CD Review: The Jim Self/John Chiodini Duo, "Hangin' Out"

 

Jazz Tuba Player Jim Self has joined musical forces with Guitarist John Chiodini to record their new CD, "Hangin' Out".  I have been a fan of Jim Self ever since I heard an absolutely beautiful CD he recorded with master Harmonica player, Ron Kalina.  The CD was titled "The Odd Couple" and it's still one of my favorites.  Let's be serious, how many Jazz CDs feature a Tuba player?  And yet, the talented John Self continues to produce wonderful Jazz.  Self is joined by the talented Guitar player, John Chiodini and while paring of a Tuba with a Guitar which is certainly unusual, I think they pull it off perfectly.  "Hangin Out" contains an unusual assortment of tunes that is not surprising considering the long list of well-known artists both Self and Chiodini have performed with over the years.  Both performers also included one of their original compositions.  

This CD is a very sensitive and intimate musical conversation between the two master-class musicians.  In addition, they have asked four equally master musicians: Scott Whitfield on Trombone, David Angel on Baritone Sax,  Tom Peterson on Tenor Sax and Ron Stout on Trumpet & Flugelhorn,  to join them on several songs. 

I want to mention that in addition to playing the Tuba on this CD, Self also plays an instrument called a Fluba.  Self describes this instrument as a tuba-sized Flugelhorn.

I have attached two "YouTubes" of two cuts from the CD.  The first one will surprise you, a Tuba and Guitar playing Stevie Wonder's gem "Sir Duke".   The second one is the classic "It Could Happen To You" with Self and Chiodini joined by their four special guests.  It's a treat!

Playlist:

1. Hangin' Out

2. Spain

3. Lydian Afternoon

4. Dindi

5. Sir Duke

6. Another Thing

7. Felicidade

8. Everything Happens To Me

9. Up Jumped Spring

10. I Walk A Little Faster

11. Modal I Tease

12. Just the Way You Are

13. It Could Happen To You

Players:

Jim Self-F Tuba, Fluba, CC Tuba

John Chiodini-Electric and Acoustic Guitars

 

Special Guests:

David Angel-Baritone Sax

Tom Peterson-Tenor Sax

Scott Whitfield-Trombone

Ron Stout-Trumpet & Flugelhorn

 

 

                                                                   "Sir Duke"

                                                             

 "It Could Happen to You"

CD Review: Larry Fuller New CD, "Overjoyed"

Larry Fuller has released his new CD "Overjoyed" and I think its a gem!  Larry Fuller is a masterful pianist who has not only technical expertise but also the ability to emotionally connect with his audiences.  One reason he has this rare combination of skills is because he learned his craft the old fashioned way, on the bandstand.  Larry has varied experience playings with four giants of mainstream Jazz.  He started with legendary Bassist, Ray Brown, then worked with vocalist Ernestine Anderson, moved to the musical wonder, Jeff Hamilton and then joined with acclaimed guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli.  Four top level musicians by any measure and Larry brought and took from each one of them to develop his personal style.

Larry brought Bassist Hassan Shakur and Drummer Lewis Nash to join him to perform a great group of song from the "Great American Songbook" including Jazz, Blues Pop standards and some beautiful originals.

The playlist is a wonderful collection of songs with "Overjoyed" by Stevie Wonder, "Bossa Beguine" by Oscar Peterson, "Fried Pies" by Wes Montgomery, "Cubano Chant" by Ray Bryant, "Lined with a Groove" by Ray Brown, and the standards, "How Long Has This Been, "Going On"Never Let Me Go", and "Mona Lisa".

Larry Fuller is a Jazz giant and tours around the country.  When he is in your area,  let nothing stay in your way to see him perform live.  I guarantee it will be a musical treat you will not forget!

PLAYLIST:
1. "Fried Pies"
2. "Overjoyed"
3. "Lined With A Groove"
4. "Jane's Theme"
5. "The Mooch"
6. "How Long Has This Been Going On"
7. "Cubano Chant"
8. " Mona Lisa"
9. "Bossa Beguine"
10. "Bossa Nova Do Marilla"
11. "Never Let Me Go"
12. "Go My Mojo Workin"

Players:
Larry Fuller- Piano
Hassan Shakur- Bass
Lewis Nash-Drums
  
I have attached two "YouTubes" from Larry Fuller's terrific new CD "Overjoyed"  The first is Wes Montgomery's "Fried Pies" and the second is Stevie Wonder's class "Overjoyed".

John Korba Is Very Impressive at Shanghai Jazz In Madison, NJ

Shanghai Jazz has been one of the foremost Jazz clubs in the country.  The Jazz setting at Shanghai Jazz is perfect, large enough to seat 100 or more Jazz fans, and, yet, small enough to allow everyone in the audience to get up close to the performers.  Also, as I have mentioned in the past, the excellent food and above average service from the waitstaff would make this restaurant popular even without some of the best live Jazz sounds in the East.

Tuesday, July 21, the Jazz star was John Korba on Piano and Vocals accompanied by Julliard-trained Bassist, Hal Slapin.  I hadn't heard John play and sing in person before but he was strongly recommended to me by more than a few well-respected musicians.  John Korba is a multi-talented Pianist, Vocalist, Composer and Producer.  I was aware that Korba had performed with Daryl Hall & John Oates and had recorded with a Blues band called "Hudson River Rats", but I was surprised and very happy when John played and sang several classic songs out of the "Great American Songbook".  He has a wonderful voice and a style that is all his.  His playlist tonight consisted of songs from Stevie Wonder, James Taylor and Nat King Cole.  I loved his vocals however it was his thoughtful and intelligent Jazz Piano solos that represent his greatest talent.  John has a gentle touch that he applies to his piano that puts him in a class above most other performers.  John just doesn't just go through the normal motions when he plays, he brings his own musical ideas that seem to just spring out of songs that have been around for years.  John Korba can superbly play and sing every musical genre at a high level and keeps the total interest of his audience.

John Korba performs at Shanghai Jazz quite frequently and I highly recommend that you try to get over there to hear him.  Shanghai Jazz is located at 24 Main Street, Madison, NJ and you can call for reservations at 973-822-2899.  You can also check future performers at Shanghai Jazz on their site: Info@shanghaijazz.com.

I found a "Youtube" live performance of John Korba playing and singing the Hall and Oates classic, "Sara Smile" at Shanghai Jazz.     I hope John will think about cutting a CD of standards in the near future.

   

Exceptional Musicians Name Their Top 10 Favorite Songs, Chapter Three: Steve Madaio

Steve Madaio

This is the third in a series of blogs about the top 10 favorite songs of some of the best musicians performing today.  Steve Madaio is a music legion.  Steve along with David Sandborn performed on stage at Woodstock with the Butterfield Blues Band. He has toured and recorded with the legendary Janis Joplin, and enjoyed two world tours with The Rolling Stones.  Steve has also toured and recorded with Stevie Wonder, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Madonna and Barbra Streisand to name just a few!

Steve loves the "Great American Songbook" especially the ballads.  Often when performing, he mentions when a particular song is on his personal top 10 list.  His fans, and I'm one of them, can now see his list----in no particular order.

                                        Steve Madaio's Top 10 Favorite Songs
1.  "Tenderly"
2.  "I Can't Get Started"
3.  "Smile"
4.  "Shadow of Your Smile"
5.  "When I Fall In Love"

6.  "The Nearness of You"
7.  "Body and Soul"
8.  "Over The Rainbow"
9.  "Imagine"
10. "Alfie"

Great To Hear Steve Madaio Back At Backstreet

                                                 

Jay Lewis, Bill Siatta, Steve Madaio and Doug McDonald

Steve Madaio

Doug McDonald

Bill Siatta

Jay Lewis

Laura Hagen

The Grossmans

LaVane Hause, Owner of Backstreet

Mario The Waiter

Steve Madaio was back holding court at Backstreet Bistro on Tuesday. It was like a celebration of great food, great wine and, of course, great music. This was my first visit to Backstreet since I arrived  in the Desert, and it was really great. The Jazz area in Backstreet Bistro is small but intimate, and you get a chance to get-up close to the musicians. 

Steve had a great year in 2013, highlighted by his participation in two world class concerts. In October Steve was asked to perform at the 18th Annual Music Masters Series at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.  The event was a tribute Concert celebrating the 50 year anniversary of the Rolling Stones as a band. To celebrate the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame hired only players who are currently playing with the Stones or those like Steve that toured with the band. It was a major event that I was very fortunate to attend. See the review pictures I posted on my blog in  October 2013. For those that are not aware, Steve did a European tour with the Stones back in the 70's.  

The second world class concert that Steve participated in was in December 2013 with Stevie Wonder at the Nokia Theatre in LA. Not everyone knows that Steve has a lot of history with Stevie Wonder and has done a lot of recording with him including the fabulous "Superstition" and "Songs In The Key Of Life" albums. At this concert Stevie wanted to re-do the "Songs In The Key of Life" album and, of course, the first one he called was Steve. 

Steve did his usual outstanding playing tonight, especially on ballads! Now you know Steve can do it all from slow romantic ballads to raging Rock and Roll. Supporting Steve tonight was a group of the finest musicians in the Valley.  Bill Saitta playing solid Bass to support the group including Steve's solo trumpet. Doug McDonald, while always great on guitar, was really special tonight. Maybe it was the effect of playing in the open air and receptive audience that brought him to higher levels. In any event Doug is one fabulous Guitar player! The fourth member of the group was Jay Lewis who is one of the most respected Drummers in the Valley. Jay is faultless in putting down just the right groove for whatever group he is playing with.

I would also mention that "Backstreet Bistro" has been a fixture for the Jazz community for years on Tuesday nights. Many thanks to the owner, the lovely LaVane for her support of the live Jazz. In addition, the food at Backstreet is wonderful and reasonably priced and there is never a cover.  The best deal in the Desert. I wanted to recognize our waiter, Mario who does a great job not only as a waiter but also being able to in close quarters and never interfering with the music. Thanks Mario! 

.

CD Review: Carolyn Lee Jones "The Performer"

"The Performer" is Carolyn Lee Jones' second CD. Her first CD "Bon Appetit" received wide critical acclaim. Carolyn is a powerhouse musical talent! This is her first try at being a producer and she has done an amassing job of put this CD together, taking charge and putting this beautiful CD together. Acting as the producer, and band leader, Carolyn has spent countless hours of time picking  the songs that fit her musical ear. Once she selected the songs, she then spent more hours bringing in some of the most professional, respected musicians she loved and performed with over the past 5 or 6 years. But Carolyn, being the detailed professional that she has evolved into, was not just satisfied with one band. She then selected the perfect combination of musicians to capture just the right mix of sounds for each individual song. This CD represents a labor of love for Carolyn, and the results have made all this effort worth it!

I was taken back by Carolyn's vocal styling and the richness of her voice. The song list for this CD is very unusual. First, she included 14 cuts on this CD at a time that most Cds never contain more than 10 cuts. Second, the songs are a mix of some classic standards like "East of The Sun", "The Nearness of You" and "Old Devil Moon". Then she added some wonderful newer songs like Stevie Wonder's "Creepin" and two of my old Jazz favorites that you seldom hear performed "Lazy Afternoon" and "The Island".

This is simply a remarkable effort from Carolyn Lee Jones that resulted in the creation of a beautiful musical CD.  Carolyn Lee Jones performs on Vocals, Background and is the band leaders of this fine group of musicians listed below.

Brad Williams-Piano & Keyboard
Jonathan Fisher-Basses
Andrew Griffith-Drums
Todd Parsnow-Guitars (tracks, 4,5,6,7,10,12,14)
Jorge Ginorio-Percussion (tracks,1.3.4.6.12.14)
Shelly Carrol-Alto Flute (track 14), Flute (track 6), Tenor Sax (track, 2,10,12)
Mario Cruz-Flute (tracks, 1,13,14), Tenor Sax (tracks, 1,8,13)
Joyce Spencer-Alto Sax (track, 13)
Paul Elder-Bass Clarinet (track 13)
David Pierce-Trombone (tracks 1,3,5,13)
Tony Baker-Trombone (tracks, 1,3,5,13)

Playlist:
1. Small Day Tomorrow                       2. East of The Sun
3. The Performer                                  4. Creepin
5. Nearness of You                                6. If You Were Shakespeare
7. I Wished On The Moon                   8. Let's Get Lost
9. Piano In The Dark                           10. Old Devil Moon
11. Never Let Me Go                            12. Tell Me All About It
13. Lazy Afternoon                              14. The Island 

                     I have attached a "YouTube" video of Carolyn singing "Let's Get Lost".   

Jacob Collier, Age 18 Proves That There Still Are Young Adults Who Do Know What Great Music Is All About!

                                           Jacob Collier singing "Isn't She Lovely"

I recently received a posting from a music blog I follow called "People vs. dr. chilledair" authored by Bill Reed. The topic of the blog was a story about a 18 year old singer/Bass player/Piano player/Guitar player and arranger named Jacob Collier. Jacob lives in London, England, and I was blown away by the musical talents of this young musician and wanted to share his great sounds with you. Jacob has several musical postings on YouTube and I urge you to check out all of them.  He sings standards and also is very comfortable with contemporary tunes. I have attached two YouTube videos from Jacob. In the first one, Jacob sings his own arrangement of Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" and in the second one, he sings his own arrangement of Jerome Kern's "I've Told Every Little Star". Jacob sings all six harmony parts in both videos. Jacob Collier is a musical wonder!

                                             
                                           Jacob Collier Singing "I've Told Every Little Star"

CD Review: "DAVID CACERES"

David Caceres

I read some really good comments about alto saxophonist David Caceres in the past few months and  was very excited when I was asked to review David's latest CD "David Caceres".  David comes from Texas and belongs to a long line of talented family musicians. This enriched musical environment provided David with a foundation of jazz that he openly embraced and built upon. David earned a scholarship to The Berklee College of Music and graduated in 1989. It was during his years at Berklee that he developed his wonderful alto tone, dexterity and musical imagination. It was also during his years at Berklee that David found his singing voice. According to David, "It feels just as good to sing one note as it does to play one note. However, they have very different roles and somewhat different languages when used in the same song. The voice sets the tone of the tune, drawing the listener in with a direct, rather vulnerable statement. Then the sax is allowed to stretch out and explore some of the other emotional layers of the song." David plays and sings on most of the tracks on this CD, and the results are simply wonderful.  David's musical heros were John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins, and you can hear the influence from these giants in his playing. His singing brings to mind the vocal sounds and style of Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway.

This CD is marvelous in every aspect! David Caceres gets to showcase his skills as a alto saxophonist, vocalist and composer and the results are impressive. The selection of songs chosen for this CD work perfect together including two composed by David, "Sacred Path" and "Gratitude".  The song list clearly indicates that much time and thought expended to select the 11 great songs. I particularly liked Ray Lamontagne's folk/pop number "You Can Bring Me Flowers", Van Morrison's "The Way That Lovers Do" and the two Stevie Wonder compositions, "Seems So Long" and "Bird of Beauty".  David also has a wonderful singing performance of Thelonious Monk's "Round Midnight".

David is supported by a sterling group of musicians: arranger and keyboardist, Gil Goldstein, bassist Larry Grenadier, drummer Bill Stewart organist Shedrick Mitchell, percussionist Bashiri Johnson, guitarist Larry Campbell and pianist Aaron Parks. Gil Goldstein's arrangements were perfect!

The producer of this CD was Matt Pierson and deserves outstanding recognition for the high level professional level of skill and talent that he provided to produce this musically wonderful product.

Hail, Hail Rock & Roll From The Max Weinberg 7+

Max Weinberg

Joe Delia and The Thieves

Joe Delia

Bill Champlin

Mindi Abair

Steve Madaio

Mindi Abair and Tom Saviano

Carmen Grillo

Bill Champlin, Mindi Abair, Tom Saviano & Steve Madaio

The Max Weinberg 7+

The Max Weinberg 7+ Rock & Roll Band rolled into the birth place of Count Basie, Red Bank, NJ on Thursday night October 28, 2011.  The concert started with a performance by Joe Delia and the Thieves, a rock and roll band out of the 60's and 70's that would make any "Stones" fan happy. The band played some familiar rock and roll songs and also a few songs they had written.  On a cold and rainy night, they were just what was needed to warm up the audience for the main event, The Max Weinberg 7+.
Max Weinberg has a long and impressive resume' and a love for all kinds of music even though his main credits come from being the drummer for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band for over 25 years. Max also received rave reviews for musical direction for Conan O'Brien on "The Tonight Show".  Max stills joins Springsteen for special gigs and was featured in the 2009 Super Bowl XLIII from Tampa, Florida which happened to be the largest TV audience in Super Bowl history (Over 105,000,000). He also played with Bruce for the 25th Anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that was an HBO special.
Max started this tour back in the summer on the West Coast, He put together some of the best musicians in the country that produced outstanding musical results. Max teamed with  singer and keyboard artist Bill Champlin. You will probably recognize Bill from his picture above because of his 28 years of work as the keyboardist/vocalist/songwriting contributions for the world renowned rock group "Chicago". Personally, I thought his vocal and musical performance this night were superb especially his singing on his jazzy arangement of "Turn Your Love Around", a hit song Bill wrote for George Benson.  He also ended the show playing acoustic guitar in an emotional and soft version of the "Chicago" hit "Look Away" which he sang originally.

Mindy Abair was as exciting as always. As one of the greatest jazz sax players in American, she still is always fresh and creative and alive!  Every time I see her perform she gives the impression that she is really having fun and loves to interact with the other musicians on the stage. Tonight, she traded several riffs with Tom Saviano that were simply wonderful!

Steve Madaio, the great Trumpet player from Palm Springs provided some absolutely great work for the band on many up-tempo rock and roll songs, He also performed a crowd pleasing soft & emotional solo introduction to a lessor known Springsteen tune, "The Fever". Steve never fails to impress. His resume' is unbelievable including making over 100 million selling CD's, touring with the Rolling Stones in Europe and recording and arranging with Stevie Wonder on many of Stevie's best selling CD's. It's no wonder that he is the "Trumpet" of choice for the greats of the music world.

Other highlights of the show included some wonderful guitar work from Carmen Grillo and his playing and vocals on the Wilson Pickett song "634-5789".  Bill Champlin's son Will was impressive playing the keyboard and with his vocal "Deep In The Heart of Texas". Seems the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

All and all, a great night of Rock & Roll music.