George Cotsirilos Trio: Variations

OA2 Records
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Variations

Jazz guitarist George Cotsirilos is well known in Northern California, whether as a member of the San Francisco Nighthawks, a sideman for artists such as Pharaoh Sanders and Eddie Marshall, or an accompanist for vocalists such as Etta James and The Whispers. Cotsirilos is joined on this album by bassist Robb Fisher and drummer Ron Marabuto; together they’re as smooth and swinging a group as you’re likely to hear. These 10 tunes, mostly Cotsirilos originals, are a pleasant mix of straight-ahead jazz and Latin-tinged melodies. 

Fisher probably is the best known of these three artists; he worked with Cal Tjader’s group for a number of years, and also played with luminaries such as Chet Baker, Art Pepper and Anita O’Day. Marabuto has played with Pepper Adams, Roland Hanna and Tommy Flanagan, and regularly is heard at Bay Area clubs such as Yoshi’s and Jazz at Pearls. Those two provide a solid underpinning for Cotsirilos.

The entire album is fine, but special mention is due the treatment given the well-known standard “But Beautiful.” If you aren’t moved by this one, you aren’t paying attention! 

This is the kind of group that would make you smile, the moment you walked in the door of a club or restaurant where they were featured.

Jon Di Fiore: Yellow Petals

Third Freedom Music
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Yellow Petals

You don’t often find the descriptors “drummer” and “composer” in the same review, but Jon Di Fiore joins Louie Bellson in that regard. The latter, regarded by Duke Ellington as “the world’s greatest drummer,” got his start by winning a contest sponsored by Gene Krupa and the Slingerland Drum Company, besting 40,000 other entrants. The former got his first drum set at age 3 and, because he couldn’t reach everything, began practicing while propped up at his mother’s kitchen table in New Jersey.

Bellson had a wealth of experience, playing with icons Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Harry James, Duke Ellington and many others. Di Fiore’s background was much more restricted, being localized to Jersey and the New York City areas, with musicians from those locales. Both individuals developed into composers of note during their careers, due in part to their ability to play the piano. Indeed, Di Fiore teaches both drums and piano in his present positions as adjunct professor of music at Essex County College, with a sidebar instructional post at Serrano’s Music Academy in Belleville, New Jersey.

Whereas Bellson limited himself to jazz organizations, Di Fiore performs with both jazz and classical orchestras, and has received numerous awards in the latter genre.

For this album, his third, Di Fiore is supported by Billy Test (piano) and Adrian Morning (bass). Di Fiore wrote every track. All compositions are by Fiore. A mere few bars into the first tune — “Demise” — it’s easy to tell that he’s a true musician, and not “just a drummer.” His taste, control of volume, and complexity of emphasis phrases are superb; he never overwhelms the melodic passages. On top of which, Test and Morning also are outstanding. I haven’t heard a smoother unit in a long time. Simply put, these guys are great!

Anne Drummond: Revolving

Origin Records
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Revolving

Seattle-born Anne Drummond’s first instrument wasn’t a flute. It was a recorder: a first for many children because of the relative ease with which simple melodies can be played. Introduced in medieval times, the instrument remains quite popular today. As often is the case, the piano followed; that was her primary instrument when she entered New York’s Manhattan School of Music at age 18. She also had replaced the recorder with a flute by that time, and played it extensively; even so, she earned her degree on the piano keyboard.   

Drummond was raised in a musical family. An aunt exposed the budding musician to modern jazz, using her own collection. Interestingly, Drummond attended the same high school as Quincy Jones and Jimi Hendrix, and her piano teacher at the Manhattan School was Kenny Barron. After hearing her play the flute, Barron invited her to join his band. She did so. 

In addition to being a stellar artist on two instruments, Drummond teaches and composes; she wrote all but three of the songs on this release. She cuts a wide swath in the music field, from penning commercial jingles, to joining classical groups and orchestras. She’s featured here on both piano and flutes (soprano and alto).

Seven artists joined her: guitarist Vic Juris, additional pianists Benny Green and David Chesky, cellist Dave Eggar, bassist Brandi Disterheft, and drummers Kassar Overall and Keita Ogawa. The menu ranges from spritely up-tempo tunes to balladic/mood selections, everything done with a smooth jazz feel. 

You’ll want to listen time and again to this project by master musicians. Don’t miss it.

Lauren Kinhan: Circle in a Square

Dotted i Records
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Circle in a Square

The big band years resulted in the formation of numerous instrumental groups, ranging in size from trios to full orchestras. Many featured vocalists who became as famous as the units with which they performed, although few were classified as jazz vocalists. Exceptions include icons such as Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O’Day, Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, June Cristy and many more, most of whom mixed the jazz with popular songs. 

With the passage of time, many bands no longer could afford to carry vocalists. The truly famous soloists survived in other venues, while groups had to find another way to survive. The result was the creation of voice combos such as the Hi-Lo’s, the Four Freshman, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, the Manhattan Transfer and New York Voices; the singers used their voices as instruments.

Lauren Kinhan has been a member of the New York Voices since 1992, and the group celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2013.

But Kinhan isn’t merely a vocalist; she’s also a composer, lyricist and producer. In the latter role, she co-founded two other vocal groups: Moss and JaLaLa. The former released its first CD (Moss) in 2008, and the disc went on to be listed in Downbeat’s Best CDs of the 2000s issue. JaLaLa’s initial album (That Old Mercer Magic) hit the streets in 2009. Additionally, Kinhan has released solo albums: Hardly Blinking and Avalon. As for her compositional skills, she wrote or co-wrote all but two of the tunes on this new release, and also contributed the lyrics for all but one. 

The resulting album truly swings, due both to Kinhan and a wonderful cadre of instrumentalists. A bonus feature is the inclusion of printed lyrics; you appreciate each song even more. I had a blast listening to this; unless you’re not breathing, you should have just as much fun.

Joshua Breakstone: With the Wind and the Rain

Capri Records
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: With the Wind and the Rain

My memory of Joshua Breakstone goes back a long way, when I was being overwhelmed by artists such as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie; I frantically searched for other instrumentalists who could do what Charlie and Diz were doing with their horns. It wasn’t long before I stumbled upon Breakstone’s guitar, and I was hooked; he has been a favorite ever since. 

Breakstone is a prolific artist with an extensive discography; this is one of his newest albums. He has favored “small jazz” units, usually recording with a bassist and drummer, but for this disc he added a cello (Mike Richmond) a few tracks. Richmond also is a name bassist, and he employs that style — plucking, rather than bowing — on these four quartet selections. The other supportive artists are Lisle Atkinson on bass, and Eliot Zigmund on drums: both regulars on many of Breakstone’s releases.

Most of these tunes come from jazz icons who’ve had a major influence on Breakstone’s career: Kenny Dorham, Oscar Pettiford, George Cables, Keter Betts and Paul Chambers. The program is rounded out by three of Breakstone’s favorite standards: “Be Anything,” by Irving Gordon; “The Very Thought of You,” by Ray Noble; and “With the Wind and the Rain in Your Hair,” by Jack Lawrence and Clara Edwards. 

These four musicians have been around for years, and have played with many famed soloists and groups, sometimes in genres that extend beyond jazz. All are internationally known; Breakstone has toured Japan more than 50 times. 

This is bop-tinged, straight-ahead jazz: a true joy to hear. 

Adam Unsworth, Byron Olson and John Vanore: Balance

Acoustical Concepts Inc.
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Balance

This release features two groups: a jazz quintet backed by a large chamber ensemble, and a jazz sextet in conjunction with woodwinds and a string quartet. All the music is composed by Adam Unsworth, who also plays French horn, and composer/arranger Byron Olson. The result is one of the finest “marriages” of the jazz and classical genres, that I’ve ever heard.

Unsworth is without peer on the French horn, and he’s equally adept as a composer/arranger. He’s an associate professor at the University of Michigan, has been on the faculty at Temple University, and has appeared as recitalist and clinician at numerous universities in the State. He also played with the Grammy-nominated Gil Evans Centenial Project, and has recorded with many other jazz organizations.

Olson has written for numerous name artists and symphoney orchestras; perhaps his most famous productions are his Sketches of Miles and Sketches of Coltrane.

Unsworth is joined by John Vanore (trumpet/flugelhorn), Bob Mallach (tenor sax), Bill Mays (piano), Mike Richmond (bass) and Danny Gottlieb (drums), and the full ensembles consist of violins, violas, cellos, flutes and other orchestral instruments. 

Everything blends superbly, with Unsworth, Vanore and their associates delivering stunning, beautiful and truly swinging music. Don't miss this tour de force!

Jane Ira Bloom: Sixteen Sunsets

Outline Records
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Sixteen Sunsets

One doesn’t often win an audience with royalty in any field of the arts, but we consider ourselves blessed when it happens. Such is the case with this album by soprano saxophonist and composer Jane Ira Bloom. She’s the queen of that instrument; no one else come close to her mastery.

Merely listing her career’s many awards and accolades would fill several pages. She’s currently a professor at New York City’s New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, and is a constant performer on the world’s stages as a soloist, and with both small and large musical ensembles. This release features her quartet, in which she’s supported by pianist Dominic Fallacaro, bassist Cameron Brown and drummer Matt Wilson.

The album title, Sixteen Sunsets, is based on a quote from U.S. astronaut Joseph Allen: “...and you see 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets every day, when you’re in space. No sunrise or sunset is ever the same.” 

As for this album, you’ll never hear another musical performance like it.

This is Bloom’s 15th album as a leader, and her first all-ballad collection. The track list features American Songbook standards (among them “For All We Know,” “The Way You Look Tonight” and “My Ship”) and five original compositions.

Bloom gets a marvelously pure tone from her horn, which, along with her beautiful phrasing, makes every tune a mesmerizing event that you’ll not soon forget. Her compatriots are an equally important element in the performance, which you’ll want to hear again and again. At 77 minutes, the album also is generous. Finally, the superior audio quality — 5.1 high-resolution surround sound — is the icing on the cake. 

All in all, this is an album that you must have!