The guitar master is at it again on this collection of original tunes. Mixing up bop and funk with heavy doses of pop, he offers up a very listenable album with lots of character. Standout tracks include the fat beat of “Mac Tough” and the evocative “With All The…
Pat Martino and Wes Montgomery were two of the most famous guitarists to emerge out of the ’60s jazz scene, an era that saw the guitar raised to the status of saxophones and trumpets. Martino and Montgomery’s styles, however, were quite different, one rapid-fire post-bop, the other blues-based hard…
With Live at Yoshi’s, his 20th recording as a leader and third release for the Blue Note label, the legendary Pat Martino has come full circle. Accompanied by Joey DeFrancesco on Hammond B-3 and Billy Hart on drums, the hard bop and funky soul-jazz of this trio are sure…
On this live date, Kevin Eubanks is joined by pianist James Williams and bassist Robert Hurst for a mainly straight-ahead affair. Most of Eubanks’ best-known solo work lies in a more fusiony vein, such as Turning Point or Spiritalk, but on Live at Bradley’s his playing is refreshingly conventional….
The first of Kevin Eubanks’ Spirit Talk albums is the best, with the guitarist’s rolling, syncopated guitar solos blending most naturally with the warm sound of brother Robin’s trombone, Kent Jordan’s alto flute, and Dave Holland’s bass. Drummer Marvin “Smitty” Smith provides the music with a good kick in…
Turning Point is a highly appropriate title for this album. After recording his share of commercial fluff for GRP, Kevin Eubanks switched to Blue Note with this heartfelt CD and strived for excellence instead of going out of his way to avoid it. Creativity, personal improvising, and spontaneity are main ingredients of…
When a label decides to allow DJs to remix and add to older jazz recordings, one has to wonder if it’s for real or just a gimmick. Does a fan of Wayne Shorter really want to hear a reworking of “Oriental Folk Song” by La Funk Mob? Or Horace Silver‘s “Won’t You Open…
Tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson deserves a lot of credit for stretching himself on this release. Although he can sound very close to Joe Henderson at times, on this set he interprets a wide-ranging repertoire that allows him to avoid falling into the revivalist hard bop category. In addition to…
Javon Jackson worked steadily throughout the ’90s, developing his own style as a soloist and a leader. In the process, he made a series of remarkably consistent albums, each one finding him exploring another aspect of his hard bop-derived sound and each one being more ambitious than the last….
Javon Jackson is best known as a hard bop tenor saxophonist inspired by Joe Henderson. On this CD, however, he really stretches himself and shows that he is continuing to develop an increasingly personal voice. In addition to two challenging originals and a blues, Jackson performs a Brazilian piece…