Review of Terri Lyne Carrington’s Album Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue

A few years ago we had the opportunity to interview Grammy-winning drummer Terri Lyne Carrington on Teen Jazz. This week, we’re excited to bring you a review of her latest release on Concord Jazz, Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue. Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue features Gerald Clayton on keys, Christian McBride on bass and Terri …

Review of Boney James’ Album The Beat

On April 9, 2013, saxophonist Boney James released his latest contribution to the smooth jazz genre. The Beat, a collection of ten covers and originals in the R&B, Latin and smooth jazz styles, is an eclectic yet well-blended assortment of instrumental and vocal songs. According to Boney James, “this record was born of my love …

Review of Gerald Albright and Norman Brown’s Album 24/7

In 2012, saxophonist Gerald Albright and guitarist Norman Brown teamed up to create 24/7, a collection of 10 soul-jazz tracks released on Concord Jazz, a division of Concord Music. The title of the album, 24/7, Albright says comes from “the commitment that both of us have made in terms of our instruments. Even when we …

Review of Yvonnick Prené’s Album Jour de Fête

Parisian harmonica player Yvonnick Prené recently released his debut album as a solo artist (March 2013) and in just over a month, the album has already earned considerable success and recognition amongst jazz fans and critics. Jour de Fête, Prené’s début release, is a collection of seven original compositions and four jazz covers. It features …

Review of Adam Larson’s Album Simple Beauty

With an already well-established reputation as an excellent clinician, educator, sideman, student and performer at the young age of 23, saxophonist Adam Larson has successfully added the titles artist, composer and recording artist to his resume with the release of his debut album Simple Beauty. Larson’s debut effort was released January 2013 and has already …

Review of Marion Meadows’ Whisper

With 25 years of experience and eleven records under his belt [For Lover’s Only (1990), Keep It Right Here (1993), Forbidden Fruit (1994), Body Rhythm (1996), Pleasure (1997), Another Side Of Midnight (1999), Next To You (2000), In Deep (2002), Players Club (2004), Dressed To Chill (2006), and Secrets (2009)], Marion Meadows has established himself …

Review of The Guitar Simplified by Neil Santos

Genre: Music Guide, Method Book Page Count: 105 Pages The Guitar Simplified, in the words of Neil Santos is “everything you ever wanted to know about music theory and guitar but were afraid to ask.” The book was published by Scale Trainer in 2012, and it serves as a beautifully illustrated guide to the guitar …

Review of Phil Perry’s Say Yes

Phil Perry’s most recent release, Say Yes, is a soulful and refreshing project that features guests Chante Moore and Najee. Released on March 12, 2013 with Shanachie, this album is forty minutes well-produced and soothing music. Say Yes is Perry’s tenth album as a solo artist. Perry was born and raised in East St Louis. …

Review of the Warren Hill Saxophone Summit 2013

This past weekend, the first annual Warren Hill Saxophone Summit was held at the Double Tree Hotel in Santa Ana, California on March 23-24, 2013. Warren Hill’s Saxophone Summit was a two-day event geared towards saxophonists and saxophone fans featuring a collection of fantastic performers and speakers as part of the summit. Each day was …

Review of NAMM 2013 Part II

This is Part II of our review of NAMM 2013. You can read the first article here: NAMM 2013 Part I. To avoid the crowds, we skipped the show on Saturday and went Sunday once things had settled down. Although it seemed like a good idea to skip a day, we missed out a few …