday Evening",
and "Para Luisa". ~ Dusty Groove
Ingrid Laubrock & Aki Takase - Kasumi
We seem to appreciate the saxophone talents of Ingrid
Laubrock more and more with each new record we hear – and that's definitely the
case on this beautiful session – which has her improvising these really
beautiful lines alongside the piano of Aki Takase! Aki's tone is usually dark,
and Laubrock almost feels as if she's counterbalancing with these colors from
her horn that are sharp, but bright at the same time – this really unique
voice, especially on soprano sax – which is used here in ways that are even
more impressive than some of the tenor-based titles. Most tunes are relatively
short, and there's almost a mix of modern, personal, and poetic that recalls
some of our favorite 80s sessions on the Nato/Chabada label. Titles include
"Brookish", "Chimera", "Harlekin", "Dark
Clouds", "Kasumi", "Andalusia", "Scurry",
and "Sunken Forest". ~ Dusty Groove
No comments:
Post a Comment