New Releases Spotlight: Week of October 10, 2016

This week in the Music Lounge, our music director Paul Abella reviews three new releases… from Tierney Sutton, and two former Chicagoans Eric Alexander and Matthew Kaminski!

If you caught Eric Alexander & Harold Mabern’s set at the Chicago Jazz Festival this year, you heard a swingin’ quartet that was right in the pocket.  That band (or three-quarters of it, anyway) appear on Alexander’s new disc, Second Impression.  Joined by legendary bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Joe Farnsworth, the disc is impressive on a few fronts.  First off, just like that set at the Chicago Jazz Festival, this disc is grooving mightily from first note to last.  Even the usually morose ballad “Everything Happens to Me” swings hard.  But even more notable, for an Eric Alexander disc is that these guys straight up bring the funk on “Jennie’s Dance,” and it’s a highlight of the album, for sure. 

Vocalist Tierney Sutton is busy these days.  She helped put together the score for the movie Sully, and she’s got a new album out, too.  It’s a collection of Sting’s music called The Sting Variations.  And that “variations” part is important, because it’s why this disc works.  If this were just an attempt at “jazzy Sting,” it might have fallen flat.  But using her longtime band with Christian Jacob on piano, Ray Brinker on drums, and either Kevin Axt or Trey Henry on bass, Sutton and company craft twisting and turning versions of some of Sting’s best compositions from both his solo career and his time in The Police.  "Driven to Tears" gets mashed up with Miles Davis’ "So What," and "Fragile" gets merged with the Luis Bonfa classic "The Gentle Rain."  If you’re a fan of Sting’s work, there’s a lot to like here.  And if you’re new to Sting’s music, The Sting Variations might just make you a fan.

Organist (and Chicago expatriate) Matthew Kaminski might be known in Atlanta for being the organist for the Atlanta Braves, but to the rest of the world, he’s just a really, REALLY good organ player.  And he’s got a brand new disc out with Chicago vocalist Kimberly Gordon called Live at Churchill Grounds.  With four instrumental cuts and six songs featuring Ms. Gordon, there’s a little something for everybody here.  The organ jams are all certifiable classics – Lou Donaldson’s "Hot Dog," Jimmy Smith’s "Midnight Special," and Kaminski’s own (and in a just world, a soon to be classic) arrangement of the Beach Boys’ "Sail on Sailor."  Where this disc really takes off is with the inclusion of Kimberly Gordon.  As always, Gordon has a feel, a vibe, and a sound all her own.  She owns everything she sings with a powerful voice that’s full of sass, and she raises the level of the material she’s on.  I can think of no better compliment.  Check out "I Love Being Here with You" or "So Danco Samba" for proof.  I sincerely hope that this disc gives Gordon some nationwide exposure that she so deserves.   Chicago should be proud that we get to call her one of our own!  …and this just in!  Matthew Kaminski and Kimberly Gordon have scheduled a Chicago CD Release Event on November 13, at Uncommon Ground (Edgewater), sponsored by WDCB!

Next week, we’ll check out new discs from Tom Harrell, Bria Skonberg and Gordon Goodwin.   ‘Til next time… Keep your ears open!