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 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...