{"id":27987,"date":"2024-08-23T05:30:10","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T09:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=27987"},"modified":"2024-08-20T15:01:37","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T19:01:37","slug":"hundred-word-reviews-for-august-2024-jazz-and-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/23\/hundred-word-reviews-for-august-2024-jazz-and-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundred-word Reviews for August 2024: Jazz and Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s five more hundred-word reviews. No frills, right to the point (more or less), these are quick takes on albums deserving of an attentive listen. Do check \u2018em out. This batch focuses on jazz and\/or blues.<\/p>\n

\"\"Something Else! ft. Vincent Herring \u2013 Soul Jazz<\/i><\/b>
\nIf you\u2019re going to title your album Soul Jazz<\/i>, you had best bring the goods; there\u2019s a proud tradition of music contained in that word-pairing. If you call your jazz outfit Something Else! \u2013 a title that suggests both Cannonball Adderley and Ornette Coleman \u2013 the same is doubly true. Happily, thus septet does indeed have and deliver what it takes to impress. Classics from Horace Silver, Eddie Harris, Donald Byrd and Herbie Hancock are served up in fine, thrilling fashion. The vibe is as real as it gets: the whole set was cut in a single day at NYC\u2019s Smoke Club.<\/p>\n

\"\"Fabulous Thunderbirds \u2013 Struck Down<\/i><\/b>
\nThe modern blues outfit fronted by Kim Wilson has gone through many lineups; as of 2024 the T-Birds are (depending on how you count) on their ninth guitarist, eighth drummer, seventh bassist and second keyboardist. But what matters is the music. This lineup is more blues and less rock than the peak-commercial period, but it\u2019s all good. A heavy reliance on guests can signal a paucity of ideas, but when the guests are this high-profile, one doesn\u2019t worry so much. Bonnie Raitt, Keb Mo\u2019, Elvin Bishop, Taj Mahal and Billy Gibbons are among those who drop by to help out.<\/p>\n

\"\"Frank London \u2013 Spirit Stronger Than Blood<\/i><\/b>
\nTrumpeter London heads a quartet (quintet on half the tracks) for this impassioned set of tunes. There\u2019s a spiritual and meditative quality to the tracks, but prospective listeners shouldn’t take that description to mean that the music on Spirit Stronger Than Blood<\/em> is placid. With a vaguely Spanish feel, \u201cLet There Be Peace\u201d starts out one way but shifts to another, more accessible approach. The music swings, but it seems designed more for deep listening than casual enjoyment. Melodic passages brush up against jagged, more dissonant sections, keeping the listener on his or her toes. The tunes are nicely varied.<\/p>\n

\"\"Kiki Valera \u2013 <\/b>Vac<\/b><\/i>il\u00f3<\/b><\/i>n Santiaguero<\/b><\/i>
\nMy interest in Son Cubano<\/i> \u2013 the indigenous jazz of the Caribbean island \u2013 has been growing of late, and the music of Kiki Valera deserves much credit for that. Director of the century-old Familia Valera music ensemble in Santiago, he\u2019s an exemplar of the form. This is Valera\u2019s second album to get a U.S. release, and it\u2019s a delight. In the same way that Buena Vista Social Club sparked a craze a few decades back, Vac<\/i>il\u00f3<\/i>n Santiaguero<\/i> deserves to take off in a big way. Heartfelt and spirited, it\u2019s tradition, timeless and terrific. Interested in Cuban music? You should start here.<\/p>\n

\"\"Matthew Whitaker \u2013 On Their Shoulders: An Organ Tribute<\/i><\/b>
\nHammond organist Whitaker pays tribute to some of the giants of jazz organ on this tasty set. Working with a bigger ensemble than the traditional organ trio, Whitaker\u2019s set features guitarists, electric bassist, a spirited horn section and more. Organ is at the center, but there\u2019s much more going on. Tunes written or popularized by Dr. Lonnie Smith, Jimmy Smith and Joey DeFrancesco figure into the mix. With fulsome stomps and claps (but oddly no vocals), the New Hope Baptist Church choir takes center stage on \u201cExpect Your Miracle.\u201d It\u2019s gospel for people who don\u2019t think they like the stuff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s five more hundred-word reviews. No frills, right to the point (more or less), these are quick takes on albums deserving of an attentive listen. Do check \u2018em out. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27991,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,42,49,65],"tags":[804,5495,5494,5492,5493],"class_list":["post-27987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-jazz","category-new-release","category-review","tag-fabulous-thunderbirds","tag-frank-london","tag-kiki-valera","tag-matthew-whitaker","tag-vincent-herring","cat-9-id","cat-42-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27987"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27993,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27987\/revisions\/27993"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}