The late Don Grolnick made only one fusion record, but it was a real beaut. by S. Victor Aaron Ahhh, the 80s. Big hair, big synthesizer sounds and programmed beats. That didn’t just happen with pop and rock, some of these trends seeped into contemporary jazz, too. This was the decade when much of what was considered fusion had morphed [...]
by Pico Danilo Pérez is a name that’s come up often in this space whenever I’m boasting about what big names such-and-such artist has performed and/or recorded with. So, on the occasion of Pérez’s latest CD Providencia, perhaps it’s time to devote a little space to the guy who has helped along the careers of so many other young talents. [...]
by Pico Acoustic bassist Harvie S has appeared on over 350 recordings for a very good reason. He has an unshakeable sense of swing, a flawless tone and otherworldly dexterity on his instrument. For a example of his amazing technique, just eyeball the video I embedded in a recent review of a Carol Morgan record. I can only shake my [...]
by Pico Last May 7, Piloo Records issued the 5th album by pianist, composer and vocalist Kerry Politzer, called Blue In Blue. Playing the piano since the age of four, Politzer studied classical piano for 14 years before falling under the spell of jazz, and she has committed herself to playing and composing in that idiom ever since. While working [...]
by Pico Samuel Torres’ life journey from a boy with dreams of being a full-time musician, to becoming a full-time musician, to becoming a successful one, takes another turn with the release last week of his second album, Yaoundé. Born and raised by a hard working a supportive single mother in Bogotá, Columbia, Torres’ perseverance as a percussionist paid off [...]
by Pico Greatness begets greatness. That is almost universally true in jazz, where so many of the best players of a generation got their start playing for the best players of a prior generation. Miles Davis is one the best examples of a major figure to whom many other major figures owe their success and reputation to. Chick Corea is [...]
by Pico Ever had a song that you enjoyed listening to when it first came out, then moved on and forgot about it only to have some event trigger the memory of that song many years later? Such was the case for me with a thirty year old deep cut of Kenny Loggins’, “Who’s Right, Who’s Wrong.” That was the [...]
by Pico Finally, a musician with a one-letter last name I can actually embrace. Harvie S was the rock-solid bassist who firmly anchored Linda Presgrave’s completely enjoyable Inspiration CD, released last month. It’s only the latest notch in a long career that’s found S paired with such legends as John Scofield, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Dexter Gordon, Jim Hall, Michael [...]
It’s been three whole months since our last “Quickies” and in the meantime, the new releases have been piling up on my desk. They’ll be more Quickies soon after this one to catch up, but for now, we present four, new jazz-oriented offerings from last month and all by very capable individuals. Each of these records has at least a [...]
by Pico Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts doesn’t hail from New Orleans (he’s a native of Pittsburgh), but it seems he enjoys hanging out with guys from there. The Marsalis family—Wynton, Branford and Ellis—have enlisted his services, as well other Big Easy luminaries as Terence Blanchard and Harry Connick, Jr. Watts first made his name as a member of Wynton’s first band [...]
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