BeBop / Hard Bop - CD Reviews (481)
George A Johnson Jr., Born in Bridgeton, NJ in 1953, is a third generation drummer. Johnson Jr. began playing drums at the age of five and began playing professionally a…
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In a number of ways, young jazz pianist Joel Holmes’ interests and background resemble those of Cyrus Chestnut’s. Both Holmes and Chestnut grew up in a religious background…
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Jazz Fantasy is a contemporary bop group with a lot of different ideas. For example, this album is mostly composed of interpretations of songs from the singer Sting, wit…
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"It’s going wild" is how Stampede must be spelled said drummer Per-Arne Tollbom. The album has no slick after cuts or overdubs; it’s just the result of an emotion…
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Rene Sandoval, born in Chile but now a resident in Sweden, is likely an unfamiliar name to American jazz audiences. The Rene Sandoval 4 debut release Action / Reaction
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San Diego, California, may think they’ve cornered the market on Gilbert Castellanos, but to those who have heard Castellanos perform as a member of the Diana Krall Big B…
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Mike Tucker's Collage is diverse set of jazz, ranging from Blue Note style hard-bop to keyboard driven fusion recalling Joe Zawinul and Chick Corea's 1970's ens…
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One of the great things about reviewing music is the sense of discovery that comes with it. I sometimes feel like an artistic "Indiana Jones" the first time I play some …
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I first became aware of the great jazz pianist Red Garland through following the music of one of my favorite saxophonists, John Coltrane. At that point in the developmen…
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Listening to pianist extraordinaire Frank Hewitt’s Four Hundred Saturdays is both a sad and a joyous event. The joy is present front and center in the music, reco…
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Scott Boni is a talented sax player who has been performing since he was seven years old. For his release Mumphrey’s Bounce Boni has gathered some young innovat…
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Mike Melito wants you to know he loves Blue Note albums from the sixties. He shows this love on his latest CD The Next Step. A hard swinging quintet plays some fi…
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Walter Theodore Rollins, the mostly self-taught tenor saxophone "colossus" was born in 1930, in New York City. By his teenage years he had already formed bands with drum…
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Atlanta based guitarist Dan Baraszu offers his new CD Nightfall, a self-produced project distributed by the digital label Blue Canoe. The collection wi…
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This two-CD set, which comes with a lavishly appointed booklet and pictures, is intended as a tribute to Chet Baker (1929-1988) the famed trumpeter and singer of American j…
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The world is full of good musicians who work hard in studios and on tours with various bands, playing a variety of music styles flawlessly, yet whose names never become …
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Depict if you can, the flow of raging rapids as it journeys through a mountains demanding ravines. It’s with that same natural poetic ecstasy that the hands of Gene Ess …
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Coltrane's recordings for Prestige showcased a period of intense discovery and amazing skill and drive. This release (which is part of the recent Prestige Profiles s…
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Hammond Organ Hard-Bop with Horns, Portland Style Hammond Organist Steve Hall graduated from Berklee College of Music…
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With the release of Sandbox and Sanctum, Gene Ess has firmly cemented his place as a major jazz artist of the new millennium. His post-bop work is delivered with a…
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