The Whole Music Experience

I cut my CDs in half this year to concentrate on writing "Whole Music" (the book).  World Music recordings made up the bulk of reviews in 2012, while jazz and classical lingered more in the background.  Still, the 7 recordings below are phenomenal. 1. Fred Hersch Trio, Alive at the Vanguard, Palmetto 2. Jeff Hamilton Trio, Red Sparkle, Capri Records 3. Marshall Gilkes, Sound Stories, Alternate Side Records 4. Roberta Donnay, A Little Sugar, Motema 5. Gregory Porter, Be Good, Motema 6. Ahmad Jamal, Blue Moon, Jazz Village (Harmonia Mundi) 7. The Jens Wendelboe Big Band, Fresh Heat, Rosa Records Honorable Mention: Lisa Dillan, Love Me Tender, Kirkelig Kulturverksted Best book on music: Music Medicine by Christine Stevens (Sounds True)

Jeff Hamilton Trio Red Sparkle Capri Records February 2012 is already shaping up into a jazz month with Jeff Hamilton Trio leading the way.   The trio’s February release, Red Sparkle offers melodic jazz played seamlessly on piano (Tamir Hendelman), double bass (Christoph Luty) and kit drums (Jeff Hamilton).   While there are no Coltrane or Davis covers on this recording, anyone who enjoys listening to those artists will feel equally at home listening to Red Sparkle .   Certainly we are treated to jazz nostalgia with the classics Laura , Sleepin’ Bee , and Too Marvelous for Words .   And we are treated to a familiar rock song from ages ago, Stephen Bishop’s On and On , gone jazz of course. The album opens on an upbeat tempo with a Hamilton original Ain’t That A Peach and then drives harder on Thelonious Monk’s Bye Ya .   But these musicians aren’t going anywhere because they’ve just begun.   The musicians perform a heavily nuanced versi...