This live performance recording showcases the Boston-based singer/pianist Kemp Harris’s merrily eclectic approach — it is a thought-stirring and animated musical excursion.
Jazz
Jazz Album Review: Two Trios — Featuring Harold Mabern and Yoko Miwa
One disc pays expert homage to the late pianist Harold Mabern; pianist Yoko Miwa’s latest album supplies much appreciated exuberance.
Rock Album Review: Viagra Boys’ “Welfare Jazz” — Macho Bluster, Satirized
On Welfare Jazz, Viagra Boys succeed through their skillful manipulation of pure bombast, spurred on by haywire grooves as well as plenty of oversized personality.
Book Review: “What, and Give Up Showbiz?” — The Busy Life of Boston Impresario Fred Taylor
Boston’s Fred Taylor was by turns (and often simultaneously) a recording engineer, promo man, artist manager, talent scout, press agent, newspaper columnist, concert promoter, club manager, nightclub owner, restaurant, and movie house owner.
Jazz Album Review: Dave Stryker’s “Baker’s Circle” — Welcoming the Past
This is a well-rounded session of disciplined, well-crafted composing and soloing, with established and up-and-coming players mixing it up with style and commitment.
Jazz Album Review: “Garden of Expression” — Virtuosic Meditations
It’s easy to single out each of these musicians, but listeners will hear the three as nearly one, which is surely what this trinity intended.
Jazz Album Review: “El Arte del Bolero” — Passionate Homage to the Era of the Bolero
So Miguel Zenón, who on saxophone has the facility of a bebopper, which he uses discreetly, is here a singer as well as an instrumentalist.
Jazz Album Reviews: Dave Brubeck x 2
Two from Dave Brubeck: Time Outtakes, the alternate tracks for the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s classic 1959 album Time Out is very good to have; Lullabies is filled with the intimate sound of the pianist’s old age, tender affection, and distilled musical wisdom.
Jazz Album Reviews: Ellis Marsalis and Monty Alexander — Lovers of Vinyl Rejoice
This set proves Monty Alexander a more varied pianist than one might have thought. The Ellis Marsalis album is a final gift from one of America’s treasures.
Book Review: “This Is Bop” — A Biography of Jon Hendricks, Master of Vocalese
This biography provides a solid look at Jon Hendricks’s life and career; a well-rounded picture that is neither a hagiography nor a hatchet job.