Kenny Davis: Kenny Davis 9 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

He's had an illustrious career since moving to New York in the mid-1980s and hitching a gig with drummer Ralph Peterson Jr. and contemporary mainstreamers Out of the Blue (OTB), but he's waited until now to release an album under his own name. An impressive resume includes work with M-Base collective saxophonist Steve Coleman's Five Elements; performing--and, on one song, arranging--credits on singer Cassandra Wilson's Grammy Award-winning Blue Light 'Til Dawn (Blue Note, 1993); and subsequent work with artists ranging from Art Farmer and Robin Eubanks to Don Byron and Onaje Allan Gumbs. All this and more contributes to the unerring success of Kenny Davis...

Marbin: Marbin 9 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

There is an almost Zen-like quality to Marbin, saxophonist Danny Markovitch and guitarist Dani Rabin's debut as a duo. However, the quiet nature and perfectly still life of the music belies the poignant emotional underbelly that simmers constantly throughout the set. That this emotion is deeply personal is evident from the meditative--almost ponderous--nature of much of the music, but the conundrum is further heightened by the fact that what connects Marbin to their music is also a seemingly universal longing for a oneness with all things past, present and future...

Paquito Hechavarria: Frankly 9 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

Pianist Francisco "Paquito" HechavarrA-a might be best known for his work on Gloria Estefan's "Conga," but that record barely scratches the surface in showing what he's capable of playing. Smoking tumbao-based patterns seem to be embedded in his musical DNA: HechavarrA-a grew up in pre-Castro Cuba and soaked up the rhythms and sounds of his native land. He spent some time as the director and pianist of Orquesta Riverside, and even had the opportunity to record with Mongo SantamarA-a when the legendary percussionist came to Cuba to record Our Man In Havana (Fantasy, 1959). While half a century elapsed between the recording of Our Man and HechavarrA-a's work here, he still seems to play with the energy of his youth, but also with the wisdom he has accumulated across those years...

Soren Moller / Dick Oatts: The Clouds Above 9 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

The Clouds Above is the continuation of a duet project that pianist Soren Moller and saxophonist Dick Oatts began with Storytelling (Audial, 2005). Like that release, The Clouds Above brags all originals save for one classical adaptation, in this case Sergei Prokofiev's Balcony Scene from his 1935 ballet, Romeo and Juliet, here captured lyrically by Moller's most restrained pianism. Oatts plays alto on the piece, weaving in and out of the scaffolding erected by Moller. The effect is one of nervous excitement, sharply presented...

Hadley Caliman: Straight Ahead 9 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

Seattle-based tenor saxophonist, Hadley Caliman took a thirty year hiatus from recording before he released Gratitude (Origin Records, 2008). It was an exceptional mainstream set that displayed Caliman's John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, and Joe Henderson influences, in hints and brief whispers, and reintroduced the saxophonist's own distinctive, full-of-life voicings...

The Red Earth Collective featuring Soothsayers Horns: Red Earth Dub 8 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

London's Red Earth Collective and the associated band, Soothsayers, have much in common with New York's Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble. Both aggregations mix Afrobeat, dub and jazz to create a modern urban style. Both have included veteran Jamaican musicians on their albums--Red Earth / Soothsayers featured singers Johnny Clarke and Linval Thompson on its previous disc, One More Reason (Red Earth, 2009), and Akoya featured the great tenor saxophonist Cedric Im Brooks on its most recent set, P.D.P. President Dey Pass (Afrobomb Music, 2008). Both are composed of multi-ethnic musicians with broad age differences. Both have sizeable followings in the communities in which they are based--the Londoners in Brixton, the New Yorkers in Brooklyn...

Christian Wallumrod Ensemble: Fabula Suite Lugano 8 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

With The Zoo is Far (ECM, 2007), Norwegian pianist Christian WallumrA d introduced a group that expanded on the unique sonorities of his other, same-titled Christian WallumrA d Ensemble. That other Ensemble--the quartet responsible for A Year From Easter (ECM, 2005), and which gave an equally nuanced performance at Molde Jazz 2009--explored the nexus of improvisation and composition, rooted in traditional Norwegian folk music, and WallumrA d's personal synchronism of contemporary and Baroque classicism. The six-piece Ensemble of The Zoo began a fundamental shift away from improvisation, a migration completed with Fabula Suite Lugano...

Steve Kaldestad: Blow-Up 8 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

The continued ignoring of Canadian musicians in "Jazz Central, South of the Border" ought to have been a thing of the past a long time ago. Thankfully Canadian record labels such as Montreal-based Justin Time and Effendi Records, Toronto-based Alma Records, and now Vancouver's wonderful Cellar Live are hopefully fast-changing that. Blow-Up, from saxophonist Steve Kaldestad, recorded live at the Cellar Night Club and released on the club's label, is another exemplary testament to the jazz idiom from a quintet of among Canada's finest...

Tobias Gebb and Unit 7: Free At Last 8 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

New York-based drummer Tobias Gebb assembled a stellar cast for Free At Last. The format of Unit 7 follows the instrumentation tradition of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. The three-horn frontline and three-man rhythm section allows this group to sound bigger than it is at times, while also having the flexibility to make things more intimate. Gebb covers plenty of stylistic ground over the course of these eight songs and he wastes no time getting started...

Pablo Menendez and Mezcla: I'll See You In Cuba 8 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

Guitarist/vocalist Pablo Menendez makes a two-pronged point with the title of this CD. He alludes to what could happen if visitors from the United States were permitted to travel to Cuba, and adds a slight twist on the Irving Berlin's "I'll See You in C.U.B.A.," which he sings with zest and verve. Menendez brings in a blend of several genres in his schematic vision on I'll See You In Cuba and, along with his band Mezcla, consistently captures and develops it eloquently...

Miles Okazaki: Generations 8 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

Generations, Miles Okazaki's second CD, displays the ornate structural latticework and solid foundation of a highly skilled conceptual architect. As a guitarist his tone is taut and balanced across the full range of the instrument, full of rhythmic and melodic nuance. Okazaki also shows thoughtfulness and creativity as a composer and bandleader, assembling a close-knit group of skilled colleagues and providing a conceptual and thematic framework that elicits exquisite contributions from all the players. This music resides at the crossroads of creative expression, rigorous concern for structure, profound expressions of individuality and highly effective group cooperation...

Henry Threadgill: This Brings Us To, Vol. 1 8 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

Henry Threadgill's This Brings Us To, Vol. 1 marks the return of the iconoclastic saxophonist/flautist's Zooid ensemble, his primary public performance vehicle for the past decade. The quintet, although having undergone some significant changes since its previous disc, with bass guitarist Stomu Takeishi and multi-instrumentalist Elliot Humberto Kavee replacing cellist/trombonist Dana Leong and drummer Dafnis Prieto, the group remains a cohesive unit with a unified sound, in no small part due to the continued presence of longtime band members, guitarist Liberty Ellman and tuba player Jose Davila, now doubling on trombone...

Will Campbell: Think Tank 7 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

Every once in awhile there emerges a record that is brimful with sinewy, simply honest music that reverberates from one song to another and leaves echoes of melodies or twists and turns in the musicians' solos long after the last notes of the record have died down. This is how alto saxophonist Will Campbell's debut as leader, Think Tank, runs the gauntlet in the tough and crowded musical world where post-bop alto saxophonists have been competing ever since Bird left the scene six decades ago...

Robin Verheyen: Starbound 7 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

After studying in his native Belgium and in the Netherlands, expatriate saxman Robin Verheyen spent a year at the Manhattan School of Music, where one of his teachers was soprano sax wizard Dave Leibman. Anyone familiar with Leibman's work knows the ex-Miles Davis sideman's musical feet are planted firmly on the ground... although which planet that ground is located on has never been determined. That being said, the astounding music on Starbound proves Verheyen is either a native of that planet, or has visited it a few times, at least...

Flux: Peninsulator 7 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

Uniting musicians from several parts of Europe, Copenhagen-based band Flux has the kind of restless cosmopolitan energy that its name seems to suggest. On Peninsulator the group plays its very own brand of postmodern jazz, referencing a wealth of styles from post-bop to classical, rock, and world music, while still being able to forge its own sprawling identity...

John Stein: Raising the Roof 7 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

Raising the Roof is a hard-swinging and thoroughly enjoyable album by Boston-based guitarist John Stein. Featuring an all-star quartet, with keyboardist Koichi Sato, bassist John Lockwood and drummer Ze Eduardo Nazario, the group plays together with a sense of cohesion that borders on the realm of ESP. While this level of communication and familiarity is to be expected by world-class jazz musicians such as these, what is surprising is that they were able to play in this fashion with such a quick rehearsal and recording schedule, another testament to their masterful musicality...

Peter Banks: Two Sides of Peter Banks 7 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

Pity poor Peter Banks. Unceremoniously ousted from the group he co-founded, on the cusp of greater success, the guitarist went on to relative obscurity after a quick run with Flash, while his band mates in Yes became megastars with hits like "Roundabout" and albums like Close to the Edge (Atlantic, 1972). He may not have possessed the instantaneous charisma and stunning virtuosity of his replacement, Steve Howe, but he was a fine guitarist, as this remastered edition of his solo debut, Two Sides of Peter Banks, amply proves, despite running out of steam half-way through...

Ted Nash: Portrait in Seven Shades 7 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) is often derided as a bastion of conservatism, although it's not clear what is conservative about an epic like trumpeter Wynton Marsalis' Congo Square (Blue Note, 2007), with its volleys of Ghanaian percussion and ensemble-singing in the Ga and Fante dialects. For that matter, the JLCO accommodates boundary-pushing musicians like Ted Nash, who holds a multi-woodwinds chair while still doing offbeat work with the likes of bassist Ben Allison and pianist Frank Kimbrough--not to mention his own groups, including Odeon and Still Evolved...

Vincent Gardner: Three-Five 7 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

The title here refers to both trombonist Vincent Gardner's age and the time signatures (3/4 and 5/4) of the majority of the tracks on this CD. Gardner says the "idea for the date was to try these pieces in a different meter. It's amazing that when you drop a beat and take a tune usually played in 4/4 down to 3/4 its character changes and therefore you respond differently." It's not really that straightforward; Gardner doesn't simply cast pieces in a steady 3/4 or 5/4 like Dave Brubeck or the early hard boppers did, but takes liberties with rhythms within the meters as well as delivering fresh, often intricate arrangements reimagining more familiar tunes. A case in point is his fugue-like recasting of Sonny Rollins' "Valse Hot," dispensing with full rhythm section during the theme and changing up rhythmic emphasis while maintaining the kernel 3/4 during solos...

Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra: The Definitive Thad Jones 7 Feb 2010, 2:05 am

Recorded in 1988, over two decades after the creation of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and a decade after Jones left the band, this is also its last recording under Lewis' helm (he died two years later, 20 years ago in February, 2010). As such, it reflects Lewis' concept as well as his and the band's adaptations of Jones' charts. The instrumentation is also different than both the early incarnation and today's Vanguard Jazz Orchestra--the brass including two bass trombones and French horn. The two CDs include two LPs originally done for MusicMasters, the second released after Lewis' death...