The Whole Music Experience

Jazz   Ahmad Jamal Saturday Morning   Jazz Village/Harmonia Mundi I enjoyed jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal’s 2012 New York Sessions, Blue Moon recording so when I saw that Jamal had another release coming up, Saturday Morning , I had to hear it.   Aptly titled, the French studio sessions feel like a warm and comfortable Saturday morning, with the dawn just breaking on the horizon.   Think of this CD as a musical cup of coffee without the side effects.   Even the titular track grabs attention with its ostinato and continuous theme played on the piano and surrounded by percussion with plenty of cymbal.   Listeners receive a double dose of this track since a reprise concludes the recording. The music sounds tight here played like a standard jazz trio of piano, double bass (Reginald Veal) and drums (Herlin Riley) but with extra percussion (Manolo Badrena) that provides the Latin groove.   Edith’s Cake features lyrical piano again surrou...

Jazz   Joe Barbieri   Chet Lives!   Le Chant du Monde/Harmonia Mundi     For anyone familiar with the history of American jazz will have heard the name Chet Baker.   I had heard the name, but had never officially listened to any of Baker’s iconic songs.   A trumpeter and vocalist, Baker focused on lyrical jazz which he sung with sedated, sultry voice with hints of Brazilian bossa nova.   Sadly, Baker’s story is mostly tragic with his mysterious death in the Netherlands and a drug addiction that plagued him for most of his career.   You would never have guessed this from the brightness of his voice and horn or from the songs he sung.   Italian crooner-guitarist Joe Barbieri along with his trio (Antonio Fresa on piano and Luca Aquino on trumpet and flugel horn), render the spirit of the late Baker by revisiting the songs Baker performed in Italy on Chet Lives! Oddly, with some of the songs delving into bos...

Jazz Joe Locke   Lay Down My Heart Blues & Ballads, Vol. 1   Motema On his January release, Wish Upon a Star , jazz vibraphonist Joe Locke paired up with Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra exploring rich harmonics of popular songs.  And on Lay Down My Heart , Locke dives into blues and ballads thus creating another set of relaxing songs for people to unwind at the end of the day (this mission mentioned in the liner notes).  Opening with Bill Wither’s signature tune, Ain’t No Sunshine , we might say that the musical journey also heads down memory lane.  The blues y cover Makin ' Whoopee (Walter Donaldson/Gus K ahn), offers a similar respite. Locke’s original, Broken Toy possesses a sweet and lilting motif that both charms and relaxing with its interlocking vibraphone and piano.  Bittersweet (Sam Jones) picks up the tempo in be bop fashion.  Then the pace slows way down on I Can’t Make You Love Me (Michael Reid/Allen Shamblin) w...

Fred Hersch Trio Alive at the Vanguard Palmetto Records This fantastic jazz trio featuring Fred Hersch (piano), John Hébert (bass) and Eric McPherson (drums) delivers an extraordinary live performance on the double-CD set Alive at the Vanguard .   I actually received this CD back in July and have already listened to the CDs several times.   However, three weeks ago when I set out to review the recording, CD #1 broke in half in my player.   I finally received the replacement.   Imagine that this performance is so hot that it breaks the CD in half.   Now, that sizzles and so do the tracks on the album which include mostly originals by Hersch topped with standards by Jule Styne ( I Fall In Love Too Easily ), Sonny Rollins ( Doxy ), Charlie Parker ( Segment ), Ornette Colman ( Lonely Woman/Nardis ) and two by Hammerstein. The instrumentals flow well and delight in the manner of standard jazz, but possess more bite, especially with the edgy Seg...