CD Review: Lou Volpe "Before & After"

I am honored to announce that "The Musician Blog" has a returning guest reviewer for today's CD review, Tim Marchio.  Tim loves to play and listen to guitar players and offered to review Lou Volpe's new CD, "Before and After".  Tim is not a professional musician,  just one of the thousands of Americans who love playing Guitar.  Like many of us, Tim has been working from home ever since we got hit with the virus and he decided to keep in contact with his team members by publishing one song eveyday. Well, Tim has now published over 70 YouTubes on his channel Penguino Music and the feedback from his co-workers has been excellent.  I am attaching and posting below a link to one of Tim's YouTube postings so you can see and hear what Tim has been doing, 

By Tim Marchio, Guest Reviewer:

To say Lou Volpe is an accomplished guitarist is not only an understatement, it is an unfair form of comparison to “normal” guitarists.  I guess I should explain that statement.  I play a bit of guitar and understand the difference between typical rock and pop chords and jazz chords.  Jazz chords are more difficult to play; they just are.  They require a different fingering that most players can’t do well – or sometimes not at all.  A guitar chord has many different finger shapes and the jazz versions are for the best players.

Let me back up at this point.  Mr. Volpe has a very broad resume.  His previous recording was a tribute to Frank Sinatra, “Remembering Ol’ Blue Eyes”.  That album was one of standards.  Wait a minute - I thought this was a jazz musician.  That gives you a hint of how Lou can shift between genres and make it look easy.  He has also toured with the likes of Bette Midler, Herbie Mann and Judy Collins.

“Before & After” is not the type of music you will put into your car’s CD player, put the top down and sing to the stars since there are no lyrics to any of the songs.  However, what this album can be is that perfect background music while having dinner with that special someone.  The album is a collection of original tunes as well as two remakes (“Stella by Starlight” and “Summertime”).  In listening through the CD, I was particularly impressed by two things:

·    The songs were all very melodic and even the solos were melodic and fit perfectly into the tune, they never feel forced or out of place.

·    The sheer number of notes that he can coax out of his instrument at one time.  It is like a stream into a river, they come out fast and just float into the melody.  He makes the playing sound easy, like he is going out for an evening walk. 

The first time I listened ,the songs seem to have a similar sound, but as I spent a little more time with the songs they took on a specific feel and mood.  The remakes of the two songs were similar enough to be very recognizable yet different enough to give them his own imprint.  

“Before & After” is a very good music CD from a very good musician who has taken the step to record his own songs.  The songs range from outright jazz “Up the Road” to a Latin tinged groove in “Perseguidor De Suernos (Dream Chaser)”.  I viewed a concert of his on YouTube, which was very entertaining and helped put some of the previous statements in this review into perspective.  Lou Volpe was already a very accomplished guitarist and has now added songwriting to his extensive resume as a musician.  I look forward to his next recording whatever genre that may be.   

Playlist: 

1.      Up the Road                (Lou Volpe)

2.     Three Rivers                 (Lou Volpe)

3.     Coming My Way           (Lou Volpe)

4.     Full Tilt                          (Lou Volpe)

5.     Stella By Starlight         (Shapiro & Bernstein & Co OBO Catherine Hinen Music SONY/ATV                           Harmony Victor Young)

6.     Summertime                 (WC Music Corp OBO Ira Gershwin Music & Ira Gershwin)                                  

7.     Travel Light                   (Lou Volpe)

8.     Precious Jewel              (Lou Volpe)

9.     A to Z                             (Lou Volpe)

10.  Solar Dance                    (Lou Volpe)

11.  Perseguidor De Suernos (Dream Chaser)            (Lou Volpe)

12.  Double Summer             (Lou Volpe)13.  Before and After           (Lou Volpe)

Players:

Lou Volpe- Guitars & Arrangements, Composing

Stanley Banks, Pete Falbo, Motoki Mihhara-Bass

Buddy Williams- Drums

Gary Fritz, Jon Romagnoll, Richie Morales-Percussion

I have attached two YouTubes below: The title track from Lou Volpe's CD, an original composition, "Before and After" and an up-tempo version of "Stella by Starlight.

    

"Before and After"

                                                               "Stella by Starlight"

Tim Marchio playing "Forever Young" from his Penguino Music Channel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vibaJzv3Vw&pbjreload=101

T

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CD Review: Rose Kingsley "A Diva's Tribute to Johnny Mercer"

Former New York Opera singer Rose Kingsley has spent the last 10 years of her singing career experimenting with the "Great American Songbook" and in particular the legendary songs of Johnny Mercer.  In fact, Rose has been channeling the spirit of Johnny Mercer on many different levels.  Joining her on this musical journey is Mr. Mercer's grandson,  executor of his estate  and master pianist Bob Corwin.  The Kingsley/Corwin partnership has been going strong for over 7 years including many successful live performances of their show, "Through The Years with Johnny Mercer" in States from California to New York.  Kingsley has developed into a unique and dramatic Jazz singer with a strong voice laced with her emotional approach to Mercer's lyrics.  At the same time, Bob Corwin has provided soft piano support with his playing and sensitive arrangements.  The final piece of magic for this Mercer  CD spotlight was that it was recorded in the legendary Studio A at Capital Records, the music studio Mercer founded in 1942.

Johnny Mercer's songs are world famous and have been sung by countless Jazz singers over the years but this CD represents a unique approach to his wonderful lyrics.  Rose Kingsley has her own voice and copies no one.  Her performance is at times is a mix vibe combining Opera drama with Jazz vocals.  The result brings something different and new to Mercer's famous songs.  Rose Kingsley is as much a master story teller as a Cabaret Jazz vocalist.  

Kingsley and Corwin have selected 12 of the very best Mercer songs for this CD.  These songs also highlight Mercer's partnership with some of the greatest composers of the 20th Century.  When  you are talking about selecting only 12 of best songs from the Mercer book,  it's no easy job.  I don't think any one would object to these 12 songs on this CD.

Contributors:

Rose Kingsley- Vocals

Bob Corwin- Piano, Arrangements,  Musical Director,  Producer

Executive Producer- Norman Miller

Recording Engineer- Chandler Harrod

Mix/Mastered- Jim Watson

Playlist:

1. Too Marvelous For Words

2. Skylark

3. Come Rain Come Shinethe 4. Autumn Leaves

5. Charade

6. Old Black Magic

7. Moon River

8. I Remember You

9. Laura

10. One For My Baby

11. Blues in the Night

12. Dream

 I have attached a live performance of  "Autumn Leaves" by Rose Kingsley at New York's world famous Birdland for your enjoyment.

CD Review: 3D Jazz Trio "I Love To See You Smile"

The 3D Jazz Trio is made up of three wonderful musically-talented women, Jackie Warren, Amy Shook and Sherrie Maricle who are also close friends.  The music they make is not hard to love or understand.  It's just great swing American Jazz!  In my opinion, it's what a Jazz trio is all about.  These three musicians play as one strong unit fitting together perfectly to produce beautiful swinging music.   The anchor of the group is pianist Jackie Warren but Bassist Amy Shook and Drummer Sherrie Maricle are towers of musical strength in their own right. 

This trio of musicians has received many awards for their musical skills and work.  Jackie Warren won the Cleveland Jazz Award and is an Educator at Tri-C College.  Amy Shook is a critically acclaimed Jazz Bassist, Clinician, and Composer.  Sherrie Maricle won the Kennedy Center Mary Lou Williams Lifetime Achievement Award along with the Ovation Award for Best Music Direction.  She was also twice named the New York University Music Department Teacher of the year.  And I am awarding them the Best Swing Jazz Trio Award for 2020!

I have listed below the great playlist they have selected for "I Love To See You Smile".  A wonderful mix of outstanding standards that this trio brings new life to.

Playlist: 

1. I Love to See You Smile

2. Besame Mucho

3. Moonglow

4. B ack at the Chicken Shack

5. Angel Eyes

6. Recado Bossa Nova

7. When You and I Were Young

8. L.O.V.E.

Players:

Jackie Warren- Piano

Amy Shook- Bass

Sherrie Maricle- Drums

I have attached a "YouTube" video of the 3D Jazz Trio playing the Randy Newman composition I am sure many of you will remember, "I Love To See You Smile".

   

"I Love To See You Smile"

CD Review: Samoa Wilson With the Jim Kweskin Band, "I Just Want To Be Horizontal"

                                                                 

I can safely say that for most of us, the last several months of dealing with Covid 19 has been stressful to say the least.  We all need a break from all the stressful news and I have just the CD to help you leave today's world and travel back to yesteryear, at least for an hour or so.  All you have to do is find a comfortable chair and listen to  "I Want To Be Horizontal".   Then Just sit back and feel yourself being transported back to a music world that is friendly, cosy and comfortable.

The new CD from Samoa Wilson with the Jim Kweskin Band is the latest in a decade-long collaboration between Jim Kweskin and Samoa Wilson.   The 17 songs on this CD include some well known standards that have been given fresh new arrangements and some other non-standards that  perhaps should have made it into the standard class.  I found this CD very relaxing and familiar from the first tune to the last one.  Part of the musical magic that Samoa Wilson and the Jim Kweskin Band have created is that even though Samoa Wilson is the vocal star and sings these songs so beautifully,  she shares the spotlight with Jim and all the members of the Band seamlessly.  It's a case of many voices blending together into one wonderful musical group voice.

I don't know how to categorize the music this band performs because it's kinda Jazz, touches Folk and Blues reminds me of the sounds I hear when I am in New Orleans.  What I do know is it's the type of music that is uplifting and soothing for the soul!   How great that music like this is still being published.  My bet is that most of the Music Man listening audience will love the music on this CD.  I would love to get some feedback from you after you listen to " I Want To Be Horizontal".

I have attached two "YouTube" tunes from this special CD.  The first is the title track, "I Want To Be Horizontal" and the second is a special arrangement of the standard "Our Love Is Here To Stay".

     

                                                     "I Just Want To Be Horizontal"

                                                           "Our Love Is Here to Stay"
Playlist:
1. After You've Gone
2. I Just Want To Be Horizontal
3. Trust in Me
4. I Cried For You
5. The Candy Man
6. Inch Worm
7. That's Life I Guess
8. Until The Real Thing Comes Along
9. Me, Myself &I
10. Our Love Is Here To Stay
11. Kitchen Man
12. At Ebb Tide
13. Lover Come Back To Me
14. Easy To Love
15. Ain't Got Rhythm
16. I Wished On The Moon
17. Someone Turned The Moon Upside Down :

Players:
Samoa Wilson- Vocals
Kim Kweskin- Vocals, Fingerpicking, & Rhythm Guitar, Arrangements
Titus Vollmer- Lead & Rhythm Guitar, Hawaiian Slide Guitar, Ukulele, Arrangements
Mike Davis- Trumpet & Cornet
Paloma Ohm- Alto Sax
Dennis Lictman-Clarinet,Fiddle, Mandolin & Alto Sax
Sonny Barbato- Piano & Accordion
Matthew Berlin- Bass
Jeff Brown- Drums
Sean Read & Maddie Read Clarke- Backup harmony on "At Ebb Tide"

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"