Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra; Darrell Katz, Director - Live at the Regattabar, Charles Hotel, Cambridge, MA October 12, 2010

The Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra debuted in late1985 and they have now released 8 critically acclaimed CDs since their first recording in 1992. The Regattabar performance on October 12, 2010 was the release party for their latest CD, “A Wallflower In The Amazon.” The JCA Orchestra is led by founder Darrell Katz, who, teamed with lyricist Paula Tatarunis, composes or arranges the orchestra’s material. Many of the other band members have deep roots in the jazz community as bandleaders, composers, arrangers and teachers: Phil Scarff, tenor sax (Natraj), Alan Chase and Jim Hobbs, alto sax (Fully Celebrated Orchestra), Bob Pilkington, trombone (Chandler Travis), Norm Zocher, electric and steel guitar (Abby and Norm Group) and Rebecca Shrimpton, voice (Rebecca Shrimpton Quintet). These examples serve as a meager sampling of the JCA Orchestra’s sundry bona fide credits...MORE...

Norm Zocher Group - Live at Berklee Performance Center September 23, 2010

Norm Zocher is often identified as a fusion guitarist, a convenient label but only marginally applicable and potentially misleading. Zocher, prolific composer (Boston Jazz Composers Alliance) and Berklee College of Music professor, performs many of his own compositions and his tastes run cross-genre. For this particular concert at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston, he played nearly half (5 of 12) of the tunes on pedal steel guitar, most notably “Giant Steps” by John Coltrane and “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Zocher has changed with the times, many years ago performing as half of a folk duo with his now wife, Abigail Aronson. Aronson was not part of this Berklee performance but they are still a team on stage and off with two CDs, (Volume 1: The Book of Norman and Melodic Miner’s Daughter) among their many credits. Zocher was joined Thursday night (September 23, 2010) by Alex Smith, bass and Pablo Bencid, drums,  for the Norm Zocher Group @ Berklee – 20th Anniversay Concert in celebration of Zocher’s 20th year at Berklee...MORE..

Dave Liebman Group - Live at Scullers Jazz Club, Doubletree Guest Suites, Boston, MA September 16, 2010

During an incredible career spanning more than 40 years and over 300 recordings Dave Liebman has been sideman, leader, teacher, composer, writer and philosopher. Perhaps most often publically recognized for his early work with Elvin Jones and Miles Davis, he defies being boxed into a cool jazz, hard bop, modal, fusion or any other stylistic cubbyhole. In fact, by his own admission, and even within his own compositions he rarely settles on an ultimate conclusion, a set-in-stone finality. He philosophizes that for the active, progressive artist, tastes shift, aesthetics are continually refined and additional knowledge and experiences are constantly being assimilated. Things change...MORE...

Jon Irabagon Trio - Live at Cornelia Street Cafe, New York, NY

The Cornelia Street Café music venue is a bit like a railroad dining car, long and narrow, walls lined with mirrors substituting for windows. Though steadfastly situated at 29 Cornelia Street in the West Village, this evening the basement room was lurching and the glasses were rattling from the railings of the Jon Irabagon Trio as they marked the release of their new CD, Foxy. On tenor sax: Jon Irabagon, winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition, backed by Peter Brendler on bass and illustrious drummer Barry Altschul, who is also credited as “Special Guest” on Foxy. Since the Monk competition Irabagon has garnered much attention and a loyal following to which he has fed an eclectic diet of performances and CD releases in styles that are a discursion through the landscape of modern jazz and more: avant bebop (Mostly Other People Do The Killing), experimental (I Don’t Hear Nothing But The Blues), music of the 80s (Starship’s Journey), tribute to Sonny Rollins, avant country (Bryan and the Haggards), etc...MORE...

George Cotsirilos Trio - Past Present

To listen to Past Present without a modicum of background knowledge on San Francisco guitarist George Cotsirilos, while unquestionably enjoyable, would be like starting the first chapter of an important book without first reading the forward which can provide the reader with information to facilitate greater enjoyment and comprehension of the material.  And, so it is with Past Present. The George Cotsirilos Trio is a modern jazz guitar trio and as such one might expect to hear flashy guitar runs and electronic enhancements (distortion, wah-wah), not so on this recording. Knowing that Cotsirilos learned guitar by emulating traditional jazz greats such as Kenny Burrell and Charlie Byrd helps explain his clean, round, unadulterated sound. His technical mastery is immediately apparent but he does not stoop to self-indulgent hooky licks, or over-the-top misplaced breakneck runs. Knowing that Cotsirilos has a love of classical music (he played violin as a child) and that his first CD, Silenciosa, was a solo classical style guitar solo of standards enhances our appreciation of the beautiful rendition here of “What Kind Of Fool Am I?” on classical style nylon string guitar. Cotsirilos studied piano in high school, so it is not surprising then to find out that Track 1, “Good Wood,” is offered as a tribute to bop pianist Cedar Walton. And, blue notes scattered throughout emanate from his love of 1960s blues greats B.B. King and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band...MORE...

Jamie Begian Big Band - Live at New York Baha’i Center July 20, 2010

The Jamie Begian Big Band recently released their second CD, Big Fat Grin, a mix of modern jazz, R&B funk and improvisation. On Tuesday, July 20th they performed selections from the release for Jazz Night at the New York Baha’i Center’s John Birks Gillespie Auditorium, a wonderfully intimate and comfortable venue with great acoustics. But, as the Lilliputian stage bulges with the seventeen piece big band you wonder if the sound can be contained and appreciated within the hall walls. Not to worry, not only is the room well-designed to handle just such situations, but the band and the compositions are precise, tightly controlled and well-balanced. From a softly muted solo trombone on “Tayloration Three” to full band blasts on “Big Fat Grin” the context as well as the spirit of the music shines through. Quoting from popular culture, the hot side stayed hot and the cold side stayed cold...MORE...

Jim Guttmann - Live at The Acton Jazz Cafe, July 16, 2010

What would you get if you crossed a banjo, an electric guitar and big band jazz with a Jewish wedding reception? One result might be Jim Guttmann and his extraordinary group of musicians performing selections from their new release,Bessarabian Breakdown. That’s exactly what a small roomful of fortunate Acton Jazz Café patrons experienced for about an hour on the evening of July 16, 2010. Guttmann—who acted as amusing emcee between songs—described the band’s sound as; “Klezmer gone ‘Deliverance’,” at which point the pianist (Art Bailey) played a snippet of “Dueling Banjos,” but in the minor tonal mode of a Klezmer tune. It was hilarious for anyone familiar with the movie and the music, which in this case seemed to be most of the house. It also set the tone for the evening: great music played with gusto and for the enjoyment of life. Many of the band members are long time collaborators with Guttmann, Grant Smith (drums) and Mimi Rabson (violin), for instance, and all are masters of their instruments and their craft. As one of my companions—a young man from Rwanda, visiting America and hearing a live Klezmer band both for the very first time—said, “They are all so good (on their instruments) that they can just have fun playing the music they enjoy.” ...MORE...