Despite their long string of R&B-ish recordings, it is difficult to completely write off Pieces of a Dream from a jazz standpoint. The group does lay down some attractive grooves, and every once in a while they sound as if they are interested in playing Ramsey Lewis-type jazz….

  This is one of Pieces of a Dream’s better efforts. Saxophonist Ron Kerber looks toward Grover Washington, Jr., (on soprano) and David Sanborn (during his alto spots) for inspiration and the keyboardists recall Ramsey Lewis but, even with the inclusion of a few throwaway rhythm tracks and some…

Every so often, a trumpeter comes along who redraws the instrument’s role within jazz: Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Clifford Brown, Chet Baker, Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard, etc. Ambrose Akinmusire has the potential to join that crowd. He’s not quite there yet, but When the Heart Emerges Glistening,…

Guitar giants John Scofield and Pat Metheny teamed up for the first time on records for this CD. The collaboration does take awhile to get going and it is not until the fourth cut, the bluish “Everybody’s Party,” that the sparks begin to fly; fortunately the momentum does not…

Dianne Reeves has been one of the top singers in jazz ever since the late ’80s. A logical successor to Dinah Washington and Carmen McRae (although even she can not reach the impossible heights of Ella and Sarah Vaughan), Reeves is a superior interpreter of lyrics and a skilled scat singer. She was a talented vocalist with an attractive…

The ever-restless Dianne Reeves tries to do something unconventional with an utterly conventional idea — a tribute album to Sarah Vaughan — and ends up overdoing the whole thing, though it’s not really her fault. While the virtuosic Reeves often cannot resist reaching down into her chest register for…

Dianne Reeves has deservedly been hoisted on high as one of the top five jazz voices in the decade of the 2000s. Her four Grammy Awards and her music from the movie soundtrack Good Night, and Good Luck solidified Reeves’ upper-echelon placement. When You Know showcases material going off…

With the meteoric success of Norah Jones’ debut in the early 2000s, the message was clear: there’s a real hunger for straightforward tunes with minimal froufrou. Jones’ producer, Arif Mardin, has assembled another likely hit with A Little Moonlight, a collection of appealing standards. Empathically supported by Dianne Reeves’…

After two solid jazz recordings, this effort by Dianne Reeves finds her returning a bit to her eclectic ways. She sounds joyous and swinging on “Exactly Like You,” and making one wonder why she still spends so much time singing R&B and pop. Other highlights include the sexy and…

This is a memorable set. When pianist Junko Onishi performs songs from the likes of Charles Mingus(“So Long Eric”), John Lewis (“Concorde”), and Ornette Coleman (“Congeniality”), she interprets each of the tunes as much as possible within the intent and style of its composer. “So Long Eric,” although performed by her trio, gives one the impression…