New Releases Spotlight: Week of April 13, 2015
This week in The Music Lounge, music director Paul Abella takes a look at three of the new releases… so let’s get to them!
First off, vocalist Cassandra Wilson has a new, and timely disc out, celebrating Billie Holiday’s centennial birthday. It’s called Coming Forth By Day, and it’s a Billie Holiday tribute in the way only Cassandra Wilson could imagine one. Together with a band that adds a creative, avant-rock touch to the session, Wilson utilizes her smoky voice and interpretive qualities to recast some of Holiday’s most classic material – songs Holiday wrote, like "Don’t Explain" or "Billie’s Blues," songs written for her, like "Strange Fruit," and classic standards that Holiday made her own, like "You Go To My Head" or "What A Little Moonlight Can Do."
Guitarist Pat Martino has put out a quasi-archival release called Nexus on High Note Records. Captured in a live duet setting in 1994, Martino and pianist Jim Ridl play impressively throughout. What’s amazing is how full these two sound when playing together, bouncing ideas off of each other, and really sounding like an entire band. The first time I heard "Recollection," I was slack jawed by how amazing it sounded. Then again, it is Pat Martino. There’s some material that Martino has played before here, like "The Phineas Trane" and "Oleo," both of which shimmer with electricity. I’m really looking forward to getting to hear this one more often.
Finally, trombonist John Fedchock has a new live album out called Fluidity. An album of standards recorded with a pickup band in Virginia Beach could be a formula for tedium, but Fedchock brings some really nice energy to a disc of classics like "East of the Sun," "I Hear a Rhapsody" and especially "The Days of Wine and Roses." This disc makes for some very nice listening, and its distinctive trombone + rhythm section lineup makes it stand out when you hear it.
Next week, Paul will be back in The Music Lounge with new releases from Harold Mabern and Russell Malone!
