Noah Gershwin explores pushing the boundaries of free improvisation within the confines of the jazz idiom. He has performed at venues and festivals such as The Stone, SF Jazz, and the Iowa City Jazz Festival, and has collaborated with artists such as Okkyung Lee, Billy Hart, Immanuel Wilkins, Ben Street, Jochen Rueckert and Steve Earl. Gershwin’s freshman trio album, “Ode to Abraham” presents a culmination of the past six years in his musical life living and playing in New York City. Rather than looking back at the past six years through a lens of nostalgia, Gershwin composes with gratitude in mind, his music representative of the people and places he comes from. The album title, “Ode to Abraham” pays homage to Abraham F. Greener, Gershwin’s grandfather who was born on September 7, 1909 in New York City. Gershwin comes from Abraham, from Philadelphia’s Clef Club, from late nights at Grassroots on St. Marks Pl, and from each musician who has come over for a midday espresso and session. “Ode to Abraham” is representative of where Gershwin has been, from writing under his loft bed on Stanton St. to under his guitar loft in Prospect Heights, but also, where he is going.
Live material from Bob Marley & The Wailers – recorded in an obscure nightclub in our hometown of Chicago during the 70s, and quite a nice change from some of the bigger label releases of the time! The band has a loose, very spontaneous vibe – and there's a nice flow to the longer length of the tracks – served up with instrumentation from Earl Lindon on keyboards and organ, Al Anderson on guitar, Aston Family Man Barrett on bass, and Carlton Barrett on drums – with backing vocals from the I-Threes behind Bob's lead vocals! Titles include "Rebel Music", "Talkin Blues", "Concrete Jungle", "Natty Dread", "I Shot The Sherriff", "Slave Driver", and "Midnight Ravers". ~ Dusty Groove
After her debut Timmion Records single ‘Don't Believe You Like That’, Emilia Sisco is back in the fold with a double sider of the highest order. Emilia seems to feel right at home with the material that she cooks up with Cold Diamond & Mink, filling both songs to the brim with soul. Despite its title, ‘Trouble’ strolls along with a delicately sweet mid-tempo groove and a nicely abundant arrangement, each of Emilia's lyrical calls getting a response from the background harmonizers and the band steady tightening up while the song builds towards its conclusion. The B-side slows things down to a lush southern soul drawl, coming off like a classy forgotten Hi session. Both of these tracks present a singer who has paid her dues by studying the craft and polishing it for years in front of live audiences. Now it's time for Emilia to push her voice out there on the wings of her own original songs, a feature that we've come to expect from the Timmion stable.
An underground soul gem from DJ Harrison – aka Devonne Harris – a set that features the man himself on all the instruments, served up in a lean take on classic soul modes of the 70s! Think of the record as a one-man effort to capture some of the charms of Curtis Mayfield or the Isleys – sometimes on short tracks that are more sketches of ideas, but woven together as a much larger whole that really bristles with color and imagination throughout! There's plenty of Fender Rhodes on the set, and Harrison's got this crackling vocal style that's instantly charming – on cuts that include "Cigarette Ember", "Chester Fields", "I Gotta Go To Work", "The Man", "Soul Food Nostalgia", "DayDreaming", and "Chinatown Bus". ~ Dusty Groove
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