Playboy Jazz Festival – Day 2 – Sunday June 14, 2015
A Concert Reflection by A. Scott Galloway
Photos: Mathew Imaging
Brown Bunnies of Playboy
An afternoon of tradition and roots gave way to an evening of mash-ups and fusions for the second day of the 37th Annual Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl.
Playboy Jazz Festival – Saturday June 13, 2015
Concert Reflection by A. Scott Galloway
Photos: Mathew Imaging
June gloom morphed into jazz-soul glory for Saturday June 13, 2015 – the first day of the 37th annual Playboy Jazz Festival – a day of great music that found the heat slowly and consistently escalating to the very end.
Honeys at Playboy
Isha Love | Jars of Waters
by Peggy Oliver
The main attraction for me when artists piece together impactful music is how they pour their genuine heart out for their craft, especially for the independent musician. Before diving into those independent waters, Isha Love began playing the piano at an early age before she realized her career in high school as a musician in the jazz market, along with an extensive discipline in classical music.
James Lloyd | Here We Go
by Peggy Oliver
So what should a musician do when one is a year shy of celebrating 40 years with one of the most prolific contemporary jazz groups? How about diving in and record their first solo endeavor. That is the scenario and longtime dream realized for James Lloyd, one of the founding members of Pieces of a Dream. By the way, this just happens to be a very special 50 years-young birthday gift for this Philadelphia native.
Marcus Miller
Afrodeezia
(Blue Note)
Album Reflection by A. Scott Galloway
Africa has been a river running through the music of Marcus Miller since he began his sojourn into the art form – as literally as from “Maputo” (his composition made famous by Bob James and David Sanborn) and “Gorée” (his mediation on the portal through which Africans were shipped as property to other lands far away, from his previous CD Renaissance) to the figuratively emphatic manner in which he percussively speaks his soul through the electric bass.
Jazz Great Andy Bey Kicked Off First Season for New Nostalgically Intimate Manhattan Performance Space Café Noctambulo
by A. Scott Galloway
The atmosphere is quaint and hushed as revered jazz vocal veteran Andy Bey slides in behind the ivories to premier music from his brand new CD, Pages From an Imaginary Life. In a space as cozy as a living room, the master is comfortable enough to speak candidly about his music by way of introducing songs – sometimes reflecting, other times joking. Amid his loving tributes to Billie Holiday which he rendered floating from his warm natural baritone to his high plaintive falsetto, Bey penetrates deepest with his more recent original compositions that offer keen insight into his mind’s inner workings at that more important life juncture – today. Songs like “Bad Luck May Be Good Luck,” “Worried Life Blues” and “Humor Keeps Us Alive.” These are songs so new that even though Andy wrote them, he stumbles occasionally in performing them perfectly. What master would ever allow this to happen in front of an audience in a New York City nightspot? It is only because of THIS particular nightspot that Andy feels free enough to “try” things as opposed to sticking to his tried and true.
(Photo: James Gavin)
The Stanley Clarke Band | Up
Mack Avenue Records
By Peggy Oliver
(Advance Review | CD to be released on Sept. 30th, 2014)
The more a musician sustains a career with a level of shear excellence, the bigger the increase of impressive musical colleagues at one’s disposal. At this point in his illustrious career, Stanley Clarke can thoroughly enjoy the fruits of his labor. In his association with jazz fusion pioneers Return to Forever and the rock fusion trio Animal Logic (though only for two albums), film and television soundtrack contributions (Soul Food, Romeo Must Die, i.e.) and collaborations with rock, pop, jazz and R&B’s elite, including George Duke, Clarke remains firm to his high integral artistry who has managed to balance the mainstream market in his forty-plus year journey.
Al Jarreau – My Old Friend: Celebrating George Duke
(Concord Records)
Album reflection by A. Scott Galloway
Al Jarreau’s tribute to George Duke, his longtime friend and one-time partner on the jazz club stages of San Francisco, has been one of 2014’s most anticipated CDs. The eclectic project – with three sets of producers – works best when Cousin Al is pushing his creative envelope or indisputably touched with pure raw sentimentality.
Dianne Reeves | Beautiful Life
Concord Music Group – 2014
by Peggy Oliver
Sometimes the element of surprise conceived by the creative minds of musicians remind me of the hook from an inspirational pop hit: “Everything is beautiful in its own way.” Growing up versed in jazz but always willing to cross musical boundaries, Dianne Reeves completely invested in whatever genre she could adapt to her inimitable vocal style.
Sly5thAve | Sly5thAve Presents: Akuma
Truth Revolution Records
by Brent Faulkner
Sly5thAve is no household name – yet that is. After listening to the jazz saxophonist’s debut album, Sly5thAve Presents: Akuma, Sly5thAve’s underrated status is on pace to change. An independent release courtesy of Truth Revolution Records, Sly5thAve recorded Akuma beginning in 2012, completing it in 2013. Not only did Sly5thAve (born Sylvester Uzoma Onyejiaka II) compose the 12 songs comprising Akuma, but he also funded the effort entirely – impressive.