New Releases Spotlight: Week of May 16, 2016
This week in the Music Lounge, our music director Paul Abella checks out music from a young master, an old master and some great local music, too!
Vocalist Gregory Porter has made quite a name for himself over the past few years with his original lyrics, his blend of jazz and R&B and a rich, soulful voice that is instantly identifiable. He’s got a brand new album out called Take Me to the Alley. Pianist Chip Crawford, bassist Aaron James and drummer Emanuel Harrold make up the core band heard on much of the disc, and they’re dynamic and sensitive to Porter’s every whim as a vocalist. "Holding On" is a perfect statement of that aforementioned mixture of jazz and R&B, "In Heaven" gets just a hint of a latin tinge, and "Fan the Flames" find Porter and company swinging like their lives depended on it.
Tenor legend Benny Golson has a new disc out as well, called Horizon Ahead. Joined by pianist Mike LeDonne, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Carl Allen, Golson’s new disc is clever, lightly funky and a great listen. Duke Ellington’s "Don’t Get Around Much Anymore" gets a solid groove, Lulu’s "Back in Town" is played as a saxophone bass duet that really works and a reworking of Benny’s tune "Domingo" proves that he can still turn up the heat. This is a really nice disc.
Finally, local bassist Joe Policastro has released his second disc, this one in honor of his longtime gig at Pops for Champagne. It’s called Pops!, and that works on another level as well: this is a disc made up entirely of pop songs from the past 50 years or so. There are some solid, well played choices here which make a lot of sense…Stevie Wonder’s "Creepin’," Burt Bacharach’s "Wives and Lovers" and Tom Waits’ "Take It With Me." What’s fun here are the ones that, on paper, anyway, don’t make much sense – Pink Floyd’s "Us and Them" and especially the Bee Gees’ "More Than a Woman," which gets a brilliant recasting as a jazz samba. Helping to create the magic are drummer Mikel Avery, and three of Chicago’s finest guitarists, in Dave Miller, Andy Brown and Andy Pratt. Together, they’ve come up with a disc that’s a lot of fun to listen to, and I’m looking forward to sharing it!
I’ll be back next week with more new jazz releases to share with you. ‘Til then… keep your ears open!