Ben Wolfe is a composer and bassist currently on the teaching faculty at The Juilliard School Jazz Division. Wolfe is releasing a ten-track album, Fatherhood, which pays tribute to the bassist’s father, Dan Wolfe, a former violinist who spent a season with the San Antonio Symphony, who passed away in 2018. Besides paying tribute to his father, Fatherhood is nine originals and a standard with a theme on what it means for Wolfe to be a father to his own son, Milo. “I made this record in ways I knew my father would have encouraged” – that meant choosing the best studio, the best musicians, self-funding the entire project, and making wise decisions [...]
Shannon Kennedy is a multi-faceted artist, composer, producer, performer, recording artist and music instructor. By maintaining diversity as a performer and composer, she has developed an exciting and constantly evolving career in contemporary music. Primarily recognized as a ‘powerhouse saxophonist’ throughout Southern California, Kennedy is currently releasing her latest album, Back Again. The album contains ten tracks and features Peter White, Chieli Minucci, Kat Dyson, Jordan West, Kurt Hamernick, and Jeff Carlson. Kennedy offers the listener a nice balance of her own compositions and well-arranged covers.
“Something” starts Back Again [...]
June Bisantz and Alex Nakhimovsky are not new to the recording game. Bisantz’ 2012 release, It’s Always You, inspired by the vocal work of the legendary Chet Baker, featured both familiar and obscure Baker songs spanning the course of his career. Pianist, Nakhimovsky with award winning Joe Hisaishi’s New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra in Tokyo was recorded and released on the Universal label as American In Paris in 2005. Later that year, Nakhimovsky toured with the Orchestra, performing in Japan’s major concert halls. As co-producer of Russia’s Baikal Waves International.Jazz Festival since 2006, Nakhimovsky has [...]
Vocalist Norah Jones has been impressing listeners with her soft brand of jazz since her debut, Come Away With Me. Armed with a warm and technically gifted voice, Jones continues to bring us well-written tunes with longtime collaborator Jesse Harris. Jones is back with her seventh album titled Begin Again. The seven tracks are all on the mellow side, but Jones is an expert at drawing us into her world of intrigue and mystery. Begin Again continues to show how this wonderful vocalist is still growing and searching the depths of her musical soul.
The opening sounds of the album offer a swelling keyboard sound. The drums enter and have a pop [...]
