CD Review: Adam Glaser Trio, "Wide Awake"

Adam Glaser is a noted, award-winning conductors in the classical music world.  So why is a brilliant classical music conductor publishing a new CD with his Jazz Trio?  The answer is Adam Glaser's talents are too immense to be limited to just one genre of music.  Adam is the Music Director of the professional caliber Juilliard Pre-College Orchestras and has conducted over 50 concerts in New York's Lincoln Center.  He is also the Director of Orchestras at Hofstra University.  In 2019 Adam made his New York City Opera debut conducting the world premiere of Ted Rosenthal's acclaimed Jazz opera, "Dear Eric".  His list of musical acievements are too long to fit in this review but I think you get a pretty clear picture of who Adam Galser is musically.

I received the review copy of his new CD "Wide Awake" a few months ago but somehow it got buried in the pile of new CDs I receive every month.  I feel an obligation to listen to every CD that I receive in consideration of the massive amount of energy and money every musician spends to get these CDs done.  So when I finally listened to the CD,  I played it before I read the promotional information not expecting anything unusual.  The first song on the CD was "If You Don't Mind" composed and arranged by Adam Glaser.  The play time of song was 5:40 but after less than 2 minutes, I picked up the promo notes to find out more about Adam Glaser and his wonderful trio.  Before I knew it, I had listened to all nine songs on the CD and so impressed with the musical product that I knew I had to publish this review.

This CD represents Adam Glaser's debut as a Jazz leader with his Trio.  He wrote 7 of the 9 songs on "Wide Awake" and did all the arrangements.   I have stated before that the line between Classical and Jazz music sometimes can merger and Adam adds his proof to this statement with two of his compositions.  His song "Day Trip to Cologne" was inspired by Schumann's Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op.97.  And his song "Sacrificial Rhumba" was inspired by the "Sacrificial Dance" from Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring".

Adam Glaser has put together a sparkling Trio with Adam performing beautiful Jazz on Piano, Pete Coco on Bass and Chris Smith on Drums.  Glaser's Piano performance, his Arranging, his Composing and his leadership of this super Trio is at the highest level throughout!

Playlist:
1. If You Don't Mind
2. November
3. I got A Name
4. Day Trip To Cologne
5. True To You
6. Before The Dawn
7. Sacrificial Rhumba
8. Lullaby for A Little Boy
9. My Romance

Players:
Adam Glaser, Piano, Arranger, Composer, Producer
Pete Coco- Bass
Chris Smith- Drums

I have attached two cuts from the "Wide Awake" CD for your listening enjoyment.   The first is a wonderful Glaser composition "If You Don't Mind" and the second is the Rodgers and Hart standard "My Romance" that  Adam performs brilliantly!

                                                             "If You Don't Mind"

                                                                "My Romance"

CD Review: The Mark Masters Ensemble, "Night Talk", The Songs of Alec Wilder

Brilliant Arranger and Bandleader, Mark Masters has just released his latest CD, " Night Talk" performed by "The Mark Masters Ensemble".  The topic of this CD is the songs of composer Alec Wilder who is considered to be one of the favorite composers of the 20th century.  Wilder's songs have been recorded by singers Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee and Mildred Bailey.  His songs have also been performed by Stan Getz, Keith Jarrett and Fred Hersch.

Mark Masters has always selected the finest Jazz musicians to join his Ensemble and he invited one of the great Baritone Sax voices of our time, Gary Smulyan to lead the charge.  According to Masters, "A great instrumentalist like Gary is akin to a singer, so I just wanted to let him play the melody and make it his own".  The result is the creation of a wonderful new piece of creative music.

What makes Mark Masters' approach to arranging so special is that Mark uses the music he carefully selects for his Ensemble as a starting place and then recomposes the material so it becomes original and new again!  Mark states " There's no point in taking somebody else's melody and leaving it completely intact".  "Listen to all those great records Sinatra made.  He had such reverence for the song."

Be sure to take a good look at the players in the Ensemble listed below,  they all are without a doubt some of the great musicians performing today!

Mark Masters has long been recognized as one of the great Jazz Arrangers of the last decade.  He formed his first Ensemble in 1982.  Master's life is wholly dedicated to Jazz including founding the non-profit American Jazz Institute that supports not only Jazz history but includes a local 24 hour Jazz station located in Indian Wells California,  KAJI/FM 95.3.   KAJI is a low frequency radio station lead by noted Jazz Broadcaster, Alan P. Schwltz and it can be reached from anywhere in the world at:  WWW.AmJazzIn.Org.

Playlist:
1. You're Free
2. Don't Deny
3. Ellen
4. Moon and Sand
5. Baggage Room Blues
6. I Like it Here
7. Night Talk
8. Lovers and Losers
9. I'll Be Around

Players"
Mark Masters- Arrangements, Production with Thomas Burns
Gary Smulyan- Baritone Sax
Bob Summers- Trumpet
Don Shelton- Alto Sax, Alto Flute, 
Jerry Pinter- Tenor Sax, Soprano Sax
Dave Woodley- Trombone
Ed Czach- Piano
Putter Smith- Bass
Kendall Kay- Drums

I have selected two songs from "Night Talk" that I want to share with you.  The first is an interesting Alec Wilder tune you may not be familiar with, "Baggage Room Blues".  This solid Blues tune was also recorded live by Stan Getz and Chet Baker.  The second "YouTube" is  an uptempo arrangement of the standard "I'll Be Around".

                                                        "Baggage Room Blues"

                                                             "I'll Be Around"

CD Review: Mayita Dinos, "The Garden Is My Stage"

Mayita Dinos has just released her debut CD, "The Garden Is My Stage".   The songs Dinos has included in the CD were guided by her love for landscape design and her mixed heritage.  She was born in Puerto Rico to a Puerto Rican mother and a father of Greek and Turkish ancestry.  Dinos is also a successful landscape designer who has spent many years appearing on various shows on the HGTV and DIY networks as landscape expert.  Dinos explains "a beautiful garden is like a lush symphony composed of colors, shapes, and textures.  Her love of flowers has combined with her soft sensitive voice to create new beauty for some wonderful lyrics she gives new life to.

Dinos was singing in various venues around Los Angeles, including at jam sessions hosted by Cathy Segal-Garcia, the prolific singer, recording artist, and primary arranger.  Segal-Garcia who has produced a number of CDs for vocalists, became her producer and brought on board Guitarist Dori Amarilio as her co-producer and primary arranger.  In addition to these talent musicians,  Segal-Garcia and Amarilio brought together some of the best musicians in Southern California.  The result of putting this outstanding group of musicians behind Dinos' wonderful voice and vocal interpretation  is the creation of a verbal painting for the listener.

I could have attached any of the 13 songs on this CD because everyone is interesting and beautiful in its own way.  I decided to pick "Spanish Harlem" because Dinos approach to this old chestnut gives new life to the lyric telling us "how beauty thrives even in challenging environments".  The second "YouTube" I chose was the classic Freddie Hubbard composition, "Little Sunflower".  Dinos explains that  the song "is a metaphor for a flower seeking light in the darkness".   It's stunningly beautiful!  I have heard this song played as an instrumental many times and especially by my friend, Steve Madieo, who played this song on his Trumpet as good as anyone.  I had never heard the lyric to this song and, I love it even more now.

Playlist:   
1. Ornithology
2. Come Back As A Flower
3. Pannonica
4. Woodstock
5. Lullaby of the Leaves
6. Un pats con el nombre de un rio
7. Little Sunflower
8. Double Rainbow
9. La Lola
10. A Flower is a Lovesome Thing
11. Spanish Harlem
12. Willow Weep for Me
13. Agua de beber

Players:    
Mayita Dinos-Vocals
Biil Cantos-Piano
Rich Eames-Piano
Gabe Davis-Acoustic Bass
Hussain Jiffry-Electric Bass
Dori Amarilio-Guitar
Michael Hunter-Trumpet & Flugelorn
Alex Budman-Flute, Clarinet, Soprano Sax
Steve Hass-Drums
Tiki Pasillas-Drums & Percussion

                                                                  "Spanish Harlem" 

                                                             "Little Sunflower"