CD Reviews

Round Midnight is the latest concept album from vocalist/pianist Karrin Allyson. This collection of intimate ballads features a great variety of songs, but nothing compared to Allyson’s live repertoire. A CD and concert review by Thomas Cunniffe.

This month’s vocal releases seem tailored for late-night listening. Cyrille Aimée’s Let’s Get Lost tells the story of a relationship through songs in English, Spanish and French, Stacey Kent’s Tenderly is an intimate recital of standards featuring Roberto Menescal, and Jenny Maybee’s collaboration with trumpeter Nick Phillips, Haiku is an intriguing and moody collection of original pieces and jazz classics. Thomas Cunniffe dims the lights as he reviews these three fine recordings.

Think of contemporary tenor players and the names of Shorter, Rollins and Lovato come to mind. While these men are true giants, there are many fine tenor saxophonists worthy of greater recognition. Thomas Cunniffe reviews recent releases by three of these lesser-known talents.

The Liberation Music Orchestra has now outlived its founder, Charlie Haden. Under the leadership of its longtime pianist/arranger Carla Bley, they have recorded a new CD, Time/Life, as a tribute to Haden (who appears on two tracks) and a statement about the world’s environmental crisis. Released too late to be included in last month’s review of political big band recordings, Thomas Cunniffe contributes an extended CD review.

With a historically divisive presidential campaign now in its final weeks, politics seeps into everything, even big band jazz. Thomas Cunniffe discusses three new recordings with roots in politics and world events (and not necessarily Trump vs. Clinton). In his review, Cunniffe predicts that the musical qualities present in these recordings by Delfeayo Marsalis, Ted Nash and Darcy James Argue will survive long past the current political cycle.

There’s a lot of screaming happening in our world right now, but sometimes, a whisper can be as effective as a scream. The two albums of protest jazz reviewed here generally make their points without raising dynamics. Thomas Cunniffe examines new recordings by Dominque Eade/Ran Blake and Ryan Keberle’s Catharsis.

For progressive jazz singers, performing duets with Ran Blake is both challenging and rewarding. Blake expects a lot from vocalists, including the ability to find their own way through the music without help from the keyboard. However, this method makes the vocal/piano duet a truly equal partnership. Thomas Cunniffe reviews two new duet albums featuring Blake with vocalists Christine Correa and Sara Serpa.

Two of the jazz world’s best-known vocal groups returned to the recording studio after prolonged absences. Manhattan Transfer’s The Junction, produced by Mervyn Warren, offers the first recordings of Trist Curless as official replacement for the late Tim Hauser, while New York Voices collaborate with the Bob Mintzer on Meeting of Minds, presenting the vocalists as an additional section of the band. Thomas Cunniffe reviews both in this CD review extra.

All four of the singers reviewed in this month’s vocal CD reviews have been covered in these pages before. Cyrille Aimée, Claire Martin, Tierney Sutton and Roseanna Vitro always bring intriguing and fresh ideas to their recordings, and the present CDs are no exception. Thomas Cunniffe offers details on this fine recordings.

While the term returning champion comes from old TV game shows, it also applies to the women featured in this month’s vocal CD reviews. All have been featured here before, and all belong in the top echelon of the vocal jazz art. Thomas Cunniffe reviews the incredible new releases of Karrin Allyson, Rachel Caswell, Tessa Souter, Luciana Souza, and Roseanna Vitro.

For this month’s Instrumental CD reviews, Thomas Cunniffe explores the debut and follow-up releases of two remarkable groups: John Beasley’s Monk’estra. and Dave Douglas’ Riverside. Beasley’s group offers stunning big band versions of classic Thelonious Monk compositions, while the quartet Riverside explores music stemming from the Jimmy Giuffre 3 and Ornette Coleman Quartet.

Roseanna Vitro, one of the most versatile jazz vocalists working today, explores the music of Randy Newman. A CD and concert review by Thomas Cunniffe.

Musicians easily recognize the term saxophones of the E-flat variety as a hip way to refer to the alto and baritone saxes (the term refers to the key in which both instruments are pitched). This month, Thomas Cunniffe reviews five new albums which feature alto or baritone saxophonists. Included are CDs led by Steve Slagle, Miguel Zenón and Gary Smulyan, along with co-operatively led dates by Ingrid and Christine Jensen and Hush Point (with Jeremy Udden).

The three saxophonists featured in this month’s instrumental CD reviews have all found unique ways to explore their heritage. Caroline Davis weaves interviews with original music to trace the history of Chicago jazz from 1980-2000, Matt Parker creates his unique style from a wide range of influences, and Ken Peplowski expands his repertoire with music by Bernard Herrmann, Barry Manilow, Herbie Nichols and Peter Erskine. Thomas Cunniffe reviews the new discs.