Slowly but surely I am reducing the height of the must-listen pile. Here are short reviews of two keepers from the Tobias Hoffman Jazz Orchestra and violinist Jenny Scheinman.
New Music from Tobias Hoffman and Jenny Scheinman
Short Reviews of (Somewhat) New Releases
Janel Leppin. Photo by Shervin Lainez. 
Rich Peare and Don Messina. Photo by Ellen Sherman. 
Anat Cohen’s Quartetinho: Vitor Gonçalves, James Shipp, Cohen, Tal Mashiach. Photo by Shervin Lainez. 
Good Trouble: Jeff Lederer, Tia Fuller, Matt Wilson, Dawn Clement, Ben Allison. Photo by John Abbott. 
Jamie Baum. Photo by Erika Kapin.
Summertime presents a number of obstacles to listening, so I’m going to try to catch up on a few previous releases while also checking out some newer ones by posting some briefer reviews. This week, we feature five releases from five very different jazz neighborhoods: cellist Janel Leppin’s Ensemble Volcanic Ash; clarinetist Anat Cohen’s Quartetinho; guitarist and bassist, respectively, Rich Peare and Don Messina; drummer Matt Wilson’s Good Trouble quintet; and flautist Jamie Baum’s Septet +. Something for just about every jazz fan.
Continue readingCowhause and the Lux Quartet Open Your Ears with New Releases
Recent and satisfyingly edgy releases have come my way from Cowhause and Lux Quartet, featuring some stellar musicians.
New Releases from Yosef Gutman Levitt and Mike Holober
A number of paying projects have siphoned away much of the free time that is devoted to Musically Speaking, but here are a couple of fine and quite different releases, from Yosef Gutman Levitt and Mike Holober, that I managed to dive into despite the distraction of work.
Guitarist Dimi DiSanti Celebrates His Virtuosatility with New Album and CD Release Party
Guitarist Dimi DiSanti could play with anyone anywhere, and he has, working with Bernard Purdie, James Newton, the Temptations, the Drifters, the Coasters, Sparx, and Lorenzo Antonio, among others. Lucky for us in New Mexico, he chooses to live and play here, and he will celebrate the release of his excellent new album, Our Big Backyard, at the Outpost on August 15, fronting a band that comprises a who’s who of New Mexican musicians.