Various New England Conservatory Affiliates - Art-I-Facts: Great Performances from 40 Years of Jazz at NEC

When considering Boston institutions of jazz education and performance the venerable New England Conservatory (NEC) might not be the first that comes to mind—Berklee College of Music is just down the street—but NEC has a very long and rich jazz history. Gunther Schuler, classical French horn player, composer and jazz aficionado, founded the country’s first accredited jazz program at NEC in 1969. This ART-I-FACTS CD contains 14 tracks of selected jazz performances between the years of 1973-2007 and includes musicians drawn from NEC students, faculty, alumni and affiliates including VIPs Bob Brookmeyer, Ran Blake, Jaki Byard, Steve Lacy, Joe Maneri, Harvey Mason and George Russell...MORE

George Winston - Love Will Come: The Music of Vince Guaraldi, Volume 2

Grammy Award Winning Pianist George Winston has released a new CD of solo piano music in a tribute to Vince Guaraldi: Love Will Come: The Music of Vince Guaraldi, Volume 2. Vince Guaraldi will always be associated with the “Charlie Brown” television specials and the “Peanuts” characters conceived by Charles M. Schulz. He created the sounds of “Charlie Brown” that remain indelible in our minds. But, Guaraldi was also a successful jazz musician. He was part of the early Cal Tjader Trio and also had a hit of his own with “Cast Your Fate to the Wind.” Winston honors both facets of Vince Guaraldi with this new CD which is the follow-on to his first Guaraldi tribute recording in 1996, Linus & Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi...MORE

Herb Alpert - Anything Goes: Herb Alpert & Lani Hall Live

Sometimes within a few notes of a recording you can identify polished, seasoned, talented professionals. That is the clearly the case with Anything Goes. Alpert—founder of the incredibly successful “Tijuana Brass” and A&M Records, and also a successful Broadway producer—and Lani Hall—former singer with “Sergio Mendes and Brazil ’66,” solo performer and Alpert’s wife—have not cooled off a bit. Alpert has said that despite his early career in pop music he is really a jazz musician at heart and it shows on this CD featuring jazz standards by Berlin, Gershwin, Lerner & Loewe, Mercer and Porter. There are also a couple of Brazilian classics and a couple of originals by band member, Bill Cantos (piano, keyboards, vocals) thrown in, adding up to an admirable 14-track work of traditional and Latin jazz...MORE

Jeff Jolly Band - Jeff Jolly's Pizza

The Jeff Jolly Band plays an eclectic and inventive mix of styles that includes rock, roots, country, Americana and R&B, all written by Jolly (except “Trip Through Your Wire,” U2). That originality is what makes Jeff Jolly’s Pizza well worth listening to. It communicates Jolly’s enjoyment writing it and the band’s pleasure in playing it; so it follows that we find it gratifying to hear. The compositions cover a range of observations about the human condition, but even when the topics are somber, the joy of the music prevails. It seems as though we are being performed for rather than just being presented with a collection of recorded songs...MORE

Hamilton Loomis - Live in England

Hamilton Loomis’ association with Bo Diddley has certainly been a promotional boon to his career, and while he often honors Diddley in performances and recordings, he is not an imitator. In addition to the overt homage, “Who Do You Love Medley,” during which he plays a signed Bo Diddley box guitar, Loomis incorporates Diddley’s signature beat into several songs (“Best Worst Day,” “Get My Blues On,” “Turnin’ Heads”). But, don’t expect a Diddley clone when you listen to Loomis’ modernized blues/rock/funk mix. Unlike the static harmony and rhythm often used by Diddley, Loomis employs richer, modulating harmonies, catchy, chromatic bluesy riffs and a complex rhythmic structure...MORE

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