Music
Charles Lloyd, Jumping the Creek (ECM)
There’s a spiritual quality that permeates the music of Charles Lloyd. Rich layers of depth coupled with emotional integrity performed with sublime intensity, finesse and presence. The recording opens with […]
Tord Gustavsen, The Ground (ECM)
Tord Gustavsen’s Changing Places, his debut as a leader on ECM, announced the graceful talent of a jazz pianist with impeccable taste. His follow up The Ground finds Gustavsen’s piano […]
Johnny Smith Quintet featuring Stan Getz, Moonlight in Vermont (Roulette Jazz)
Rising from dirt poor beginnings in Birmingham and New Orleans, Johnny Smith found himself in Maine as a youngster where he taught himself to play the guitar. The only gig […]
Paul Reddick, Villanelle (NorthernBlues Music)
Paul Reddick’s Villanelle is one of those records that just grows on you and keeps the listener interested on several levels. First of all, the instrumentation is a nicely balanced […]
Omara Portuondo, Flor de Amor (World Circuit/Nonesuch)
Cuban vocalist Omara Portuondo made her mark in the 1960s when she embraced the bossa nova music of Brazil then kept a low profile until her rediscovery via the Buena […]
Madeleine Peyroux, Careless Love (Rounder)
Madeleine Peyroux spent her early years in Georgia, California, and New York before moving to Paris as a teenager, embracing the bohemian lifestyle of a street singer. Peyroux’s approach is […]
Willie Nelson, It Always Will Be (Lost Highway)
Throughout Willie Nelson’s long career there have been certain recordings that are absolutely pristine and beautiful. “Stardust” immediately comes to mind, so does the title selection of this latest effort: […]
Samir Jordan, Tamaas (Daqui/ Harmoni Mundi)
Brothers Samir and Wissam Joubran hail from a musical family from Nazareth in the Galilee and play absolutely stunning music on their oud duet recording Tamaas. Every note is played […]
Tony Bennett, The Art of Romance (Columbia)
Simultaneously intimate and epic, Tony Bennett’s The Art of Romance is a delicate and lovely recording perfectly enhanced with the subtleties of jazz and the grandeur of Johnny Mandel’s lush […]
