New Releases Spotlight: Week of May 19, 2014
In this week’s edition of New Releases from the Music Lounge at WDCB.ORG, we’ve got a lot of great new music to throw at you this week…
Let’s start off with a new disc from one of our own…WDCB’s Marshall Vente put out an EP recently with his octet, and we’ll be featuring it all week in the run up to our next WDCB Night at the Jazz Showcase. Check out Marshall’s unusual voicings on "Monk’s Think Of One," the lengthy jam on the Antonio Carlos Jobim epic "Stone Flower" or Marshall’s own tune, "Blues and Greens."
Chicago Yestet - Just Say Yes: the latest offering from Joel Adams’ Chicago based Yestet is an all-star outing featuring Jeff Parker, Victor Garcia and a host of other young A-list players from around town. There’s some excellent mini-big band writing and playing to be found on here, especially on tunes like "Uncommon Ground," and, if you happen to catch it on the overnight edition of ‘DCB Jazz, "What the World Needs Now is Disco." It’s brilliant.
Jared Gold - JG3+3: The latest from organist Jared Gold features guitarist Dave Stryker (who you’ve been hearing on his latest, "Eight Track") with three horns to fatten up the sound a whole lot. There’s a nice mix of original material (check out Jared’s tune "Pendulum"), jazz standards ("Sermonette," "No Moon at All" and "Cubano Chant" are all standouts) and a few interesting picks for pop tunes (James Taylor’s "Shower the People" is my highlight of the entire disc, and Michael Jackson’s "I Just Can’t Stop Loving You" is great too). All in all, I’m gonna enjoy hearing this one on the air. I hope you will too!
Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band - Life in the Bubble: Gordon Goodwin and his Big Phat Band are a slick band of LA Session cats that get out a new album every couple of years, and Life in the Bubble is the latest. If you’re a fan of Goodwin’s brand of writing and production, then you’ll love this one too.
Arturo O’Farrill - The Offense of the Drum: Arturo O’Farrill, much like his dad Chico, is an outstanding big band arranger, and his latest album, The Offense of the Drum, might just be his most ambitious yet. With guest spots for pianist Vijay Iyer ("The Mad Hatter") and Donald Harrison ("Iko Iko") and some jaw droppingly great playing and writing on "Cuarto de Colores" and "Alma Vacia," WDCB listeners are going to be in for a treat with this one.
Anthony Molinaro - Here, There and Everywhere: Pianist Anthony Molinaro’s latest disc is an all Beatles affair, and he does some really interesting things to some very well worn classics throughout the course of Here, There and Everywhere. Whether it’s putting George Harrison’s “Something” at a tempo that is shockingly slow, changing the time signature on "Here, There and Everywhere" or obscuring the melody in some surprising ways on "Lady Madonna," Molinaro will both make jazz fans who discount the Beatles’ songwriting reconsider that position and Beatles fans take note of just how elastic the Fab Four’s tunes can be.
Jerry Vivino - Back East: Jerry, along with his brother Jimmy, might best be known for his work on Conan O’Brien’s bandstand every night during the late night host’s talk show. Here, Jerry shows off his jazz chops on flute and saxophone on a variety of songs, with "Comin’ Home Baby" and a nice bossa-esque reading of the standard "Secret Love" being the highlights.
Elias Haslanger - Live at the Gallery: Tenor saxophonist Elias Haslanger gets down on a whole bunch of standards and classics with an organ trio recorded in his home town of Austin, TX. The regulars, from what I read, call the gig “Church on Monday,” and one listen to Wayne Shorter’s "Adam’s Apple" or Herbie Hancock’s "Watermelon Man" ought to explain that in quick order.
And that’s not all! This week on the overnight edition of ‘DCB Jazz, Matthew will be treating you some great jams from guitarist Nels Cline, too. So tune in, all day and all night and all week to hear these new goodies at wdcb and wdcb.org!
