Mose Allison, who was a musical institution long before 1987, had not run out of creative juices after 30 years of major league performances. This set finds him introducing such ironically truthful songs as “Ever Since The World Ended,” “Top Forty,” “I Looked In The Mirror” and “What’s Your…
Mose Allison’s career in his golden and quite fruitful years has yielded many surprises and challenges, not the least of which is this delightful offering. He continues to write attractive, bouncy, and fun tunes carried by his signature roiling piano style and sly lyrics. For this effort, producer and…
Mose Allison, one of the top lyricists of the ’90s, shows throughout this entertaining CD that his powers as a pianist and singer are also very much intact. The album introduces a few new classics in “Certified Senior Citizen,” “This Ain’t Me” and “Who’s in, Who’s Out.” His voice…
Broadway & 52nd continues the breakthrough formula achieved by Us3 on Hand on the Torch of mixing classic jazz samples from the Blue Note library with hip-hop. As before, producer Geoff Wilkinson (joined by Jim Hawkins, replacing Mel Simpson) augments the samples with live performances from various soloists. The…
For their third album for Blue Note, Soulive decided to record their winter 2002 tour, attempting to capture the spark that makes them such a popular touring band, and to that extent, they’re largely successful. This is a tight unit, consisting of Eric Krasno on guitar, Alan Evans on…
On a mission to update the jazz organ tradition, Soulive maintains a tight groove throughout Next. Their approach involves narrowing the creative options, then turning up the heat within the confined space they allow themselves. Where drummers in old-school jazz organ groups played freely around the backbeat, Soulive’s Alan…
On paper — and on-stage — a grooving jazz trio with a guitarist, drummer, and Hammond organist who hammers bass notes with his feet and left hand sounds like a great idea. Indeed, Soulive (keyboardist Neal Evans, guitarist Eric Krasno, and drummer Alan Evans) is one of the fledgling…
Spanish pianist Chano Dominguez has made a jazz career in exploring its connections with the flamenco of his native Cadiz. On previous offerings, Dominguez has carved out a place where the various dance rhythms and sung cadences of flamenco find equal voice with jazz lyricism, exploration, and harmonic adventure. Flamenco Sketches began as a commission…
This CD could have been titled Finally! Dianne Reeves has long had the potential to be the top female jazz singer, but so many of her previous recordings were erratic as she skipped back and forth between idioms without committing herself. However, after years of flirting with jazz and…
Dianne Reeves, who has always had a beautiful voice and the potential for greatness in jazz, has conducted a rather directionless career, performing many concerts filled with spontaneity while at the same time recording erratic albums that usually feature both veteran jazz ballads and newer material that is closer…