Christian McBride & Inside Straight: Live at the Village Vanguard (Mack Avenue) **** 11.15.21

Versatile double-bassist Christian McBride describes this sizzling live recording, made at the famed Village Vanguard club, as “no-holds-barred swinging” and it’s hard to disagree. His taut, springy playing is set here within his Inside Straight band, with saxophonist Steve Wilson, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, pianist Peter Martin and Carl Allen on drums. They hit the ground running with the opening Sweet Bread and rarely let up, although Ms Angelou is Wilson’s persuasively lyrical ballad for the late, celebrated poet and activist. A real show-stopper is Gang Gang, book-ended by Wilson’s clarion alto, with vibes and drums swirling intensely. Uncle James is a mellower affair, swinging easily to sashaying brushes and brightly cascading keyboard before vibes and soprano sax saunter in to have their say, while McBride himself cuts loose big-time, sparring gleefully with Allen in the closing Stick & Move.

Joey DeFrancesco // New Yorker 10.08.21

Joey DeFrancesco

On his latest album, “More Music,” the masterly organist Joey DeFrancesco embraces the role of musical multitasker, taking on the trumpet, the tenor saxophone, the piano, and vocal spots in addition to his customary keyboards. His tenor speaks with old-school grit and his trumpet swaggers. The results reflect his unshakable passion for the verities of chicken-shack funk—a passion firmly established by his decades of fervent organ playing, channelling the Hammond B-3 giants of yore—but they stamp the greasy Philadelphia-born style as his own. DeFrancesco brings his talents to Lincoln Center’s intimate Dizzy’s Club.

Kenny Garrett / The New York Times (Playlist) 10.08.21

Kenny Garrett, ‘Joe Hen’s Waltz’

As his contribution to “Relief,” a forthcoming compilation benefiting the Jazz Foundation of America’s Musicians’ Emergency Fund, the esteemed alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett provided an unreleased outtake from the sessions for his standout 2012 album, “Seeds From the Underground.” With a teetering melody and a swaggering mid-tempo swing feel, “Joe Hen’s Waltz” pays homage to the saxophonist Joe Henderson, nodding to his knack for slippery melodies that seem to move through a house of mirrors. In Garrett’s quartet at the time, much of the energy was being generated by his partnership with the pianist Benito Gonzalez, whose playing is rooted in Afro-Latin clave and the influence of McCoy Tyner, but has an effervescent phrasing style of its own. 

Why Jazz Pianist Erroll Garner Matters, 100 Years After His Birth 09.13.21

Erroll Garner may not be a household name, but the jazz pianist’s achievements are worthy of a centennial celebration that arrives this week in the form of a 189-song boxed set.

For starters, Garner sued a record company in 1960 and won, setting an example for future A-listers Prince and Kanye West when they clashed with labels over the control of their music.

Garner, born June 15, 1921, made his name by writing “Misty,” which ranked No. 12 on ASCAP’s list of the most-performed songs of the 20th century. Clint Eastwood chose the song to launch the plot of his 1971 directorial debut, “Play Misty for Me.”

Electrifying Kenny Garrett Blurs Genres On ‘Sounds from the Ancestors’ (ALBUM REVIEW) 09.09.21

This writer is still basking in Kenny Garrett’s roof-raising, entertaining, rousing set at the 2021 Newport Jazz Festival just a few weeks ago. In that stirring performance, he unveiled much of this genre-blurring, spiritually deep Sounds from the Ancestors. Having pulled a friend away from an exciting performance from another artist, we somehow landed front row seats for Garrett’s set which was witnessed in the wings by Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, Immanuel Wilkins, Terrace Martin, and others. My friend caught that and exclaimed, “that says it all, right there.” Yes, the peer respect indicates as much as anything that Garrett is one of today’s leading forces and master of his instrument, the alto saxophone. With his head bobbing up and down as he moves around the stage, Garrett often motioned to the audience with one hand while playing with the other, making those gathered an integral part of his show. No album can create that level of excitement but this one, if nothing else, should urge you to see a Garrett show.

An Unprecedented, Star-Studded Collection from America’s Top Jazz Labels in Support of Musicians… 09.09.21

The 2-LP Set, CD and digital album features Herbie Hancock, Wallace Roney, Buster Williams, Jimmy Heath, Albert “Tootie” Heath,Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, IRMA and LEO (Esperanza Spalding & Leo Genovese), Cécile McLorin Salvant, Charles Lloyd, Hiromi, Kenny Garrett, Jon Batiste, and Other Jazz Greats.

A consortium of major jazz labels – Concord Music Group, Mack Avenue Music Group, Nonesuch Records, Universal Music Group’s Verve Label Group and Blue Note Records, and Warner Music Group – has taken the unprecedented step of joining hands for Relief, an all-star compilation of previously unreleased music to be issued on LP, CD and digitally November 12, continuing the non-profit Jazz Foundation of America’s (JFA) ongoing efforts to aid musicians affected by the international shutdown of venues and other performance opportunities in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. LISTEN/SHARE the third single from the album, Cécile McLorin Salvant's "Easy Come, Easy Go Blues,"here.

Emmet Cohen: Hail The Piano Player // All About Jazz Interview 05.05.21

In a plain, gray building off Edgecombe Avenue in Harlem, pianist, Emmet Cohen, gently hammers on his instrument, head bopping to the drum hits and bass thuds that reverberate along the plant-lined walls of his apartment. Thirty years old and one of the finest piano players to emerge in decades, the Miami-born and Montclair, New Jersey-raised musician is not just the poster man for contemporary jazz, breathing 2020s finesse onto early twentieth century swing, he is a supremely gifted and impassioned artist of the highest order. The fact that he can also rollick on this warm spring night, transmitting sweet sounds to thousands of homes via his fifty-third webcast of this grave coronavirus year, only underscores his deep love for jazz and his innate will to play.

Swing Time: Cameron Graves // Relix Feature 05.05.21

Cameron Graves knew exactly where he wanted to go on his second album. Following his 2017 debut as a bandleader, Planetary Prince, and his work with the hyper-talented LA-based collective the West Coast Get Down—most notably on saxophonist Kamasi Washington’s groundbreaking 2015 triple album, The Epic—the keyboardist was ready to introduce another side.

“I live in jazz, but I also live in metal,” he says. “I wanted to develop a record that’s got the same intensity as a metal record, but with me on piano.”

Mack Avenue Artists Receive 8 JJA Jazz Awards Nominations 04.23.21

Mack Avenue Nominees (8)
Jazz Journalist Association (JJA) Nominations
Mack Avenue - Record Label of the Year
John Beasley - Arranger of the Year
John Beasley MONK’estra - Large Ensemble of the Year
Warren Wolf - Mallet Instrumentalist of the Year
Christian McBride - Bassist of the Year
Joey DeFrancesco - Keyboardist of the Year
Emmet Cohen – Upcoming Musician of the Year
Veronica Swift – Female Vocalist of the Year

Veronica Swift: This Bitter Earth (CD Review) 02.12.21

It seems jazz vocalist Veronica Swift has been in the music business all of her life, and for good reason: There is the well documented fact that she is the daughter of jazz pianist Hod O'Brien and singer Stephanie Nakasian, and she debuted on record at nine years old with Veronica's House of Jazz (SNOB, 2004). Since that time, Swift has recorded in a variety of settings, including on the uniformly excellent The Birdland Big Band Live (CD Baby, 2018), before producing her full-bore Mack Avenue debut with Confessions (2019), recorded with the trios of pianists Emmet Cohen and Benny Green. With Confessions, Swift gained both commercial traction and critical purchase, all by the deceptively tender age of 25-years old. The singer returns with the socially serious and finely crafted This Bitter Earth.

Cameron Graves – ‘Seven’ (CD Review) 02.12.21

Batten down the sub-woofer, hold on to your trousers … here comes thrash jazz – 11 songs in a tumultuous 33 minutes. Thrash jazz? That’s what Cameron Graves, keyboardist with LA saxophone star Kamasi Washington, terms these high-speed, high-velocity forays. Imagine Metallica having a crack at cosmic Return To Forever.

Graves and Washington, friends from high school, honed their craft in the West Coast Get Down collective. And just as the saxophonist’s music pays its dues to jazz past, these brief blasts are propelled by drum fusillades from Mike Mitchell that echo Billy Cobham and Lenny White in their fusion pomp. The space-themed artwork and song titles (Sons of Creation, Super Universes) also nod to Chick Corea’s electric RTF.

Emmet Cohen –  Future Stride - Review 02.01.21

It’s my guess that, at the moment little Emmet was born, his designated guardian angel was a clumsy klutz who slipped and accidentally showered the entire contents of his gift cupboard all over the bassinet. As a result, not only was baby Emmet fitted with a matched set of epic ears, ten obediently flexible fingers, faultless time and commanding swing, but also an appreciation of the past and abiding respect for the achievements of elders. And even a sympathetic bassist and drummer in attendance, close by his elbow.

I’m sticking to my guess because pianist Emmet Cohen‘s Future Stride is an unusual album by an unusual musician who disregards fashion’s strict dictates by embracing the total potential of jazz piano, technically and stylistically. Refreshingly, he dishes out well-earned dues to the glittering legacies of James P., Willie ‘The Lion’, Tatum, Hines, Wilson, Nat Cole, Buckner, Bud, Erroll, Monk, Garland, Herbie, Jarret and loads of other worthy pianists I’d unfortunately overlooked.