September 30 New Releases – Lorber, Take 6, Bernard…

Posted on

Jeff Lorber – Heard That
Some nice pop-jazz gems; guests include Rex Rideout, trumpeters Rick Braun and Ron King, and Gerald Albright.
Buy the CD or DRM-free download at Amazon
Buy the download from iTunes

Will Bernard – Blue Plate Special
Buy the CD at Amazon
Buy the download from iTunes

Take 6 – The Standard
A good Take 6 recording, enhanced by guest artists George Benson, Al Jarreau, Jon Hendricks, Roy Hargrove, Till Brönner, Aaron Neville, and the late Ella Fitzgerald. “While we sing lyrics that always exemplify our spiritual and moral convictions, what we really are at the core is a jazz vocal group,” says Dave Thomas, a member of the Take 6 lineup since 1985. “So we decided to do an album of jazz standards, a record that will stand up as the jazz vocal album for all time.”
Buy the CD at Amazon
Buy the download from iTunes

Jason Miles – 2 Grover With Love
Follow-up to the best-selling tribute to Grover Washington, Jr., To Grover With Love
Buy the CD or DRM-free download at Amazon
Buy the download from iTunes

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones – Jingle All the Way
read my post on this

More September 23rd Releases – McCoy Tyner, Charlie Haden

Posted on

McCoy Tyner – Guitars CD and DVD with John Scofield, Derek Trucks, Bela Fleck, Marc Ribot, and Bill Frisell. Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette comprise the rhythm section.
Buy the CD from Amazon!

Charlie Haden Family & Friends’ Rambling Boy with Pat Metheny, Bruce Hornsby, Elvis Costello, Bela Fleck, Vince Gill, Rosanne Cash, Ricky Skaggs, and his son-in-law, Jack Black. The 19-song recording fulfilling Haden’s dream to play Haden Family songs with his wife, son, triplet daughters, and close friends in the music world. As you can tell from the roster of musicians, it covers a number of styles, from traditional country to contemporary Americana.
Buy the CD from Amazon!
Buy the download from iTunes

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones Holiday Recording

Posted on

Christmas music from Santa Bela Fleck and the Flecktones is coming on September 30. Jingle All the Way is the first collection of holiday music from the long-standing band. It features everything from banjo-harmonic arrangements of “Christmas Time Is Here” and “River,” to a Tuvan-inspired, worldbeat rendition of “What Child Is This / Dyngyldai.”

“We always imagined we would do a holiday album,” Fleck said in a statement. “When the Flecktones first got together, we worked out a Christmas medley; it was really fun. People loved it, and we continued to play it every year.”

Order Jingle All the Way now from Amazon.com

Jingle All the Way isn’t the first seasonal work from Bela Fleck. He previously recorded “White Christmas” with Bob James for the Warner Bros. Jazz Christmas PartyWarner Bros. Jazz Christmas Party CD years ago.

Review: Warner Bros. Jazz Christmas Party

Posted on
Warner Bros. Jazz Christmas Party

Warner Bros. gathered its jazz and contemporary jazz rosters to put together the label’s first holiday collection. But, unlike other label holiday albums, Jazz Christmas Party, doesn’t just feature submitted tracks from its artists. WB artists collaborated together on several songs on this album. Bob James and Béla Fleck duet on “White Christmas. Michael Franks and Kirk Whalum work together on Franks’ “I Bought You A Plastic Star For Your Aluminum Tree.” The constant on the release is the keys of the label’s big three pianists – Bob James, Brad Mehldau, and Larry Goldings. The songs aren’t exactly Christmas standards. Al Jarreau, Boney James, Bob James, and Larry Goldings perform on Kenny Loggins and Bob James’s “Celebrate Me Home.” Whalum lays down his gospel sound on “A Cradle of Bethlehem.” New WB vocalist Gabriela Anders delivers a great debut on her original “Our First Christmas.” The musicianship on the album is top-notch, from the headliners to the rhythm provided by James Genus, Larry Grenadier, Jorge Rossy, and Billy Kilson.

Warner Bros. Jazz Christmas Party is a seasonal album that all jazz fans will enjoy.

t r a c k s
(note that several musicians play on several other tracks)

“Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” – Joshua Redman; “Celebrate Me Home” – Al Jarreau; “A Cradle In Bethlehem” – Kirk Whalum; “I Bought You A Plastic Star For Your Aluminum Tree” – Michael Franks; “Our First Christmas” – Gabriela Anders; “Silent Night” – Larry Goldings and Brad Mehldau; “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” – Boney James; “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” – Kevin Mahogany; “Pure Imagination” – Mark Turner; “Christmas Time Is Here” – Brad Mehldau Trio; “Personent Hodie (Sing Aloud This Day)” – Bob James Trio; “White Christmas” – Béla Fleck and Bob James