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Hi World!! It's been a month of Sundays since I've sent in a review.  That said... I'm back!! I want to relegate my readers to a true vocal crafts person. I refer to the compelling and arts-oriented jazz singer Susie Arioli. So, let me count the ways thus: This is a singer who plies her talents with a particular and unique style of musical animation... ergo her ability to expound outgoing emotion in her delivery.

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A more solid sepia of past jazz giants there isn't!! The Frederick Moyer- Peter Fraenkel- Peter Tillotson jazz group is a dead ringer to re-illustrate the talents of such luminaries as Oscar Peterson, Jarrett, McPartland, Chick, et al. The N. E. based group succeeds in  convincing us their listeners that their interpretations create a freshness that is both diverse and dynamic. In their performance, one notes the quality and the pictorial canvas they paint in the re-creation of the art of each artist. The popular  musical material used is certainly romantic and nostalgic, yet not overdone... And,  the final musical product remains fresh and young! Last, the group deals successfully  in viable syncopated accents and infectiously gay artistry in their musical output resulting in recreating with near military precision the art of those that have preceded us,( mentioned above.) Long may they all reign, (posthumously or otherwise.)

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For starters, if Reed-master Ernie Watts is on any CD project, it would have to be a complete waste for me not to review it! Ernie hones up an already compelling and animated CD project overseen by producer Phil Upchurch. The group accomplishes their goal of creating musical artistry that is both  exuberant and profound. These great players help us their listeners to find expression in the explicit language of music with all it's attendant powerful  exponents. Here we have a group caught up in the wondrous act of musical creation, and instant inspiration with the sudden materialization of their combined musical ideas, resulting in a seascape of sorts of great music which is both pure and undeniable. Last, I might suggest to my readers that you are observing the creative imaginative function taking place within a  melodic, harmonic, and or rhythmic framework... An articulate effort indeed by these fine examples of our beloved jazz iidom.

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This guy has put together a slammin,' virtuosic, and rhythmic articulated big band and the players are enjoying themselves completely. The listener is awash with harmonic, textural,  and melodic nuances that define the jazz idiom. Some of the voicings and harmonic-melodic  patterns ring strong with echoes of the great bandleader and flugelhorn player, Thad Jones, and that's not a bad thing. That said, imitation is employed sparingly! The resulting interplay between music and Jens's sidemen is a viable excercise in the art of big band expression. The music displayed is decidedly interesting and the band's technique and intonation is perfectly congruous with our beloved jazz idiom... Containing a musical style that contains solid ensemble, dramatic contrast, transition, and most of all the inherent macho display that only a kick-ass big band can deliver. Groove on gentlemen!!

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Sparkle and explosive indeed! Of course, it doesn't hurt that Jeff Hamilton is one of my favorite pivotal drummers for the jazz idiom.  The group has been together for awhile and man, it shows!! Their symbiosis and control is something to be reckoned with. You have to appreciate this project as a true work of artistry between three musicians possessing uncanny instinctive musicality. Add to that their precise rhythmic articulation and voila... JAZZ ART in musical clothing. In music as in nature, there are hills and vales. These three masters are artists of genius who raise their art to such heights that we are able to breathe in their craft to a musical altitude and groove on it.. and then descend again to a more temperate harmonic-melodic level... .Until the eruption of some combined group genius idea heaves us up to a new mountain peak as it were. Drama, expression, style, influence, and jubilation is my summation for this formidable jazz trio. Live on gentlemen.

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Rhythmic articulation, style, hard driving harmonic statement, group symbiosis... It's all there! And, it edifies us, the listener... You're literally drawn in, and you're glad to be part of this musical journey!! I relegate my readers to Gary Smulyan's Hammond B-3 jazz quartet. Nothing reinvents the blues idiom more than a burnin' B-3 capably driven by the likes of this group's sideman, Mike LeDonne... Nothing for Mike to apologize here for! His Blues for DP is smokin' and no jockin' and ain't this what were talkin' about? This group anticipates well the meaning and the aesthetic of what they proffer, and they expound their art to our sensibilities profoundly, eloquently, and most important... convincingly!! By default therefore, their combined musical overture prepares us, the listener to assimilate their craft intelligently, thus widening our artistic circle of understanding. It's easy to almost become overwhelmed by the level and  utter virtuosity of the hidden talent(s) that are part of our artistic ethos. That said, I for one always appreciate this type of skilled musical drama.

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I find it fascinating that both Paul Broadnax and myself have CD projects that feature tributes to Joe Williams... His, a total CD tribute... and mine a tribute to one of Joe's signature tunes...''Here's To My Lay'' (which is the title of my project). Paul features the song so beautifully with his effort. Paul has been a vocal jazz icon and jazz piano mainstay in the Boston, (N.E.) area as long as I can remember, (and I've been doing what I do in both small groups and big band settings now for some 50+ yrs.) That said, his formidable and indestructible voice forges on. Broadnax is a true savant and vocal poet in the true tradition of our beloved American Songbook. It's all there... controlled vibrato for emphasis on the feeling for lyrics, timbre, a fully resonant voice, in a word a lovely vocal instrument which he uses to sooth the sensibilities of his listeners. He delivers his songs, (particularly his ballads) with a symphonic and totally artistic imaginative dynamic.