CD Review: Ithamara Koorax - Got to be Real

CD Review: Ithamara Koorax - Got to be Real

The song selection and the effective use of the synthesizer on Ithamara Koorax new release Got to be real gives the album a vintage 70s feel. The first half of the album starting with the slow, sexy, smooth jazz arrangement of this Disco hit "Got to be real" has a that distinct fusion jazz sound.

Koorax displays her amazing range and sultry, sexy voice all throughout the album and even though all the musicians do a great job on Got to be real, Koorax and her voice are the stars here, especially on the bossa nova arrangements of "Up, up an away", and "Going out of my head".

On the second half of the album, Koorax goes into her brazilian roots in the samba "Toque de cuica", the sublime interpretation of Joao Gilberto "Ho ba la la", and the beautiful ballad "Negue". But two of the highlights of the album are Cole Porter "I get a kick out of you", where Koorax demonstrates she is a true jazz singer capable of swinging with the best, and on the ingenious samba arrangement of "My Favorite Things". On the eclectic blend of styles on Got to be real (bossa nova, samba, jazz, mpb, smooth and fusion jazz) Koorax shows once again why she is recognized as one of the best female jazz singers in recent years.

Tracks: Got to be real, Up up and away, Never can say goodbye, Goin’ out of my head, Can’t take my eyes off of you, Butterfly, I get a out of you, Toque de cuica, Negue, My Favorite Things, Ho ba la la, Pigmaliao 70, Vesti Azul

Musicians: Jose Roberto Bertrami – organs, Rhodes, synthesizer, Jorge Pescara – bass, Haroldo Jobim – drums, Arnaldo DeSouteiro – percussion, Sidinho Moreira – percussion, Paulo Fernando Marcondes Ferraz – percussion, Marcelo Martins – tenor sax, Jesse Sadoc – trumpet, Aldivas Ayres - trombone

CD Review: Denny Zeitlin - Labyrinth

CD Review: Denny Zeitlin - Labyrinth

With an intro that borders the avant-garde ala Cecil Taylor, Denny Zeitlin welcomes the listener to his innovative and gorgeous interpretation of the Wayne Shorter classic, “Footprints”, the first track of his live solo piano album Labyrinth. Zeitlin playing is emotionally and technically intense, even in his beautiful renditions of the lyrical Tom Harrell bossa nova, “Sail Away” and the Irvin Berlin standard “They say it’s wonderful”.

The intensity increase and Zeitlin demonstrates his impeccable technique with dazzling high speed runs in the fast tempo “Lazy Bird”, a composition by John Coltrane. The tempo slows down for the emotional and sublime sound of the ballad “As long as there’s music” and the outstanding Zeitlin original composition, “Labyrinth”, a track with unexpected melodic, rhythmic and harmonic twists and turns.

Zeitlin also embarks in harmonic and tempo explorations on his interpretation of the classic show tune from the Rodgers and Hammerstein 1943 musical Oklahoma and on Arthur Schwartz “Dancing in the Dark”. Zeitlin goes to Brasil on his samba influenced original composition “Brazilian Street Dance”, a piece with dense textures and rhythms. The album close with “Slipstream”, another Zeitlin intense original also reminiscent of Cecil Taylor free improvisations.

CD Review: Deborah De Blasi – Ben Et Nat

CD Review: Deborah De Blasi – Ben Et Nat

Playful with sense of humor, and a lot of sensuality, that is the music of Deborah De Blasi. De Blassi style borrows from lots of places, it has a distinct French feel but with a vintage sound. The rhythm and lead guitar on the songs “Cette Fille Est Un Canon”, “Chemise Swing” and “Vas-Y Swingle Gitani” echoes the sound of the great French jazz guitar player Django Reinhardt. De Blasi slows down on the exquisite Bossa Nova “Mes Petites Chaussures En Daim”.

De Blasi goes back to the French sound on the frantic pace of the album title “Ben Et Nat”, “Mirabelle Swing”, Week-end A Metz” and “Sur Les Routes De France”. De Blasi sensuality is more evident on songs like “Mon Ange” and “Mon Pays”, the lyrics sounds provocative even if one do not understand French. As good as De Blasi is as a singer, she is even better as a composer. These are not French classics, all songs on the release are De Blasi originals, including the two Spanish lyrics, “Que hare de mi” and “Para mis sobrinos”.

CD Review: Janysett Mc Pherson – Tres Almas

CD Review: Janysett Mc Pherson – Tres Almas

Sweet and melodious, Janysett McPherson is an outstanding chanteuse equally comfortable singing in French, “Belle Ile en Mer”, “Jamais Dormir”, “J’ai vu” or Spanish, “Busca tu fe”, Tres Almas”. McPherson voice captives the listener from the first song “Belle Ile in Mer”. Her soulful style shines especially on the pop ballad “Poque tu existes”, the jazz ballad “Alby”, the bolero “Calla” and the bossa “Jamais Dormir”.

Andy Narell brings some Caribbean flavor playing the steel drums on the album title track Tres Almas. One of the jazzier tracks on the album is the composition “La Stella”, where McPherson demonstrates she is just as good as a pianist, playing lyrical lines with brilliance and intensity. Besides Andy Narell, other special guests on Tres Almas are Didier Lockwood, Yannick Socca and Sylvian Gontard.

Tracks: Belle Ile en Mer, Porque tu existes, Busca tu fe, Alby, Tres Almas, Jamais Dormir, Calla, La Stella, Dices, J’ai vu

Cd Review: Alex Diaz – Beyond 145th Street

Cd Review: Alex Diaz – Beyond 145th Street

Dominican Republic is not the first country that comes to mind when thinking about Jazz, even though one of the best jazz pianist in the last couple of decades is from this country, of course I am talking about Michel Camilo. And Jazz, a music style born out of fusion and already fused with almost any other Latin American music style, never has tried to fuse with Dominican folk music. With his album Beyond 145th Street Alex Diaz & his Merengue Jazz is trying the first serious attempt to do just that.

At first I was skeptic about the results and thought this fusion could only works if the merengue rhythms were diluted enough for the jazz melodies and intricate harmonies to shine through. But that is not what these guys did. The merengue rhythmic foundation (merengue is one of various folk rhythms out of Dominican Republic) is pretty accentuated all throughout the album. And the results are quite good. People will be pleasantly surprised when listening to the interesting and danceable versions of Jerome Kern “Yesterdays”, Lawrence and Altman “All or nothing at all” and Sam Jones “Unit Seven”.

Part of the success of this fusion can be attributed to the amazing musicians on this album. Ray Diaz on tambora and guira, Ivan Renta on sax, Nelson Jaime on trumpet, Diego Lopez on drums, Ruben Rodriguez on bass and Pedro Bermudez on piano. Bermudez also contributed two compositions to the release, “El Tigerazo del Bebop” and the album title “Beyond 145th Street”.

Tracks: Yesterdays, Unit Seven, Santo Domingo, Catarey Meren Jam, All or nothing at all, El Tigerazo del Bebop, Ginza Samba, El Comandante, Beyond 145th Street

CD Review: Carlos Jimenez – Red Tailed Hawk

CD Review: Carlos Jimenez – Red Tailed Hawk

I have been following Carlos Jimenez career for couple years now, and wrote reviews for his two previous albums, El Flautista (The Flutist) and Thoughts. Both albums were totally different in style, a distinct latin flavor in El Flautista mellowed down with a smoother jazz sound for Thoughts. In either style Carlos always demonstrates his good sense of melody with lines that seamlessly flow in and out of the rhythms.

Carlos Jimenez latest release Red Tailed Hawk brings some surprises. For once, Jimenez decided to venture as a singer, and he is quite good. He sings in almost all the tracks on the release except on “Red Tailed Hawk”, “Tomando Café” and Rafael Hernandez “Cachita”. On these tracks Carlos concentrate on doing what he does best, playing the flute with emotion, amazing technique and limitless imagination.

Carlos Jimenez has always been an accomplished composer, especially when he goes back ti his latin roots. This album contains some outstanding original compositions, “Tanto Rogarte”, “Goza Nena”, “Tu Boquita Dulce y Maravillosa” and the title track of the album “Guaraguao” (Red Tailed Hawk), mostly influenced by Cuban rhythms like Mambo, Cha cha cha and Son. The album also includes excellent versions of latin classics like “Alma con Alma” and “Cachita”. Tracks: Tanto Rogarte, Goza Nena, Tu Boquita Dulce y Maravillosa, Alma con Alma, Red Tailed Hawk, My one and only Love, La Playa, Mambo Terrifico, Cachita, Tomando Café

CD Review: Conrado Paulino - Wrong Way

CD Review: Conrado Paulino - Wrong Way

Everytime I talk to my friend Conrado Paulino, I refer to him as a Master Musician. Because that's what he is, a truly Master musician and guitar player. There is no over playing or shortage of notes with him. When listening to Paulino's guitar you got the feeling the way he plays a song is the way it's supposed to be played. With Conrado Paulino every note counts, that is the sign of a true master.

And there is no need for other instruments, the clean and sublime sound of his guitar all throughot the album, from the first track "Isaura" is enough to keep your mind engaged and marveling at Paulino virtuosity and lyrical playing. Paulino follows in the tradition of great guitar players like Baden Powell.

Brazilian classics like Jobim "Olha para o ceu", "So danco samba" and "Dindi", Luiz Bonfa "Manha de Carnaval" and Noel Rosa "Feito de Oracao" sound even more poetic coming out of Conrado's guitar.

The album also includes wonderful versions of Buarque "Todo sentimiento", Caetano Veloso "Luz de sol", Hammerstein "All the things you are", plus two bonus tracks, "Vamos vamos" and Dorival Caymmi "Samba da minha terra".

Isaura, Olha para o ceu, Dindi, A saudade mata a gente, Feito de oracao, Manha de Carnaval, Todo sentimiento, So danco samba, Luz de Sol, Don't blame me, Ai ai ai ai ai, All the things you are, Samba de minha terra, Vamos vamos

Conrado Paulino - guitar, Alexandre Ribeiro - clarinet, Celso de Almeida - drums, percussion, Ari Colares, Beto Angerosa, Dinho Nascimento, João Marcondes - percussion.

CD Review: Huazzteco and Huazzteco - Xilitla

CD Review: Huazzteco and Huazzteco - Xilitla

The Huazzteco project is an unusual fusion of jazz with Mexican folk music. A wonderful idea by mexican pianist Samuel Martinez Herrera.

Graduated from the Music Conservatory of Puerto Rico, where he studied and played with some of the best jazz musicians from Puerto Rico, Martinez is a pianist with strong command of the jazz language. But as can be heard on Huazzteco, he is equally knowledgeable of the traditional music of his native country Mexico.

In both albums, the self titled Huazzteco and on Xilitla, Martinez brings the harmonic complexity and improvisations of jazz to Mexican music without losing it's essence and beauty.

Joel Monroig Martinez and Rodolfo Gonzalez adds the vocals to the more traditional sound of "El querreque", "La petenera" and "El llorar". Tania Arriaga sings in the album Xiltla. An album that includes latin american classics like "Currucucucu paloma" and "La bikina".

El querreque, Sesquialtera 1, La petenera, Orquesta de Quinceo, El llorar, Sesquialtera 2, El Zacamandu, Giant Steps, La pasión , La Bruja, Aquanieva y Zapateando

Joel Monroig Martinez - violin, vocals, Rodolfo Gonzalez Martinez - jarana, vocals, Jesus Castro Andriano - quinta, vocals, Ramón Sanchez Avina - flute, Savoir Faire - violin, Carlos Zambrano Morales - bass, baby bass, Guillermo Barrón Rios - cajón, Efren Capiz Castaneda - drums, Samuel Martinez Herrera - piano

La rosita arribena, Xilitla, El balaju, Pentup house, Currucucucu paloma, La Bikina, La borrachita, Sesquialtera 3

Samuel Martinez Herrera - piano, Guillermo Barrón Rios - cajón, percussion, Rodolfo Gonzalez Martinez - jarana, vocals, Emiliano Coronel Samayoa - bass, Vladimir Coronel Samayoa - drums, Tania Arriaga Zacarias - vocals

CD Review: The New World Jazz Composers Octet - Breaking News

CD Review: The New World Jazz Composers Octet - Breaking News

Breaking News is the third album of The New World Jazz Composers Octet. Founded in 2000 by saxophonist Daniel Ian Smith the octet was originally a vehicle for a concert series Smith was running entitled Jazz in the Sanctuary. The new release marks the third recording collaboration between Smith and composer Ted Pease, Professor of Jazz composition at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

The arrangements have the big sound and richness of a big band while maintaining the flexibility and looser feel of smaller ensembles. Everybody have a chance to shine on the album. Tim Ray add some tight and impeccable solos on piano in "Poco Picasso", and "Chidren Waltz" and Daniel Ian Smith gorgeous sound on the baritone sax, especially in the swinging title track "Breaking News" is one of the highlights of the album.

Ernesto Diaz on percussion adds the latin touch to the piece "Warp 7, now!", (someone in the band for sure is a Star Trek fan). The album ends up with the swinging Trilogy, "Thad's Pad", "Strays" and "Willis" and the excellent work by Catherine Hazel Smith on the spoken words of the serene piece "Song Sung Long".

Poco Picasso, Wishful Thinking, Breaking News, Children's Waltz, Warp 7 Now, Song Sung Long, Trilogy

Daniel Ian Smith - soprano, tenor, baritone saxophones, flute, Felipe Salles - tenor saxophones, flute, Ken Cervenka - trumpet, flugelhorn, Tim Ray - Piano, Keala Kaumeheiwa - bass, Mark Walker - drums, Ernesto Diaz - percussion, Catherine Hazel Smith - spoken word

CD Review: Hendrik Meurkens - Live at Bird's Eye

Recorded live at Bird's Eye Jazz Club in Basel, Switzerland, the new release by German vibraphone and harmonica player Hendrik Meurkens is without a doubt one of the best albums of 2011. Crisp music, full of intensity and emotions, Meurkens and his group, russian pianist Misha Tsiganov, bassist Gustavo Amarante and drummer Adriano Santos, takes on Joao Donato "Amazonas", "Minha Saudade", Jobim "Dindi" "Voce vai ver" and "Body and Soul" brings fresh angles and sounds to these Brazilian and Jazz classics.

Meurkens alternates throughout the album playing vibraphone on "Amazonas", "Noa Noa", "Body and Soul" and "Voce vai ver" and the harmonica on "Estate", "Dindi", and "Minha Saudade".

The albums also includes two outstanding compositions by Meurkens, the samba "Sambatropolis", and the choro "Lingua de Mosquito". On "Lingua de Mosquito" the band cleverly end quoting Jobim "Aguas de Marco".

Amazonas, Estate, Sambatropolis, Dindi, Lingua di mosquito, Noa Noa, Body and Soul, Minha Saudade, Voce Vai Ver

Hendrik Meurkens - harmonica, vibraphone, Misha Tsiganov - piano, Gustavo Amarante - bass, Adrano Santos - drums, pandeiro