Currently browsing category

Jazz, Page 3

Dee Dee Bridgewater Returns To Birthplace For Soul Food on Memphis…Yes, I’m Ready


 
Dee Dee Bridgewater
Memphis…Yes, I’m Ready
(Okeh/Sony Masterworks)
 
Dee Dee Bridgewater is a woman who has lived…well…and in a lot of places. She grew up in Flint, Michigan, recorded her first album in Tokyo, Japan, won her Tony in New York, won her Grammys in L.A., escaped to Paris where she thrived as a pure jazz singer, returned stateside to Nevada where she regrouped, and now resides in New Orleans where there was enough of Mother Africa to sustain her after she’d traced her roots back to Nigeria (musically documented a decade ago on her 2007 album, Red Earth).

Quincy Jones Hollywood Bowl Tribute Soars Individually Yet Coasts Collectively


 
Quincy Jones: The A&M Years
Hollywood Bowl
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Concert Reflections by A. Scott Galloway
 
I’m going to begin this review by stating two things upfront. This salute to Quincy Jones focusing on his early `70s big band albums Walking in Space (CTI/A&M – 1969), Gula Matari (CTI/A&M – 1970) and Smackwater Jack (A&M – 1971) was THE concert in this summer’s Hollywood Bowl Wednesday Night Jazz Series that I was most looking forward to.

Ohio Players Set Hollywood Bowl On Fire Opening For Dave Koz and Larry Graham


 
Dave Koz & Larry Graham Come Out Smokin’ But OHIO Players Bring The FIRE – “Smooth Summer Jazz” at Hollywood Bowl – Sunday August 20, 2017
 
Concert Reflections and Photographs by A. Scott Galloway
 
I have to fess up, I thought saxophonist Dave Koz was just another smooth jazz softie. He started out proving me right when he opened his headlining set with the Judy Garland evergreen “Over the Rainbow,” tongue-in-cheekily “overblown” to my expectation. But a funky thing happened at the big finish.

LaBelle Tries On Jazz Hat To Troublesome Effect


 
Patti LaBelle
Bel Hommage
(GPE/Sony Red)
 
Patti LaBelle sits on a throne as among the greatest R&B to Pop singers recording and performing. However, the list of singers that can authentically swing between the Pop world and the Jazz world is a short one highlighted by Aretha Franklin, Patti Austin, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Nancy Wilson (retired) and the late incomparable Natalie Cole and Teena Marie.

Norman Brown | Let It Go


 
Norman Brown | Let It Go
Shanachie Entertainment
by Peggy Oliver
 
The musical dexterity of Wes Montgomery has inspired many contemporary jazz guitarists through the years despite his early days as a hard bop musician. One of many musicians who gravitated to this icon was Norman Brown, a huge turning point in studying and performing jazz, despite his earlier influences and interest in Jimi Hendrix and the Isleys.

The Baylor Project | The Journey


 
The Baylor Project
The Journey
(Be a Light)
A Record Reflection by A. Scott Galloway
 
Married musicians vocalist Jean Baylor and drummer Marcus Baylor have created a captivating “project” that meets at the 3-way intersection of Jazz, Gospel and Legacy. Brimming with aural snapshots of their individual roots and the sacred space where they come together, it is a very unique album that soothes the soul and takes some standards into sumptuous realms of mistiness.

Hide