Joshua Bell - Joshua Bell At Home With Friends

Renowned violinist, Joshua Bell has released Joshua Bell At Home With Friends, an eclectic mix of selections from disparate genres (bluegrass, jazz, classical, rock) and featuring a very diverse group of guest artists. At Home With Friends is meant to convey the experience of an intimate evening of chamber music like those Bell sometimes hosts in his New York home. The generous number of tracks (16) includes compositions by Gershwin, Regina Spektor, Lennon/McCartney, Edvard Grieg and Ravi Shankar. Guest artists include Sting, Chris Botti, Josh Groban, Kristin Chenoweth, Sam Bush and Marvin Hamlisch. And, through the software engineering magic of Zenph Studios, Sergei Rachmaninoff “performs” the second movement of Grieg’s “Sonata No. 3 in C Minor for Violin and Piano” along with Bell. As enjoyable as all of the other tracks may be, if you have the least bit of geek DNA you’ll find this technology and the results amazing...MORE

Poncho Sanchez - Psychedelic Blues

Poncho Sanchez is back with a great collection of material written by jazz greats Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, John Coltrane and Horace Silver, as well as a couple of original compositions from within the band, all performed in the venerated traditional Afro-Cuban jazz style. The new release, Psychedelic Blues, is titled for a track composed by Sonny Henry who wrote Santana’s hit “Evil Ways” (also recorded by Willie Bobo). On recent albums (he has over 26 in addition to his recordings with Cal Tjader) Sanchez has shown a penchant for Stax R&B and Motown sounds, but on Psychedelic Blues he is back in his Be-Bop and Swing tinged Latin Jazz groove...MORE 

Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats - Meet The Meatbats

I recently watched, again, Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007. Bill Murray, as the host, said to the audience at one point, “…enough of the blues already. I’ve had it.” He was, of course, being facetious but the crowd shouted, “No! No!” That’s sort of the way I feel about Chad Smith’s Bombastic Meatbats. There’s no such thing as too much. It’s not like Chad (Red Hot Chili Peppers and Chickenfoot) and the rest of the Meatbats—Kevin Chown, bass; Ed Roth, keyboards; and Jeff Kollman, guitar—weren’t already busy enough gratifying music lovers via other vehicles, but there’s always room for more...MORE

Ramsey Lewis - Songs From The Heart: Ramsey Plays Ramsey

Some artists never recover from success. Ever hear of the Swingin’ Medallions and their flash-in-the-pan 1966 Top 20 Hit, “Double Shot of My Baby’s Love”?* I didn’t think so—unless you’ve heard Bruce Springsteen surprise the crowd with it as a nostalgia piece at one of his live shows over the past couple of years. Another cut on the Double Shot album is “Hang On Sloopy” which just so happens to be the title track of a Gold Record recording of that same year (on Rhapsody) by the Ramsey Lewis Trio. Six degrees of separation not withstanding, we all know that Ramsey Lewis continued, and continues still at age 74, to explore, discover, and excel as an artist. Mr. Lewis’ longevity (80+ albums) is in part due to his awareness and avoidance of the pitfalls inherent in the extraordinary success early in his career. He is once again back in a trio setting on his new release, Songs From The Heart: Ramsey Plays Ramsey...MORE

Pianocircus featuring Bill Bruford: Skin and Wire

Skin and Wire is a collaborative effort among Pianocircus, a 20-year veteran group of six keyboardists; Colin Riley, an unclassifiable English contemporary composer; and Bill Bruford, the prog-rock drummer of Yes and King Crimson fame. Although Pianocircus has been performing for two decades as an innovative cooperative ensemble commissioning, performing and recording innovative new music, one cannot overlook the presence of Bruford on this CD both in name recognition and as an instrumental counterpoint to the six keyboards...MORE

Griffith Hiltz Trio: Now & Then

Griffith Hiltz Trio is comprised of long-time Toronto jazz men Johnny Griffiths (saxophone), Nathan Hiltz (guitar) and Sly Juhas (drums). Another well-known Toronto jazz fixture, Don Thompson, produced Now & Then and plays vibes or keyboards on half of the ten tracks. He also composed “12 Ton Blues.” All other tracks are composed by Griffith and/or Hiltz...MORE

Keb' Mo' The Somerville Theater, Davis Square, Somerville, MA

Keb' Mo' is fresh out on a tour (as of mid October) to promote his new CD, "Live & Mo." I got a chance to hear him at the Somerville Theater in Davis Square, Somerville, Massachusetts, Friday, October 23, 2009. It was some show, starting with the opening act, Kristina Train. Get free tickets by working on Keb's "Street Team" to promote the concert in your area. Check the tour dates for a performance near you: Live & Mo Tour

Rob Paparozzi - Etruscan Soul

Long known for his excellent vocal and harmonica work as sideman for some of the foremost rock, blues and pop music acts (B.B. King, Cindy Lauper, Randy Newman, the Original Blues Brothers Band and currently as front man for Blood, Sweat & Tears) as well as recordings for movies and commercials, Rob Paparozzi has now released his solo debut, Etruscan Soul...MORE

Hiroshima - Legacy

With an impressive thirty year career Hiroshima has proven itself worthy of this aptly named CD. In fact the group has such a deep history that Legacy, the inaugural release of a planned series of retrospectives, covers only the first decade of their work. Legacy is not an anthology of original studio recordings as was The Best of Hiroshima (Sony, 1994). Rather, it is a set of new recordings with the group’s current lineup which includes the two founding members Dan Kuramoto (saxophone) and June Kuramoto (koto), as well as bassist Dean Cortez, keyboardist Kimo Cornwell, percussionist Danny Yamamoto, and taiko drummer/percussionist Shoji Kameda...MORE

Tine Bruhn - Entranced

Tine Bruhn is a Danish-born, Berklee-educated jazz vocalist now living in New York. Ms. Bruhn recorded her first CD, Entranced, earlier this year releasing it on her own label, Inenomis Records, May 19th. She is also a composer and lyricist, writing three of the songs and penning lyrics to two Joshua Redman tunes. Obviously a talented vocalist, Ms Tyne has the kind of training and experience that turns raw talent into mastery. She began singing at an early age in a cappella groups and semi-pro choirs. She continued singing with a cappella groups in the U.S. while getting a degree from Berklee College of Music and receiving additional instruction from Cheryl Bentyne (Manhattan Transfer)...MORE

Andy Narell and Relator - University of Calypso

University of Calypso is fun. If that seems oversimplified, rest assured these are no simple musicians. They are calypso and jazz pros and what a joyful sound they make together. But, after all shouldn't music, despite any inherent complexity in performance, sound free, easy and most of all enjoyable? Well, Andy Narell, Relator and the rest of the crew make it happen on University of Calypso. I dare you to resist dancing when you hear the Latin-tinged "Hold On To Your Man."...MORE

Zap Mama - ReCreation

This is Marie Daulne’s 7th album with her group Zap Mama. From the original five-voice a cappella ensemble Zap Mama has evolved into an eclectic global mix of artists and styles. Daulne has developed a uniquely exciting multi-cultural musical language even as her very changeable life has swirled around her. She was born in The Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire) to a Bantu mother and Belgian father. After her father was killed by rebels she was rescued by Pygmies, evacuated by Belgian paratroopers and raised in Belgium...MORE

Marion Meadows - Secrets

Marion Meadows likes to keep it real, and on his new CD, Secrets (Heads Up International) it is: real jazz, real smooth and most of all real artists. Although it is a studio album, he wanted it to have as much of a live feel as possible; so tech tricks are kept to a minimum. While there is some drum programming, it is done here better than most. And the players, rather than studio musicians brought in just for the recording gig, are for the most part artists who perform with Mr. Meadows on regular basis. Six of the 12 cuts (1, 2, 4, 5, 8 & 10) are written and produced by keyboardist and frequent Meadows partner (since In Deep, 2002), Michael Boening and all six feature Meadows with Boening on keyboard, Freddie Fox on guitar and Mel Brown on bass...MORE

Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Christian McBride, Kenny Garrett & Vinnie Colaiuta - Five Peace Band Live

Chick Corea and John McLaughlin are icons of jazz and jazz fusion and this is clearly a CD for their many fans and dedicated fans of improvisational jazz fusion in general. If you're not a real fan you might consider a double CD a bit too much retro fusion, if it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Generically, this group may not be breaking new ground, but that's not necessarily meant as criticism. Nobody does what is done here better than Chick Corea and John McLaughlin. And there's plenty to enjoy in this 2-disc set recorded live during the band's 2008 tour. According to Corea, from the liner notes, the band is just playing the music they enjoy. They didn't see the need to define guidelines for genre or influences. There was no intent to do cutting-edge...MORE

The Subdudes At The Hard Rock Cafe-Cavern Club, Boston, MA, June 8, 2009

The Subdudes are a five-member New Orleans roots R&B vocal and instrumental group. They appeared Monday, June 8, 2009 at the Cavern Club at the Hard Rock Cafe in Boston.

The Subdudes are unusual in several ways making it somewhat difficult to characterize their live performance in a few words. It is largely acoustic (the bass and two guitars are lightly amplified) and accessible, but there's a musical flamboyance, richness and mastery of material. As accordionist John Magnie recently said (The Music Box, April 2009, Volume 16, #4, written by John Metzger), one way to characterize the band's sound is like a "...Led Zeppelin approach to folk."...MORE

Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, Steve Swallow & Antonio Sanchez - Quartet Live

This is what a live state-of-the-art modern jazz quartet should sound like after working together for decades: tight, attentive, reactive, and, of course, individually super talented. But this quartet was put together for a one-time performance by guitarist Pat Metheny for his By Invitation Series at the 2005 Festival International de Jazz de Montreal. Not that these jazz greats are unfamiliar to each other. They all have connections through Berklee College of Music and Burton, Metheny and Swallow were part of the memorable Gary Burton Quartet from 1974-1977 (Ring, Dreams So Real, Passengers). Although Sanchez was not part of that group he has played with Metheny for 10 years and appeared on Speaking of Now in 2002...MORE

Trey Wright Trio - Thinking Out Loud

From the first few softly fingered notes of the initial Trey Wright composition, “Rat Race,” the Trey Wright Trio surrounds the listener in an envelope that is moody and seductive. It holds you there expectantly until the final sustained notes of “Reprise,” another Trey Wright original. In between these bookends are five more original pieces by Mr. Wright and covers of songs by Soundgarden (“Blow Up the Outside World”), Marlon Patton (“Monty’s Joyride”—he’s also the trio’s drummer and the CD producer) and Thom York (“Analyze”)...MORE