CD of Note

Jo Harrop, The Heart Wants (Lateralize)

London-based singer and songwriter Jo Harrop has a winner here. Her lyrics are intelligent and her voice is stunning, sure, smoky and playful as required on the baker's dozen tracks. It includes nine originals, written with a solid team of frequent collaborators, and four covers.

She explores the vagueries of life, loss, romance and renewed purpose. She even touches on the frustrations of the pandemic on “Everything's Changing.” The project includes covers of Duke Ellington's “All Too Soon” (a duet with bassist Christian McBride) and Tom Waits' “Rainbow Sleeves.”

Favorite tracks: her duet with pianist Jason Rebello as they recast Lerner and Loewe's “If Ever I Should Leave You” from Camelot and the anthemic closing track “Weather the Storm,” featuring guitarist Jamie McCredie, Nicky Brown on Hammond organ and a robust backing chorus.

Released last year in Europe, The Heart Wants was an April 25 U.S. release.

CDs of Note – Short Takes

 Taking a closer look at CDs by Acme Jazz Garage, Lili Añel, Miles Donahue and Yoko Miwa ….

CDs of Note – Short Takes

Taking a closer look at CDs by Gerry Gibbs’ Thrasher Dream Trios, Paxton/Spangler Septet, John Pizzarelli, Juan Carlos Quintero and Dave Stryker…

CDs of Note - Short Takes

Taking a closer look at CDs by Greg Abate, Gabriel Alegria, Bruce Brown, and The 14 Jazz Orchestra....

CDs of Note - Short Takes

Taking a closer look at CDs by Roderick Harper, Fred Hersch, Lisa Hilton, Dan Moretti, Omar Sosa and Veronica Swift ….

CDs of Note - Short Takes

Taking a closer look at CDs by Matt DeMerritt, Tania Grubbs, Mongorama, Douglas Olsen, Ben Rosenblum and Kenny Washington...

Exploring conflicts between our digital and natural worlds – through music

Composer, bandleader and NEA Jazz Master Maria Schneider’s creativity knows no bounds. Her stellar music, voiced by her longstanding Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, has drawn on many influences and inspirations throughout her career.

Maria Schneider backstage at Newport, 2017

Some of her earliest intricate and colorful works were prompted by memories of imaginary monsters conjured up in her Minnesota childhood. A formidable string of recordings by her 18-piece big band start with 1994’s Evanescence (Enja), in part a tribute to her mentor, the late Gil Evans.

Her newest project, the two-disc recording Data Lords, is just out as her fifth project on the ArtistShare label, the world‘s first crowd-funding internet arts platform. It is a very strong departure from her Grammy-winning 2015 release The Thompson Fields. 

Data Lords is about “the impact that the data-hungry digital world has had on our lives,” Schneider says, and the natural world that has long been rooted in her music.

Disc One, titled “The Digital World,” focuses on the oft-unsettling digital side of the equation. The composition titles pretty much speak for themselves, though Schneider has penned thoughtful notes in the CD booklet that speak to the inspirations behind and intent of each work. The compositions on “The Digital World” are: “A World Lost,” “Don’t Be Evil,” “CQ, CQ, Is Anbody There?,” the other-worldly “Sputnik” and “Data Lords.” That title track takes aim at the giant data companies that track the minutae of our everyday lives as artificial intelligence increases its hold.

Disc Two, “Our Natural World,” celebrates the magic and beauty of the physical world around is and is a balm for what Schneider describes as "the relentless noise of our digital world.” Those tracks are “Sanzenin,” inspired by the lush, meditative gardens surrounding Kyoto, Japan’s Sanzen-in Buddhist temple, the artful “Stone Song,” “Look Up,” “Bluebird,” and two Ted Kooser poetry-inspired pieces, “Braided Together” and “The Sun Waited For Me.”

Standout soloists on this project include accordionist Gary Versace, guitarist Ben Monder, alto saxophonist Dave Pietro, baritone saxophonist Scott Robinson, soprano/alto saxophonist Steve Wilson, tenor saxophonists Donny McCaslin and Rich Perry, trombonists Marshall Gilkes and Ryan Keberle, and trumpeter Mike Rodriguez.

“Look Up” is a clever piece that features Gilkes and pianist Frank Kimbrough. As its melody spirals up, this is a musical reminder to indeed look up: up at the sky, up at the birds or, as Schneider says, “simply at each other.”

In other words, look up from those laptop, iPad and smartphone screens once in a while -- and savor the things around us that aren’t plugged in to something. Except your music player, of course, because this powerful project deserves repeat listenings.

CDs of Note Short Takes

Taking a closer look at CDs by The 3D Jazz Trio, Artemis, Mayita Dinos, theTNEK Jazz Quintet, and Bernard Purdie, Christian Fabian & Ron Oswanski….

3D Jazz Trio, I Love to See You Smile (DIVA Jazz)

Six years ago when they were backing dancer Maurice Hines’ show Tappin’ Through Life, drummer Sherrie Maricle, bassist Amy Shook and pianist Jackie Warren discovered they had an incredible, instant musical simpatico. Their creativity abounds on this project, I Love to See You Smile. Power drummer Maricle is better known as leader of the all-woman Diva Jazz Orchestra, but she has also put together smaller ensembles from withiin the big band’s ranks. This is one of them. Everything in this varied program swings with joy, from the Randy Newman-penned title track to the traditional Scottish folk song “When You and I Were Young, Maggie.” Favorite track: their take on “Besame Mucho,” the famous bolero by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez. Warren’s lush classical-styled intro sets up the band’s romp. The Cleveland-based pianist has chops and creativity galore – and they are on full display here.

Artemis, Artemis (Blue Note)

Two years after a stunning main stage performance at the Newport Jazz Festival, the all-woman supergroup Artemis has made its recording debut. The band is named for a Greek goddess who was an explorer and goddess of the hunt. The globally rooted band includes pianist and musical director Renee Rosnes, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, clarinetist Anat Cohen, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, drummer Allison Miller and singer Cecile McLorin Salvant. All of the material here was written and/or arranged by the band’s six instrumentalists. Favorite tracks: Miller’s fierce opening track “Goddess of the Hunt,” the Rosnes-penned “Big Top,” the Rosnes-arranged Stevie Wonder hit “If It’s Magic,” featuring Salvant on vocals, and the band’s transformative take on Lee Morgan’s instrumental jazz chestnut, "The Sidewinder.” This version is more pensive and teasing than the funk-driven original. This is a September 11 release.

Mayita Dinos, The Garden Is My Stage (Dash Hoffman)

Puerto Rico-born, Los Angeles-based singer Mayita Dinos’ debut recording is a garden of musical delights. How cool that she’s a renowned landscape designer by day – and jazz singer by night. She was able to blend those two passions on this session, which was produced by singer Cathy Segal-Garcia. Every tune here has a nature or garden theme or reference. The opening track is also the most intriguing. Dinos set her own words to Charlie Parker’s “Ornithology.” Other gems: getting back to the garden) through Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock,” honoring the rose in “Spanish Harlem,” a run through Freddie Hubbard’s “Little Sunflower” and, quite naturally, Billy Strayhorn’s “A Flower is a Lovesome Thing.” Dinos wrote the melody for an ethereal voice-and-bass duet with Gabe Davis that digs into the Federico Garcia Lorca poem “La Lola.”

Purdie-Fabian- Osmanski, Move On! (Consolidated Artists)

This one throws a different twist into the organ trio concept, which usually involves Hammond B-3, drums and either guitar or saxophone as the third instrument. Here we have B-3 player Ron Oswanski and bassist Christian Fabian teamed with the legendary funk drummer Bernard “Pretty” Purdie. Besides five Fabian originals, they put their funky stamp on diverse covers of Tower of Power’s “Can’t You See (You’re Doin’ Me Wrong),” Duke Ellington’s “Love You Madly,” Miles Davis’ classic “So What” and even “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Producer and principal composer Fabian’s “Got Groove (Pt. 2)” is my favorite, but every track is distinctive and drenched with energy from these three creative melodic improvisers. The result is the funkiest jazz recording I’ve heard so far this year, and it will be hard to beat in that regard.

The TNEK Jazz Quintet, … Plays the Music of Sam Jones (TNEK Jazz)

This is a mighty fine – and long overdue – concept recording. It pays homage to music of Sam Jones, a bassist and composer best known for his work in the 1950s and ‘60s with the Adderley Brothers. He also worked fat various times with Bill Evans, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson and Cedar Walton – and in the late 1970s co-led a New York big band with trumpeter Tom Harrell. Jones, a Jacksonville FL native, died in 1981. Washington DC-area saxophonist Ron Kearns produced this session, assembling some of his favorite players. Bassist Kent Miller is joined by pianist Darius Scott, drummer Greg Holloway, and saxophonists Antonio Parker (alto) & Benny Russell (tenor and soprano). The unusual band name is an anagram of bassist Miller’s first name. They put their own spin on a range of Jones compositions, from the best-known “Unit Seven” (long the unofficial Cannonball Adderley band theme song) and “Del Sasser” to “Biittersuite,” “Some More of Dat” and the ballad “Lillie.” This hard-swinging recording winds down with Kenny Barron’s “Tragic Magic” from Jones' 1979 trio recording The Bassist. Barron was in that band.

CDs of Note - Short Takes

Taking a closer look at CDs by Wayne Alpern, Lynne Arriale, Clairdee, Tim Ray and Dana Sandler…. 

Wayne Alpern, Standard Deviation (Henri Elkan Music)

On this fine project, composer and arranger Wayne Alpern underscores the notion that jazz is a process, not a specific repertoire of songs. Wearing his arranger’s hat here, the New York-based Alpern has taken nine pop songs (some vintage, some contemporary) and given them robust, new instrumental treatments. In each case he has stretched and recast them to celebrate their catchy melodies and rhythms. The band pulling this off with Alpern’s charts includes trumpeter John Challoner, saxophonists Owen Broder and Adam Larson, trombonist Nick Grinder, violinist Benjamin Sutin, pianist Matt Podd, bassist Dave Baron and drummer Nathan Ellman-Bell. 

The material includes Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” Bob Dylan’s “Dear Landlord” and “As I Went Out One Morning,” Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Bobbbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe,” Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” and The Four Seasons’ “Who Loves You Pretty Baby.” Favorite tracks: the band’s takes on “Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” the Zombies’ “She’s Not There” and the Temptations’ hit “My Girl.” This is Alperin’s second project recasting well-known pop songs, following up on last year’s Skeleton.

Lynne Arriale, Chimes of Freedom (Challenge) 
Pianist Lynne Arriale’s 15^th recording as a leader blends her crystalline lyricism at the keyboard with works inspired by our pre-pandemic troubled times. Specifically, the plight of refugees and dreamers who find obstacles in their path to a better life. As she explains: the material reflects her wish for an America “that offers hope, not scorn, for immigrants who seek a better life. It also acknowledges the sacrifices of refugees who have risked and even lost their lives trying to reach our borders.”

This project teams her with bassist Jasper Somsen and drummer E.J. Strickland. Singer K.J. Denhert joins on the final two tracks: the Bob Dylan-penned “Chimes of Freedom” and Paul Simon’s “American Tune.” Favorite tracks: “3 Million Steps,” which musically captures the image of refugees determined to go the distance between Guatemala to the southern U.S. border, and the more optimistic “Reunion.” The latter tune’s calypso feel celebrates a joyous reuniting of families split by war, famine, poverty and family separation. “The Whole Truth” is a bluesy, swinging salute to the news media who endure daily attacks on their credibility. There is much here to savor for its hope and musical inspiration.

 
Clairdee,  A Love Letter to Lena (Declare) 
San Francisco-based singer Clairdee’s latest recording is an homage to the late Lena Horne. Not wishing to make it a greatest hits cover, she instead selected music from the Horne repertoire that peaks deeply to her commitments to civil rights and equality. Six of the eight songs are preceded by spoken-word interludes narrated by actress Margo Hall. They are drawn from Horne’s own words gleaned from interviews and biographies.  

Violinist Regina Carter is a special guest on “Something to Live For.” The most powerful tracks include “I Got a Name,” Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” (a poignant duet with pianist and co-producer John Herbst), and “Believe In Yourself.” They set the table for the finale: Clairdee’s powerful take, with a chorus of guest singers, on bassist Marcus McLaurine’s activism anthem “Stand Up” with lyrics by Keva Singletary Youngblood. This is a powerful call to action from the singer and her wide-ranging band. 

Tim Ray, Excursions and Adventures (Whaling City Sound) 
This piano trio gem teams Tim Ray with all-star players (and fellow Berklee College of Music faculty colleagues) Terri Lyne Carrington on drums and John Patitucci on bass. The recording title could well sum up Ray’s diverse career. This mighty inventive Boston jazz stalwart has toured with Lyle Lovett and Jane Siberry, and is now Tony Bennett’s pianist and musical director.

The material they dig into is wide ranging. Each contributes originals (Ray’s “Gone, Not Forgotten” and “Yo 11,” Carrington’s Wayne Shorter tribute “Samsara” and Patitucci’s high-flying, New Orleans-flavored “Messiaen’s Gumbo”). Everything here is superb in its own way. The players keep pushing each other to find new facets in the originals, standard fare and some unusual choices. Their jazz transformations of Billy Preston’s pop hit “Nothing From Nothing” and the Rolling Stones’ classic “Paint It Black” are stunning. 

Dana Sandler, I Never Saw Another Butterfly (Fractamodi) 
Boston-area singer Dana Sandler’s debut recording is a singularly focused project. Her compositions set to music some of the poetry penned by children of the Holocaust. Most of the source material come from “I Never Saw Another Butterfly,” a collection of poetry and art created by Jewish children in the Terezin concentration camp. Fewer than 100 of 15,000 children survived Terezin. 

Sandler’s delicate voice is backed here by pianist Carmen Staaf, bassist Jorge Roeder, drummer Austin McMahon (her husband), trumpeter Peter Kenagy, saxophonist Rick Stone and clarinetist Michael WInograd. Sandler dedicated the project to the memory of Friedil Dicker-Brandeis, who organized secret art classes for the children of Terezin, then hid the material in suitcases that were discovered after the camp's liberation. Sandler released the CD on April 21, Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is both powerful and exquisite.

CDs of Note – Short Takes

Taking a closer look at CDs by Sinne Eeg, Funk Shui NYC, J.C. Hopkins, and Jeff Rupert & George Garzone ….

CDs of Note - Short Takes

This singers unlimited edition takes a look at new CDs by Tony Adamo, Laurie Antonioli, Nancy Kelly, the Tierney Sutton Band and Judy Wexler .…

Tony Adamo, Was Out Jazz Zone Mad (Ropeadope)

No single adjective quite sums up the essence of Tony Adamo, though he tries with his own “hipspokenword” descriptive. He’s a beat poet. hipster and a bit of a musicologist rolled into one. He sounds like he was born a few decades too late to savor the vintage bopping atmosphere he sings and talks about with authority in much of his material. Adamo digs the 1950s and ‘60s – capturing the mood of the times, and other things, on his latest recording, Was Out Jazz Zone Mad. Along the way, he improvises about the likes of saxophonist Joe Henderson, bluesman B.B. King, trumpeter Eddie Gale and singer Leon Thomas, as well of the times that resulted in the “Birth of the Cool.” On “Too Funky to Flush,” he also revels in the atmosphere – and food – of New Orleans. This jazz and funk odyssey finds him in fine musical company, including drummers Mike Clark and Lenny White, B-3 player Mike LeDonne, Tower of Power keyboard player Roger Smith, percussionist Bill Summers, pianist Michael Wolff, guitarist Jack Wilkins, saxophonist Donald Harrison and trumpeter Tim Ouimette, among others, on various tracks. Ya dig?

Laurie Antonioli, The Constant Passage of Time (Origin)

Singer Laurie Antonioli has a gem here, one that reveals the many facets of her musical talent. She’s got perfect pitch, the ability to immerse herself into the band she works with (a musician whose instrument is her voice), and she’s a superb lyricist. This long-time educator chairs the vocal program at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley. Antonioli and her band-mates put fresh spins on a wide variety of source material including Sheryl Crow’s “Riverwide,” Neil Young’s more intense “”Don’t Let it Bring You Down,” and several Joni Mitchell pieces: “Love” and a medley of two other Mitchell tunes, “Harry’s House” and “The Arrangement.”

Favorite tracks: the Crow and Young tunes, and several collaborations for which Antonioli wrote beautiful lyrics. They include “Layla” (a piece by guitarist Nguyen Le originally titled “Bee”), “Highway” and “Moonbirds,” both of which she co-wrote with German saxophonist Johannes Enders, and Paul Nagle’s “And So It Is” (originally titled ”As Is”). Antonioni’s band includes reed player Sheldon Brown, guitarist Dave MacNab, pianist Matt Clark, bassist Dan Feiszli and drummer Jason Lewis. All contribute much to the project, with MacNab soaring on his axe.

Nancy Kelly, Remembering Mark Murphy (SubCat)

The late Mark Murphy was a jazz singer like no other – his delivery digging deep, soaring and swooping as he found his own rhythmic and melodic essences in a song. He also was a fine lyricist when so inspired. Nancy Kelly selected 10 tracks from Murphy’s extensive repertoire to celebrate his legacy. She puts her own breezy stamp on that material with a talented band that included pianist and producer John DiMartino, alto saxophonist Bobby Militello, guitarists Paul Bollenback, Steve Brown and Paul Meyers, bassists Ed Howard and Peter Mack, and drummer Carmen Intorre Jr. Randy Brecker joined the band for three tracks on which he also played trumpet on Murphy’s recordings: Freddie Hubbard’s “Red Clay” (with lyrics by Murphy), “Vera Cruz” and “Body and Soul.” Favorite gems include two tracks for which Murphy penned lyrics: “”Song for the Geese” and Oliver Nelson’s “Stolen Moments. This beauty stands out for its homage to Murphy, and for Kelly’s beautiful updates with her talented band.

Tierney Sutton Band, ScreenPlay (BFM Jazz)

Singer Tierney Sutton is no stranger to the intersection of music and film. She recorded one song on the soundtrack for 2003’s The Cooler, and she and her excellent band wrote and recorded the soundtrack for 2016’s Clint Eastwood-directed film Sully. That movies-and-music affinity has come to full blossom on the Tierney Sutton Band’s latest recording, ScreenPlay. Digging through 80 years of American cinema, Sutton & Co. put their own artful stamp on 15 movie songs. All five members of the band – Sutton, pianist Christian Jacob, bassists Kevin Axt and Trey Henry, and drummer Ray Brinker – contributed carefully crafted arrangements that revealed new and interesting facets in this material.

Five tunes, including the opener, Michel Legrand’s “The Windmills of Your Mind,” feature lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. Alan Bergman joined Sutton for a vocal duet on his classic “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” Guitarist Serge Merlaud also joined on that one, as well as “I’ve Got No Strings” from Pinocchio and “It Might Be You” from Tootsie. “Windmills” is propelled by Brinker’s exotic, windmill-like brush pattern. Other favorite tracks include their update to Paul Simon’s “The Sounds of Silence” from The Graduate and a clever Latin 5/4 burner on “You’re the One That I Want,” one of two featured tracks from Grease. The most innovative are the band’s beautiful mash-up of “Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany’s and “Calling You” from Baghdad Café, and Axt and Henry’s two-bass romp through “If I Only Had a Brain” from The Wizard of Oz. Sutton is an exquisite top-tier vocalist who immerses herself in the band atmosphere. Because of it, there’s so much to like here.

Judy Wexler, Crowded Heart (Jewel City Jazz)

The finest songs in the Great American Songbook and vintage jazz canon contain carefully crafted lyrics speaking to the human experience with wit and/or wisdom. Singer Judy Wexler used her latest project, Crowded Heart, to share newer material of that same high standard. Its 10 songs were developed by modern-day jazz singers and instrumentalists. There’s quite a stylistic range here, blended into a cohesive song palette by Wexler, pianist and co-producer Alan Pasqua, and their fine Southern California  band. It includes reed players Josh Johnson and Bob Sheppard, guitarist Larry Koonse, bassist Darek Oles, drummer Steve Hass, percussionist Aaron Serafty and cellist Stefanie Fife.

Danish singer Sinne Eeg wrote the title track with lyrics by Mads Mathias. Those bittersweet lyrics refer to the end of an affair with a married man. Other standout tracks: Luciana Souza’s stunning samba “Circus Life” about life in today’s fast lane; Gregory Porter’s “Painted on Canvas"; Richard Galliano and Kurt Elling’s “Parisian Heartbreak” featuring Pasqua on melodica; Rene Marie’s sultry “Take My Breath Away”; the Fred Hersch-Norma Winstone collaboration “Stars”; and Pasqua’s “And We Will Fly,” with lyrics by Elling and Phillip Gladston. The latter is a beautiful showcase for Koonse’s guitar artistry. Wexler and Pasqua have done today’s jazz listeners a great service by artfully opening doors to material with which you may not have been familiar – or haven’t spent enough time savoring.