Home Articles posted by Ekreader (Page 12)

Flying with the Super band Flying Colors’ Album Second Nature!

One of the albums that I’ve been listening to over the last month or so is the second release from Flying Colors Second Nature. Flying Colors is a band composed of  a terrific group of musicians. Here’s the story about the genesis of the band. From the band’s website… It started with a simple idea: virtuoso musicians and a pop singer joining to make new-fashioned music the old fashioned way. A band followed, evolving into Flying Colors: Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals), Dave LaRue (bass), Neal Morse (keyboards, vocals), Casey McPherson (lead vocals), and Steve Morse (guitar). Together, they create a unique…

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Exploring the Music of Jazz Pianist McCoy Tyner

Today Jazz Piano great McCoy Tyner celebrates his 76 th birthday, Happy Birthday, McCoy. So let’s celebrate his birthday by exploring the music of this great jazz pianist McCoy Tyner!  From his biography at Facebook, It is not an overstatement to say that modern jazz has been shaped by the music of McCoy Tyner. His blues-based piano style, replete with sophisticated chords and an explosively percussive left hand has transcended conventional styles to become one of the most identifiable sounds in improvised music. His harmonic contributions and dramatic rhythmic devices form the vocabulary of a majority of jazz pianists. Here’s some…

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Jazz Guitar Great Wes Montgomery Goes “Pop”!

  Wes Montgomery Plays “Windy”   Wes Montgomery was a great jazz guitarist, but his most successful album A Day in the Life, and single  “Windy”  were more “Pop” than jazz. However, back in 1967 and ’68, when I was listening mostly to rock and pop music, it was through Montgomery’s albums on A&M records, that I discovered the incredible jazz guitar of  Wes Montgomery. Wes recorded three  albums for A&M, A Day in the Life, Down Here on the Ground, and  Road Song.  All of the albums contained Montgomery covering pop songs of the day,  like “Windy” and “A Day…

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“Into the Morning” with “Billie’s Bounce Kenny Barron and Dave Holland

So over the last few days, I have listened to the new album from Kenny Barron and Dave Holland The Art of Conversation and I will try to write about it tomorrow. But for now let’s go “into the morning” with a video of Kenny and Dave performing “Billie’s Bounce” and for folks like me, here’s a little about the song… from Wikipedia… “Billie’s Bounce” (also known as “Bill’s Bounce”) is a jazz composition written in 1945 by Charlie Parker in the form of a 12 bar F blues. It was dedicated to Billy Shaw by the Yardbird. The original…

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This Date in Jazz – November 28th – Happy Birthday Acoustic Guitar Wiz – Goh Kurosawa!

So I started this mornings birthday reviews at All About Jazz by looking for a younger jazz artists and one that caught my eye because of his name was Goh Kurosawa. I went to his page at All About Jazz where I read: ”It has been often said that to listen to Goh Kurosawa is to force oneself to abandon any notion of category or genre. While it is true that he flows effortlessly between flamenco, jazz, rock, samba and even classical, it should not be said that Goh has not firmly planted his flag in the fabled land of…

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Exploring the Latest Release from Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio – We’re Back

To create the latest release from Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio,  you start with drummer Gerry Gibbs, son of vibraphonist Terry Gibbs. Then you add some bass from legendary bassist Ron Carter, and finally you let pianist Kenny Barron loose to weave his way  in and around the deep grooves laid down by his mates. You then mix in some fantastic covers of some big hits from the 60s and 70s, and when it all comes together you call it We’re Back, the latest release form Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio! Their first album was self-titled and released about a year…

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Exploring the Music of Jazz Saxophonist Vincent Herring on his birthday – November 19th!!

Among those who are celebrating their birthdays today is jazz saxophonist Vincent Herring, who was born on this day, November 19th in 1964. The year of the great Phillies collapse and the year I went to both a World Series game and the baseball All-Star game in New York. It was a great year for a 13 year-old! Anyway, back to Vincent Herring, even though he has released albums as a leader since 1989’s American Experience, I just discovered his music back in January, when I listened to his 2013 releaseThe Uptown Shuffle, to say the least I was very impressed…

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Exploring the Jazz Saxophone of Houston Person, following his birthday!!

  Houston Person – Saxophone  (born November 10, 1934) Houston Person is a jazz artist whose name I have seen on the JazzWeek Chart, as recently as this week. His latest release as a leader The Melody Lingers On is now at # 9. I had yet to listen to any of his music until last week. To be more specific,   I listened to two albums on his birthday, November 1oth. The albums nI listened to were Something in Common  from 1989 and Now’s the Time. Now’s the Time, released in 1990, was recorded with legendary bassist Ron Carter. Both albums were released on…

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Babysitting Granddaughter Zoe leads to the New Age Music of A Beginner’s Mind – Thanks Zoe!

So last week while I was babysitting my two month-old granddaughter Zoe, I had Soundscapes one of Comcast’s Music Choice  stations on the TV. My thought was that the instrumental New Age music would keep us both relaxed, and I think that for the most part it did the trick, at least for me. Some old friends like R Carlos Nakai and Peter Kater made an appearance with a track from their album Ritual, along with some music from David Arkenstone. There also was  a lot of music from folks that I didn’t know, like Armand & Angelina and their…

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Exploring the Jazz Piano of Eric Reed on his Smoke Session Records – Groovewise!

Many of the 2014 jazz albums that I have explored this year have been released on the Smoke Sessions label, from Vincent Herring’s Uptown Shuffle to Orrin Evans Liberation Blues, with albums from Javon Jackson, Cyrus Chestnut and David Hazeltine in between! The latest Smoke Session Records release that has spent extended time in my music rotation is Groovewise from pianist Eric Reed. After doing a little exploring at both Reed’s website where I read…. When I was 4, my Aunt Barbara gave me an inch high stack of used vinyl records that she purchased for about 25 cents from…

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