{"id":30344,"date":"2025-12-17T05:30:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T10:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=30344"},"modified":"2025-12-17T08:02:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T13:02:13","slug":"hundred-word-reviews-for-december-2025-blues-soul-and-jazz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/17\/hundred-word-reviews-for-december-2025-blues-soul-and-jazz\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundred-word Reviews for December 2025: Blues, Soul and Jazz"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s another round of capsule reviews of new (well, newish<\/i>) releases, covered in a tidy 100 words.<\/p>\n

\"\"Charlie Rouse Band \u2013 Cinnamon Flower (Expanded Edition)<\/i><\/b>
\nThis Zev Feldman project is an expanded reissue of tenor saxophonist Rouse\u2019s 1977 album. Cinnamon Flower<\/i> (also released as Brazil<\/i>) was his eighth album (counting collaborative projects). A Latin-tinged project, the album as originally released featured overdubs; this release features the entire set in an undubbed version as well. The album is evenly split between kinetic, uptempo numbers and more serene tunes. \u201cBackwoods Echo\u201d and \u201cClove and Cinnamon\u201d are among the highlights. While in places the set sounds very much of its time, the music has aged well overall. Packaging and notes are up to Feldman\u2019s customary extremely high standard.<\/p>\n

\"\"Blood Brothers \u2013 Help Yourself<\/i><\/b>
\nMike Zito and Albert Castiglia are both leading lights in modern-day blues. Between the two of them they\u2019ve turned out nearly three dozen albums. Beginning in 2023, the two famed guitarists teamed up as Blood Brothers; Help Yourself<\/i> is their third release (and second studio outing) together. The ten songs here are nearly evenly split between Zito compositions and tunes written by Castiglia. The vibe is very much blues-rock, and the writing and arrangement make a strong case for their collaboration. Blood Brothers are at their best when they combine their considerable strengths, as on the twin-lead-guitarfest \u201cProve My Love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Socrates Garcia \u2013 Shadows of Tomorrow<\/i><\/b>
\nLatin jazz meets modern-day big band in Shadows of Tomorrow<\/i>, an effort led by band leader Garcia. Garcia wrote, arranged and conducted all six pieces here. There\u2019s a strong uptempo feel, and the 25-plus piece orchestra is as energetic as it is tight and together. The album\u2019s second half is a three-part suite, \u201cIllusions, Delusions\u2026 a Glimmer of Hope.\u201d As is often the case with instrumental works in which the composer seeks to put across ideas without words, the listener may or may not pick up on the subtle cues within. But there\u2019s no denying the appeal of the music.<\/p>\n

\"\"Rodina ft. Joe Tatton Trio \u2013 Good Company<\/i><\/b>
\nWith the recent news that The New Mastersounds were retiring from touring, there was an expectation among fans that the band\u2019s supremely talented members would each strike out on excursions of their own. That\u2019s the case here, with organist Joe Tatton teaming up with partner Aoife Harty as Rodina. Tatton\u2019s trio \u2013 with guitarist Lucas De Mulder and drummer Luke Flowers \u2013 has a deep groove vibe that\u2019s sure to delight NMS fans. The character is subtly different, with perhaps a greater emphasis on signature licks. Many talented guest players expand the sonic palette with bass, sax, trumpet, flugelhorn, congas and more.<\/p>\n

\"\"Roomful of Blues \u2013 Steppin\u2019 Out!<\/i><\/b>
\nRoomful of Blues has been together for nearly a half century, with more than 50 musicians passing through its ranks. Tenor and alto sax man Rich Lataille is the longest-serving member, and sole member of the earliest lineup. The band has churned out many albums since its 1977 self-titled debut. On their latest, the band is fronted by powerhouse vocalist D. D. Bastos. She delivers the goods as the band continues its practice of rescuing forgotten gems from obscurity. The album includes tracks first waxed by Jimmy McCracklin, Smiley Lewis and others, and the band digs into them with verve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s another round of capsule reviews of new (well, newish) releases, covered in a tidy 100 words. Charlie Rouse Band \u2013 Cinnamon Flower (Expanded Edition) This Zev Feldman project is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,42,49,65,69],"tags":[4880,5801,5800,5799,3429,5798,4166,5802],"class_list":["post-30344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-jazz","category-new-release","category-review","category-soul","tag-albert-castiglia","tag-blood-brothers","tag-charlie-rouse","tag-joe-tatton","tag-mike-zito","tag-rodina","tag-roomful-of-blues","tag-socrates-garcia","cat-9-id","cat-42-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","cat-69-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30344","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=30344"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30553,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30344\/revisions\/30553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}