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Some might dub Richard Elliot the James Brown of contemporary jazz for the way his tenacious tenor exploded around some of the freshest R&B tinged hooks in the genre. After more than a handful of albums, the moniker still applies, though it is slightly maddening that he seems to…

After taking the jazz world by storm with his exciting debut CD on Blue Note in 1991, Gonzalo Rubalcaba continued to delight his fans throughout the decade with one great recording after another. “Yolanda Anas,” “Joan,” and “Joao” — each one a tribute to one of his children —…

Although one might assume that having the title of Diz means that this set would be a tribute to Dizzy Gillespie, only four of the nine selections were actually associated with the great trumpeter; the other numbers range from Bird and Bud Powell to Benny Golson and Charles Mingus…

The virtuosic Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba’s first recording to be issued in the U.S. is still one of his best. With strong accompaniment from bassist Charlie Haden (one of his early champions) and drummer Jack DeJohnette, Rubalcaba is in frequently exciting form throughout these performances. Highlights include an outstanding…

One of the most exciting major-label debuts during the 1990s was Gonzalo Rubalcaba’s Discovery, a trio date at the 1990 Montreux Jazz Festival with bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian. Haden had discovered the young pianist during an appearance in Cuba several years earlier and was surprised at…

Recorded in Arizona with Calexico’s Joey Burns producing, Amos Lee’s fourth studio album, 2011’s Mission Bell, finds the singer/songwriter in a thoughtful mood and once again wrapping his soulful folk numbers in country, blues, and soft rock. A ruminative, lazy summer day of an album, Mission Bell is not…

Before the rise of bebop, the French horn was never heard as an improvising instrument in jazz. John Graas, who worked with Stan Kenton and Shorty Rogers, was the first jazz French horn player to lead his own record date, in 1953. However, Julius Watkins soon surpassed him as…

With an easy bop sensibility, Woods cuts loose on a number of originals and a few surprising chestnuts for a strong set. Fellow reed player Johnny Griffin (the two played in Monk’s nonet in the late ’60s) and the fine rhythm section of Cedar Walton on piano, Ben Riley…

Renee Rosnes‘ sixth Blue Note CD shows her stretching well past her hard bop roots. Joined by bassistScott Colley and husband Billy Drummond on drums, she covers a wide swath of musical styles. Her aggressive attack on Ornette Coleman‘s “Blues Connotation” contrasts with her laid back richly textured treatment of the old Beatles hit “With…