Reimagining the character of Cole Porter’s music became Molly Mary Mahoney’s musical goal in 2022. After all, she is related to the iconic composer. What she nails in her new album My Cousin Cole is the brightness required for his songs as well as the sense of fun and syncopation in her single "All of... Continue Reading →
A fugue of tones and textures where vocals sail away with violin might give a clue to the surprises in one song, a new one by the Simeon Davis Group. “Pleiades” is an awesome mixed-tempo expression with violin very much central in modes minor and major, grinding, stabbing and double-stopping while the other instruments (horn,... Continue Reading →
Throw out what you thought you knew about the ukulele. Yes, it can be quaint, charming, a wanna-be, higher-register guitar in miniature. Enter Stephen Godsall, who has set out to play the uke to its fullest potential, funkifying it, making it swing like gypsy jazz, riffing out in hearty solos. His latest work, Ukulele Forms... Continue Reading →
The gratification of a hook-drenched melody will never leave you high and dry. That is what you’ll find in Atlantic Groove Society’s newest venture (Feb. 2022), “Past and Present.” The album creates a warm, expansive feeling in ten memorable tracks. While the horn (from leader Alexander Hartgers) soars and sings, guitar, drums, keys, bass and... Continue Reading →
Nine new tracks from Big Brooklyn show the light peeking through after lockdown and two difficult years for all of us. “Everyone Everywhere” is the CD that invites us to restore music to its rightful place in our lives. The song “Send it to Me” rolls right along with a tight hook and lots of... Continue Reading →
There are ways to cover songs that take the material to new places, infusing a new climate altogether. Sax player Carlo Muscat has gathered tunes by some of the biggest names in jazz (Coltrane, Mobley, Rollins, Shorter) and pressed them gently but firmly into a new form. The result is Diversion, released November 2021. The... Continue Reading →
Using his blockchain handle “NiftySax” (for NFTs, or non-fungible tokens), the composer and tenor sax musician Milo Lombardi has just released fifty-five tracks that provide a variety of moods and modes to meditate to or ponder our place in the universe. Presenting and consuming music through blockchain, he claims, absolutely cracks the music industry wide... Continue Reading →
An astounding biography has recently emerged which discusses the life, faith and music of pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams. Author and jazz composer/pianist Deanna Witkowski has penned a well-researched study with fascinating insights into a time punctuated by race relations and the Civil Rights Movement. Mary Lou Williams, Music for the Soul (Liturgical Press,... Continue Reading →
Just released: "Tasty Jazz Jams for Our Times/Vol. 2" which features the best and the brightest on the global jazz scene today. With a foreword from jazz fusion pioneer Jeff Lorber and a special note from New York City singer/songwriter/author Grace Garland, the book packs more than forty jazz artists in its pages. A quick... Continue Reading →
Debbie Burke - jazz author 
You must be logged in to post a comment.