Modern Drummer raves: “…part inspired art-house improv, part jazz club, and part beat poet coffeehouse…so personal, so of-the-moment…cats can’t steal his shit.”
You’ll hear inspired blends of staggering sound quality: piccolo and tympani, marimba and walking bass, vibes and tenor flute, even a slow blues on tympani and African drum.
Taking the funky organ trios and gospel he grew up with and mixing in some contemporary R&B, Bluiett creates a unique, genre-defying sound that appeals as much to non-jazzers as to dyed in the wool jazz fanatics.
Irish America describes: “The Celtic Jazz Collective is stylish, sophisticated, and most importantly, swinging. This album is a must-have for jazz buffs who wish to explore music, for Irish music aficionados looking for a toe-hold onto jazz…ah, flip it: it’s a must-have, period.” Some of Ireland’s finest plus a smoking jazz rhythm section created a historic first. And, they made fun music.
Paul Murphy, the legendary Jimmy Lyons, blazingly fast drummer, inspired this history-making session-and inspired depths in Larry Willis' piano you'll hear nowhere else. The music on Volume 1 focused on the boundary between jazz and classical. Volume 2 is all about melody and swinging and breathtaking drama of two masters composing with one mind. Fred Kaplan picked The Powers Of Two as one of his "Ten Best of The Year", and Volume 2 is even better!
Mesmerizing and unique acoustic jazz-rock versions of hits by Peter Gabriel, Elvis Costello, Dire Straits, The Clash-recorded with unbelievable clarity. Car Audio was knocked out: “These guys tread a musical line between ludicrous and lovely, and come off like circus acrobats whose performances justify the risks...”.
Modern Drummer calls this, “A brave, inspired statement…each cut is passionate and individual.” Vivid, swinging dramas composed and passionately played by the drum virtuoso Freddy Hubbard introduced to the NY scene in the 1970s.
A three-horn front line, led by Cecil Taylor's trumpeter, ranges from utterly lyrical freedom to tearing-the-house-down full group improvs. With Glenn Spearman on tenor.
Brother Ah (Robert Northern), the most sought-after French hornist of the '60's gave up his horn in the early 70's to explore his vision of merging traditional music from all continents. Celebration! is the culmination of his group's spiritual 20-year journey: gorgeous all-acoustic arrangements of hand-carved African flutes, Afro-Caribbean percussion, woodwinds, guitar, and koto.
"Although McCloud's been on the jazz scene for years, having worked with such notables as Elvin Jones, Jon Hendricks, and Jimmy McGriff, but has never really become a name that jazz fans would recognize. This album should help change that..." recommends All Music Guide.
These beautiful bari sax/piano duos were the first encounter between these jazz giants. They swing from stride and Monk to loft jazz, Coltrane and free improvisation.The Absolute Sound says “…an achingly lovely…often magical session…Sound quality is superb.”
