Bobby Shew And Bill Mays, Telepathy It was a coincidence that could not have been more welcome if it had had been planned; One day, the mailwoman brought two new albums that feature pianist Bill Mays. One is a reissue that has an estimable bonus in the presence of trumpeter and flugelhornist Bobby Shew. Mays and Shew recorded their vinyl album Telepathy in 1978 for the all-but-forgotten Jazz Hounds record company. Jordi Pujol of the resourceful Fresh Sound label has rescued it from … [Read more...]

On his Jazz Northwest broadcast this weekend, Jim Wilke remembers Ernestine Anderson, a singer who began making an impact in the music when she was a Seattle teenager. Her prominent recordings included "Don't Make Your Move Too Soon," which became omnipresent on jazz and other radio stations around the world. In his announcement, Mr. Wilke outlines his further plans for this Sunday's program:     On the eve of what would be her 91st birthday, the late Ernestine Anderson is remembered with a … [Read more...]

Seeking consideration, albums arrive by the dozens. The reviewer must decide which ones will get his attention. Wearing a blindfold and searching randomly through the burgeoning stacks of incoming CDs (and occasional LPs), is not productive. So, we fall back on name recognition, listening experience and trust, hoping to do justice to a few of the hordes of discs that the post office, FedEx, DHL and UPS deliver in ceaseless profusion. So...onward. Over the next few days, we shall consider a … [Read more...]

The young Canadian drummer Harry Vetro has followed his debut album as a leader, Northern Ranger, with a shorter CD of four tracks.  The new album has a similar title, Eastern Stranger, but perhaps that won't create confusion among Vetro devotees. As in his first recording, the music reflects the influence of the drummer-composer's nationality. It also captures a bit of the whimsy that occasionally peeped through the seriousness of the writing for strings on Vetro's initial CD. Indeed, whimsy … [Read more...]

  It may be too easy to take Louis Armstrong for granted. After all, he is one of the greatest musicians of the Twentieth Century. Perhaps we all conclude that we understand why. Then, along comes yet another reminder of the intensity, the sheer strength, of his musicianship. The most recent reissue to remind us of his inimitable energy and creativity is the Dot Time release Louis Armstrong Live In Europe. It's not just his astonishing trumpet playing that can drive home the point. It's … [Read more...]

Until recently, it may have seemed that the singer and songwriter Anne Phillips had resigned as a performer. She had not. Those who remember her 1959 debut album, Born To Be Blue, may be delighted to know that her years below the radar as a writer, arranger, conductor and studio musician did nothing to dilute her impact as a performer. She has buoyed her undiminished presence with a follow-up to her second rare album, Gonna Lay My Heart On The Line, released in 2000. The new one captures her in … [Read more...]

Who is your favorite singer from the Canadian province of Newfoundland? Don't have one? If you listen to Heather Bambrick, that could change. Ms. Bambrick is a nominee for the Juno Awards, Canada's equivalent of the Grammys. She is known in her country for singing with sensitivity about things that matter to her. Among them are racism, homophobia and other contemporary expressions of interpersonal aggression. She sets the tone of her new album Fine State, with "You've Got To Be Taught," Rodgers' … [Read more...]

One of the highlights of the 2019 Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival was a concert by Hannah Svensson. Now, Ms. Svensson's new album, Places And Dreams, presents her along with the colleagues who backed her at Ystad. They include her guitarist father Ewan Svensson and her good friend pianist Jan Lundgren, artistic director of the festival. From Lundgren's trio are Matz Nilsson, playing electric bass, and drummer Zoltan Csörcz. The album contains seven new songs written by Ms. Svensson, as well as a … [Read more...]

The recent Rifftides review of the Richard Boukas-Louis Arques album of music by Brazilian composers drew this comment from guitarist and composer Boukas: The video you embedded is from our newest suite, A Dozen Choro Tributes. The suite will be premiered on November 8 in New York City as part of the NYC Classical Guitar Salon Series. Although our original repertoire is contemporary Brazilian chamber music, it uses popular Brazilian genres as its foundation and has some jazz influences as … [Read more...]

It is always sad to report the end of a major spot for jazz listening. In this case, the word is that Seattle's venerable Tula's is closing. The club has been a jazz fixture in the US Pacific Northwest for more than two decades. In this weekend's edition of his Jazz Northwest, Jim Wilke will concentrate on Tula's and what the club has meant to jazz in the US Pacific Northwest for more than two decades. Below is Mr. Wilke's summary of the program, illustrated with one of Jim Levitt's always fine … [Read more...]

Noah Preminger Group: Zigsaw: Music Of Steve Lampert  In his newest foray, to be released in early October, the adventurous tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger recruits Steve Lampert, a gifted composer who is one of Preminger's longtime New York collaborators. Ever on the frontier of experimentation, Preminger is aided by the complexity of Lampert's composition. The piece is a fifty-minute continuum interrupted only by periodic side trips into a post-modern romanticism enhanced by electronic … [Read more...]

Kerry Politzer, Diagonal: A Tribute To Durval Ferreira The pianist recruits several of her talented Pacific Northwest colleagues for this album of pieces by a Brazilian composer whose works were central to the rise of the music that became known as bossa nova. Ferreira's "O Gato," "E Nada Mais" and other compositions not only entered the mainstream in his country but were also embraced by American performers, among them Cannonball Adderley, Sarah Vaughan, Herbie Mann and Stan Getz. Politzer's … [Read more...]

  Dave Douglas is a trumpeter whose adherence to basic jazz values fully justifies the title of the new album he shares with pianist Uri Caine and drummer Andrew Cyrille in their unusual trio. Unusual? Yes. For one thing, there is no bass player to help with harmonic and rhythmic responsibilities. At the piano, Caine takes care of business in both departments, abetted by Cyrille, a drummer whose strength and drive have seemed to intensify as he built on the qualities that first brought … [Read more...]

Really brief, indeed, because during and since the Rifftides staff's return from the Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival, albums hoping to be reviewed have arrived by the dozens (not an exaggeration). Here, we begin to consider a few of them. Rondi Marsh The Pink Room The Pacific Northwest singer addresses eleven songs mostly from the 1950s. Among her eclectic choices are Lieber-Stoller's "Black Denim Trousers (And Motorcycle Boots)," Erroll Garner's "Misty" and Henry Mancini's "Slow Hot Wind." She … [Read more...]

The word "all-star" does not appear in Jim Wilke's description of this weekend's Jazz Northwest program, but the band supporting singer Michael Mayo fits the all-star category. Here is Jim's preview paragraph: "Vocalist Michael Mayo won many new fans with his performance at the 2019 Jazz Port Townsend. His wide-ranging flexible voice was surprisingly supple and expresive in a program mostly given to the popular standards songbook with the exception of the opening original song in which he … [Read more...]

Earlier this week at The Seasons, an acoustically blessed performance hall in Yakima, Washington, alto saxophonist Logan Strosahl and pianist Nick Sanders demonstrated the like-mindedness that makes them one of the most riveting duos in jazz. Sanders (on the left here) traveled to the Pacific Northwest from New York, his headquarters for a decade. Strosahl was visiting from Berlin, Germany, where he has been expanding his musical trilogy based on the King Arthur legend. The album cover below … [Read more...]