Tag Archives: jazz

A new jazz palette for the nylon-string guitar is due, and on the strength of this album it's clear Nate Najar is an avatar for just that.

Jeff Rupert and Richard Drexler shout with an inner voice that is deeply emotional and shows a maturity exemplary of musicians who have mastered their instrument.

On a fizzy mix of traditional jazz (mostly originals) and standards (Gershwin, Cole Porter, Fats Waller), bebop, and classical and romantic piano music by the likes of Mozart, Chopin, and Ravel, the pianist and her trio take enormous joy in finding surprising connections.

Are you down with being hip or are you uptight as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs?

Coruscating Latin rhythms with a four-mallet attack, folk-jazz from a guitar-ukelele-vocal duo, and baroque-jazz crossover from the late bassoonist Daniel Smith

Rawlins is an engaging writer who obviously relishes digging out the meaty stories behind the songs he loves. His new book will delight anyone interested in music history or who loves early jazz.

One could view 'In Winter' as a stylish stopgap between Melua's last recording 'Ketevan' and her next album. However, one should embrace it as an inspired seasonal concept album that ties 'The House' as her most ambitious undertaking yet.

Soulful singer Logan Metz’s ‘The Last Remaining Payphone in L.A.’ is a beautiful composed emotion-laden experience.

On the surface, you might think that limiting the songs of a band that thrived on the interplay between various parts – most importantly the lead and rhythm guitars of Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir – wouldn't work, but you’d be mistaken. There is power and subtlety in these reinterpretations that I think Garcia would have admired, as his own personal tastes seemed to range to the more subdued and authentic soul of acoustic performances.

From the sonic exuberance of “Dancin’ Fool” and “Tell Me You Love Me” to the funky dissonance of “You Are What You Is” and “Joe’s Garage” to the bathroom-humor excellence of “Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow” and “Titties and Beer,” this album will give you just as much of a “taste” for Frank Zappa’s music as his son’s "Zappa Plays Zappa" did for me some eight years ago.