What's New on WDCB... with Paul Abella

Kim Nalley Band – I Want A Little Boy (self-produced)

I Want a Little Boy is the first I’d heard of Bay Area vocalist Kim Nalley, but I’m hoping it’s not the last. The album is drenched in the blues from beginning to end. Guitarist Barry Finnerty and pianist Tammy Hall are definitely artists deserving wider recognition, and Houston Person sounds absolutely at home in this setting. “Teardrops From My Eyes,” “Try A Little Tenderness,” and “Never Let Me Go” are highlights, but there’s a lot more to love here.

George Cotsirilos Quartet – Refuge (OA2 Records)

Guitarist Geoge Cotsirilos has a new album out with a nice quartet featuring pianist Keith Saunders, bassist Robb Fisher and drummer Ron Marabuto called Refuge. A swinging collection that is all about straight ahead grooves from beginning to end, Refuge is a comfortable collection of 10 original songs that is designed to keep heads bobbing and feet tapping, and that is a noble pursuit well worth sharing with the world on DCB Jazz.

Caesar Frazier – Tenacity/As We Speak (Track Merchant)

Organist Caesar Frazier has assembled a bit of a superband for his latest album, Tenacity/As We Speak. And then he took things a step further, and decided to record that supergroup at Ground Zero for classic Jazz Organ group records: Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Eric Alexander’s saxophone, Peter Bernstein’s guitar, Vince Ektor’s drums, and Frazier’s organ all sound like they’re dripping with grease on these ten songs. What I really like about Tenacity/As We Speak is that Frazier really leans into the whole history of Jazz organ, so, we get some swingin’ hard bop a la Don Patterson, some bluesy jamming, in the vein of Jimmy Smith, but we also get the Latin Soul of Dr. Lonnie Smith and the downright funk of Reuben Wilson throughout the course of these 10 tracks.