{"id":16316,"date":"2019-04-08T05:30:40","date_gmt":"2019-04-08T09:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=16316"},"modified":"2019-04-10T13:18:11","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T17:18:11","slug":"reviews-of-five-new-jazz-titles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/08\/reviews-of-five-new-jazz-titles\/","title":{"rendered":"Reviews of Five New Jazz Titles"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Tony Bennett & Diana Krall \u2013 Love is Here to Stay<\/i><\/b>
\nTony Bennett is an American institution (watch for my interview with him, coming soon). At age 92 he\u2019s still going strong, long after most all of his contemporaries have left us. Diana Krall is only a bit over half Bennett\u2019s age, but she\u2019s well established as one of her (my) generation’s finest jazz vocalists. It\u2019s fitting \u2013 if not inevitable \u2013 that the two would eventually team up for a sultry stroll through the Great American Songbook. With superb backing (Bill Charlap Trio) the two tackle a dozen songs the likes of which won\u2019t surprise listeners. But the seeming effortlessness with which they deliver the songs is a true delight. Bennett\u2019s voice is surprisingly like it was decades ago, and Krall could \u2013 as the shopworn saying goes \u2013 sing the telephone book and it would sound great. Everything about Love is Here to Stay<\/i> is understated, but when you\u2019re these cats, there\u2019s nothing to prove, so you do it the way you want. Bennett and Krall are so assured that they happily give space for pianist Charlap trio to drop in the occasional tasty solo, too. The pair\u2019s classic phrasing and smooth back-and-forth is spot-on. Each takes a solo break (for Krall it\u2019s \u201cBut Not for Me,\u201d and for Bennett it\u2019s \u201cWho Cares?\u201d) that\u2019s a delight, but it\u2019s the pairing-up that really makes this disc special.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Gil Evans Orchestra \u2013 Hidden Treasures Volume One: Monday Nights<\/i><\/b>
\nGil Evans was a giant of jazz; he was a key figure in the development of several substyles. To some, he\u2019s best known as a Miles Davis associate, but there is much more to his work. Evans passed away more than 30 years ago, but today his band is led by his son (pointedly named Miles Evans). And all of the thrilling ambience of the elder Evans\u2019 work is on display in tis 21st<\/sup> century recording. Ten core musicians (including Gil Evans associate and brother of bassist Tony, keyboardist Pete Levin) are joined variously by auxiliary players . Some of them are fairly obvious choices (the ubiquitous but undeniably talented Paul Shaffer, for example), while others are quite unexpected (guitarist Vernon Reid on trumpeter Miles Evans\u2019 original Steely Dan-flavored number \u201cLL Funk\u201d). The set is a tasty mix of classic and more modern (urbane funk-jazz) approaches, and it all works. Even when synthesizer is used (as on the orchestral-tinged \u201cI Surrender\u201d) it\u2019s done in a tasteful way that\u2019s fully integrated in to the arrangement, never showy or scene-stealing. This set is a fine collection worthy of its namesake.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jeff Goldblum & the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra \u2013 The Capitol Studios Sessions<\/i><\/b>
\nThere is, I think, a healthy tendency among critics to look upon potential busman\u2019s-holiday efforts as just that. Such a perspective brings skepticism to album releases by artists better known as actors. That said, Jeff Goldblum knows how to play that piano, and he lead s a band. His quirky persona meshes well with a swingin\u2019 cocktail-vibed collection of vocal jazz numbers featuring talented friends. Using a proven approach favored by the great Cannonball Adderley, Goldblum assembled band and audience in an ersatz club inside the Capitol Records building. With a peerless selection of songs \u2013 the set opens with Herbie Hancock\u2019s soul jazz classic \u201cCantaloupe Island\u201d \u2013 Goldblum and band deliver in a big way. There is, of course, little about The Capitol Studios Sessions<\/i> that identifies it as a current-day recording. What does give it away is the onstage guest list: Haley Reinhart, Imelda May, trumpeter Till Br\u00f6nner and a surprisingly competent Sarah Silverman. The band really cooks \u2013 simmers, actually \u2013 and Goldblum is a superbly expressive pianist. Even chestnuts like \u201cCaravan\u201d are performed in a way that feels both true to the original spirit and some combination of timeless and modern. A delight.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jorge Nila \u2013 Tenor Time<\/i><\/b>
\nThe tenor saxophone holds an important place in the history of jazz. On this new recording, Jorge Nila pays tribute to the masters of the instrument, a list that (from his perspective at least) includes Lester Young, Dexter Gordon, Hank Mobley, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Stanley Turrentine, Joe Henderson, Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt and Harold Vick. It\u2019s hard to argue with those choices, nor with the songs chosen to represent each of them on this album. Some of the choices are expected (\u201cSoul Station in tribute to Mobley) but Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u201cRocket Love\u201d is an unexpected choice that still fits in well among the older classics. Nila\u2019s band is small (guitar, drums and organ); while there\u2019s plenty of ensemble playing and individual soloing, that configuration keeps the focus primarily on the horn.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ted Piltzecker \u2013 Brindica<\/i><\/b>
\nIt\u2019s not all that uncommon for a jazz player to be a multi-instrumentalist. But trumpet and vibes are an unlikely combination. Though he studied at the Eastman School of Music as a trumpeter, Ted Piltzecker ended up playing the vibes. And that\u2019s fine; that storied instrument is among the most expressive and lively tools in the jazz idiom. Here, Piltzecker plays nearly as much marimba, a similar instrument, albeit one with a slightly more gimmicky sound. It\u2019s when he moves over to the vibes that he really shines. The rich interplay between the band (various combinations of some 16 players) is the true star of this set. The tracks are nicely varied, showcasing the vibraphone\u2019s appeal across a wide array of jazz styles. Piltzecker is equally at home playing with understated nuance as he is tearing up the scale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tony Bennett & Diana Krall \u2013 Love is Here to Stay Tony Bennett is an American institution (watch for my interview with him, coming soon). At age 92 he\u2019s still […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16319,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,49,65],"tags":[3757,3758,3760,3759,3761,2243],"class_list":["post-16316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jazz","category-new-release","category-review","tag-diana-krall","tag-gil-evans","tag-jeff-goldblum","tag-jorge-nila","tag-ted-piltzecker","tag-tony-bennett","cat-42-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16316"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16322,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16316\/revisions\/16322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}