Cultural Celebrations

 

 

Edward Simon, Venezuelan Suite (Sunnyside Records)
Danilo Pérez, Panama 500 (Mack Avenue Records)
A Review

Two top-drawer Latin-American pianists, Venezuelan Edward Simon and Panamanian Danilo Pérez, take different approaches to celebrating their respective heritages on their recent
releases. Simon seamlessly integrates Venezuela’s folkloric traditions with those of jazz. Pérez works in a more painterly manner, adding touches of Panamanian color to his jazz-based
compositions. Continue reading →

Keeper of the Flame

C_Russ_coverX

Catherine Russell, Bring It Back (Jazz
Village/harmonia mundi)
A Review

Vocalist Catherine Russell has more than 100 years of American musical history in her voice, and she comes by it honestly. Her
father, Luis Russell, was Louis Armstrong’s bandleader and arranger from 1935 through the early forties, and her mother, Carline Ray, played guitar in the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. As modern as Russell is—after all, she’s backed up everyone from Steely Dan to David Bowie to Rosanne Cash for years—when she sings in front of her band, it’s a history lesson, and never was school so much fun. Continue reading →

Littlefield and Asher on the Fire Escape

Patti Littlefield
Arlen Asher with the baritone

Vocalist Patti Littlefield can belt a tune hard enough to rattle the glassware behind the bar, and then she can drop down into her lubricious lower register to raise your interest in the possibility of illicit pleasures. Woodwind master Arlen Asher, jazz scholar and gentleman, long ago
discovered the avenues that lead from the mouthpiece to the human heart, and he travels them with what appears to be effortless ease, stripping away an audience’s defenses with a gentle and elegant lyricism.

These two fine musicians have held one another in high regard for years, but except for a
couple of tunes in jam sessions, they’ve never had the opportunity to play together. This
Thursday at the Outpost, they’ll finally remedy that, with help from Brian Bennett on piano, Michael Olivola on bass, and John Trentacosta on drums. The concert will be recorded, so come on out and whoop it up. Continue reading →

JeeZ LaWeeZ: A Wise Foolishness

CD cover Jeez LaWeez, Jeez LaWeez (Wiggle Room Records)
A Review

JeeZ LaWeeZ may appear to be a musical group, but in fact, they are a self-professed spiritual path to enlightenment disguised as a hugely talented and outrageously silly trio of musicians—Amy Blackburn (violin, viola,
mandolin, kazoo, vocals), Katie Gill (guitar, ukulele, kazoo, vocals), and Nancy Harvin (harmonica, bass, percussion, vocals). They write memorable tunes and rearrange your favorites from the ’60s through the ’80s in unimaginable ways. (Ever hear “I Got You [I Feel Good]” with the horn section replaced by a kazoo section?)

I first stumbled into a JeeZ LaWeeZ gig in Corrales a couple of years ago, was absolutely charmed, and have been following them ever since. Resplendent in wildly colorful and
mismatched outfits, they look like a little girls’ game of dress-up gone wrong. They’ve built up quite a following in the last couple of years, and after a couple of false starts, they have finally released their eponymously titled debut album. Continue reading →

René Marie: Sweetened by Risk

Photo by JaniceYim.

Photo by JaniceYim.

I saw and heard Rene Marie for the first time at the Outpost last spring. Going in, I knew only that she was a jazz singer with two first names and an imaginative haircut. That night, I learned that onstage, she opens herself to the music, lights, and audience the way a morning glory opens itself to the sun—brilliantly exposed and vulnerable.

But in command, too—with a lovely instrument, an actress’s ability to assume character, a strong backbone, and a very clear idea of what she wants to do with a song.

This Thursday, vocalist, playwright, teacher, and activist Marie brings her group—with Kevin Bales (piano), Elias Bailey (bass), and Quentin Baxter (drums)—back to the Outpost, riding the wave generated by her latest album, I Wanna Be Evil (Motéma). It’s a delicious tribute to the late Eartha Kitt, featuring a number of songs associated with the strong-willed singer, actress, and dancer, as well as star turns from Charles Etienne on trumpet, the gloriously audacious Wycliffe Gordon on trombone, and Adrian Cunningham on flute, clarinet, and sax. The two ladies have a lot of characteristics in common—suavity, sensuality, grit, honesty, and straight talking—and it’s unlikely anyone else on this planet could honor Kitt as effectively as Marie does. Continue reading →