It is difficult not to be impressed with the playing of guitarist Charlie Hunter. By using an extra string, Hunter is able to create his own basslines and have a very self-sufficient bassless (and keyboardless) trio with tenor-saxophonist Dave Ellis and drummer Jay Lane that has all of the…
Brian Blade Fellowship is an impressive debut as a leader for Brian Blade, one of the best young jazz drummers of the ’90s. Producer Daniel Lanois doesn’t follow jazz conventions, letting Blade run wild and blend genres, as on “Folklore,” where the adventurous, searching jazz meets pygmy chants. All…
With this second date from the Fellowship, Brian Blade proves that while he is one of the most in-demand session drummers of the ’90s, his skills as a bandleader and composer are not to be overlooked. Blade composes songs as if he were painting a broad mural. He sculpts…
As part of a seventieth year celebration for Blue Note records, the label convened a collection of younger and experienced jazz stars to play hard bop compositions closely identified with their mid-’50s to mid-’60s glory days. This kind of band has been conceived before — remember Out of the…
Pianist Kenny Werner’s Lawn Chair Society is a cerebral mix of acoustic jazz, electronic elements and generally expansive improvisation that comes and goes in terrifically unexpected directions. Inspired by a varied mix of artists from Radiohead to In a Silent Way-era Miles Davis, Werner has crafted a forward-thinking album…
Sadly, There’s a Riot Goin’ On — his installment in Blue Note’s Cover Series — turned out to be George Howard’s final recording. That said, it’s not a bad final statement from the saxophonist. Howard smooths out the rough edges of Sly & the Family Stone’s original, replacing Sly’s…
Amos Lee received some solid critical notice for his first two Blue Note records and made it through to create a third — an accomplishment in and of itself these days. As they were described, these albums walked some strange line between Neil Young, Bill Withers, and James Taylor….
On the title track to his sophomore effort, Supply and Demand, singer/songwriter Amos Lee sings, “Baby I need a plan to help me understand, that life ain’t only supply and demand.” If the supply and demand Lee is referring to is money, success, and power — and it clearly…
With a dusky soul voice and a knack for literate, thoughtful lyrics, singer/songwriter Amos Lee is a throwback to a more organic-sounding pop time period. Calling to mind a mix of Bill Withers, Arthur Lee, and James Taylor, Lee croons through his mellow eponymous debut with a singular sense…
Bob Dorough and Dave Frishberg (his co-leader on this CD) have a lot in common. Both are swinging pianists, likable vocalists that do not have conventional voices, and superb lyricists with very original wits. They only collaborated once before making this CD, writing “I’m Hip” back in 1965. In…