Laurin Talese | Gorgeous Chaos
by Peggy Oliver
A vocalist who can stunningly transform lyrics and capture the audience’s ears is not always easy to attain. Laurin Talese, who sang in church growing up, was a marvelously gifted talent who attended the Cleveland (Ohio) School of Music, but her musical savvy would eventually whisk her away from home to shape her dream career.
Groove Legacy
Groove Legacy
(Groove Legacy)
Record Reflections by A. Scott Galloway
Having been in the music industry in one role or another since the early `80s, I’ve come to know a lot of people. So when one trusted peer from my radio and records days invites me to a gig and then I find another trusted friend from my journalist days there – and unbeknownst to each other they are both promoting this band – the chances are that I’m in for some really good music.
Esperanza Spalding | Emily’s D+Evolution
by Peggy Oliver
In mid-2015, Esperanza Spalding was about to prepare her fanbase for some musical vignettes incorporating aspects of theater, unveiling her inner childlike, yet intriguing thoughts about love, life, and everything in between for Emily’s D+Evolution.
Dr. Lonnie Smith
Evolution
(Blue Note)
Musical reflections by A. Scott Galloway
February 25, 2016
In the late `60s when he jumped from George Benson’s band into that of alto saxophone great Lou Donaldson, organist Lonnie Smith became known for whipping up a brand of funky voodoo on the B3 that got beneath the skin of the listener like lotion, beginning with the now-classic Alligator Boogaloo on into Midnight Creeper.
Stanley Cowell – Reminiscent (Plus a Christmas Suite)
(SteepleChase)
A Record Reflection by A. Scott Galloway
The art of piano is all about touch. Over a fifty year career as a leader and sideman with the likes of Sonny Rolins, Stan Getz and Max Roach, Stanley Cowell has mastered an impeccable balance of intelligence and taste.
Bob James 2015: Available in Twoplay and Fourplay Models
Record Reflections by A. Scott Galloway
25 years ago, a super group of contemporary jazz giants formed a quartet dubbed Fourplay and began the business of making evocative groove-scapes spiced with a tasty dollop of sensuality via soul-pop vocal stars and sexy covers of touchstones by boudoir masters Marvin Gaye and The Isley Brothers. Since that time, they’ve pretty much ditched the vocals and gone deeper into what I call movies for the ear. Fourplay’s new 10-song CD, Silver (Concord Records) – recorded at Sunset Sound Studio in Hollywood where they cut their self titled debut in 1990 for Warner Bros. – marks the band’s 25th anniversary and is, fittingly, one of its finest most consistent CD in some time.
Terri Lyne Carrington | The Mosaic Project: Love and Soul
Concord Records
by Peggy Oliver
Music was at Terri Lyne Carrington’s beckoned call throughout her childhood. Her father was president of the Boston Jazz Society and her grandfather Matt Carrington presented a drum set to his grandchild at age seven. The private lessons that followed have taken her through many thrilling experiences since playing alongside trumpeter Clark Terry at eleven years old.
Michael Franks / Jazz Funk Soul (Everette Harp, Jeff Lorber, Chuck Loeb)
Hyatt Newporter – July 25, 2015
A Concert Reflection by A. Scott Galloway
One of Southern California’s most popular summer spots for jazz is the Hyatt Newporter hotel in big money Newport Beach. They have a Friday night jazz series every summer in a mini outdoor amphitheatre on the lawn that just gets stronger with each passing year. So far in 2015, I dipped down there once to see this all-star show which proved to be a sweet night of seasoned music.
Photo: Jeff Lorber, Chuck Loeb & Everette Harp
Terence Blanchard and the E-Collective | Breathless
Blue Note
by Peggy Oliver
From a musician who did not take his musical chops seriously until high school, Terence Blanchard eventually fed off his surroundings of New Orleans, a city that breathes blues, Dixieland, funk and is home to The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. N.O.C.C.A. was the breeding ground for this thinking man’s musician whose film compositions for Spike Lee and flexible musical language (Latin jazz, swing, bop) has sparked his career since his early days with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and the (Donald) Harrison/Blanchard Group.
Najee | You, Me and Forever
by Peggy Oliver
From the moment he earned a Grammy nomination for his debut album inspired by his namesake almost three decades ago, Najee has claimed the market for his distinct crossover ability in sustaining jazz and R&B fans. Any other superlatives that may apply to Najee’s career can be summed up with an Energizer Bunny work mentality and a knack for oozing the soul in smooth jazz, as proven with fifteen CD’s starting with Najee’s Theme, most having reached the top five on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart.