DISCOVERY
FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY. This FUSION/Summer 2020 Collection is an assemblage of the latest releases in the world of jazz “fusion” plus a taste of some great new music from the Mack Avenue Records.
Having established his bona fides in the early days of bebop, piano virtuoso Erroll Garner became a popular mainstream figure, with his classic 1955 release Concert by the Sea designated as one of the first blockbuster LPs in jazz. Always striving for artistic freedom and to reap a greater reward for his efforts, Garner co-founded...
In 2015, Mack Avenue assembled a who’s who of jazz piano to pay tribute to Oscar Peterson on the three-disc collection Oscar, With Love. It’s fair to say that Peterson, who died in 2007, exerted a powerful influence on each of the participants, who spanned generations from Kenny Barron and Michel Legrand to Hiromi and...
Havana-born pianist Harold López-Nussa is among a generation of Cuban musicians who are injecting fresh vitality into the jazz world of the island and beyond. The son of drummer Ruy López-Nussa, the pianist has worked with Cuban legends Omara Portuondo and Heitor Villa-Lobos. He received an even brighter spotlight as a featured player on the...
Trombonist and vocalist Tbone Paxton and drummer RJ Spangler share a rich 40-year history, going back to their days with Detroit’s Sun Messengers and then working in the bands of soul and blues stars Johnny Adams, Earl King and Eddie Bo. As you might imagine, more than a little New Orleans seasoning flavors their mix,...
Explaining how he could adapt his fighting style to match any opponent, Bruce Lee touted the benefits of being like water. After all, when you pour water into any container, it immediately conforms to the shape of that container. Thus, he advised, “Be water, my friend.” Jazz pianist Christian Sands takes this philosophy to heart...
Since he was a teenager playing at the Jazz Plaza Festival in his native Havana, pianist Roberto Fonseca has been captivating listeners with his mix of traditional Cuban music and forward-leaning jazz. A graduate of the Institute Superior del Arte with a master’s in composition, Fonseca has been recording for more than 20 years. He...
New Orleans’ Soul Rebels have been making a big noise in the Big Easy for more than 20 years. With their latest release, Poetry in Motion (Mack Avenue), the brass-fueled party band hopes to expand its fan base even further. Blending Bourbon Street jazz with hip-hop, funk, soul and R&B, The Soul Rebels are hardly...
Oakland’s Tower of Power has been cranking out its signature brand of horn-driven soul and funk for more than 50 years and is still going strong. Although they’ve refreshed their membership several times over the decades, the group remains under the leadership of their founder, tenor saxophonist and vocalist Emilio Castillo. Longtime baritone saxophonist Doc...
Perhaps picking up on the era’s obsession with astrology, Erroll Garner titled a 1972 release Gemini, which was indeed the sign under which he was born. Jazz critic Dan Morgenstern, while voicing skepticism of the stars’ influence on human events, nonetheless makes a reasoned argument for at least a metaphorical connection to the Gemini twins:...
Having turned many heads with her 2018 breakthrough release Crime Zone, pianist Connie Han continues to fulfill the promise of a rising jazz star with her latest release, Iron Starlet (Mack Avenue). Just 24 years old, Han plays and writes like a seasoned hard-bopper, but with a youthful energy and a perspective shaped by the...
Not unlike Bobby McFerrin, vocal virtuoso Michael Mayo astonishes audiences with his remarkable dexterity, conjuring a full band with just his voice and tape loops. As the son of two musicians, the Los Angeles-born Mayo grew up watching performers such as Diana Ross, Earth, Wind and Fire and Stevie Wonder from the wings. After graduating...
As with many jazz pianists of his generation, Erroll Garner delved frequently into the songbooks of George Gershwin and Jerome Kern. In 1976, his double-tribute album, Plays Gershwin & Kern, dedicated a side to each man’s songs and featured performances recorded in the 1960s. The album was an anomaly in the pianist’s discography — it...
At a time when the national discourse has devolved into partisan shouting matches, saxophonist Jimmy Greene recognizes the need for connection — not only to one another, but to a higher power. Inspired by the words of his pastor, the Connecticut native determined to look upward rather than inward for answers, the philosophy driving his...
On their third release, For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver (Mack Avenue), the Christian McBride Big Band salutes three artists who were undoubtedly important in bassist-bandleader McBride’s musical development: Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery and Oliver Nelson. A veteran sideman and leader of his own groups, McBride first recorded with his big band in 2011, cherrypicking some...
