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Continue reading →: The Gary Urwin Jazz Orchestra: Flying ColorsSUMMIT 818 (NO RECORDING DATE) There are swing big bands. There are modern jazz big bands. There are free jazz big bands. There are high school stage bands. There are dance bands. There are Afro-Latin big bands. There are jazz repertoire bands. There are big bands that blend contemporary classical…
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Continue reading →: Mike Clement: Hittin’ ItCELLAR MUSIC 803224 (RECORDED MAY 2023) Back in the day, jazz organists would travel city-to-city, find a local drummer and guitar player, then set up shop at a club that had a mighty Hammond B3. Had he been alive back in the day, Mike Clement would have been the first…
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Continue reading →: Angela Verbrugge: SomewhereOA2 RECORDS 22228. (RECORDED BETWEEN 2017 AND 2021) Angela Verbrugge will not impress you with her dynamic range, her scatting or any vocal tricks of the trade. She will, however, impress you with her pure honesty and warmth as she embraces this set of seven songs. You will also be…
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Continue reading →: Eric Alexander: Timing Is EverythingCELLAR MUSIC 70423 (RECORDED APRIL 2023) In the vernacular of a weather forecaster, expect flurries, and lots of them, on Eric Alexander’s newest release. A muscular and effusive tenor player ever since his first recordings back in the early 1990s, Alexander fills Timing Is Everything with a constant flurry of notes. Whether…
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Continue reading →: Alvin Queen: Feeling GoodSTUNT 24042. (RECORDED SEPTEMBER 2023) Look up the term “in-the-pocket” and you’ wi’ll disover that it means being in tempo and following the groove of the instrumentation with which you’re playing. Need an example? Listen to Alvin Queen’s Feeling Good with pianist Carlton Holmes and drummer Danton Boller. While most…
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Continue reading →: Denny Zeitlin: PanoplySUNNYSIDE 1741 (RECORDED 2013-2023) Listening to Denny Zeitlin’s Panoply is like opening a box of Whitman Sampler chocolates. You never know what you are going to get as you savor each morsel — advenuresome trio performances, engaging solo outings or interesting synthesizer/drum explorations. The trio cuts, recorded in 2019 at…
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Continue reading →: Jazz Ensemble of Memphis: Playing in the YardMEMPHIS INTERNATIONAL RECORDS 2042. (RECORDED JUNE 2023) Sixty-four years after a group of young musicians from Memphis walked into a recording studio in New York City to record Downhome Reunion: Young Men From Memphis, a similar aggregation of young Memphis musicians walked into a studio in their hometown to record…
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Continue reading →: Neil Adler: Emi’s SongSELF PRODUCED (RECORDED FEBRUARY 2024) Unlike two recent harmonica releases reviewed on this site — Gary Weinstein’s HarmoniMonk and Yvonne Prene’s Jobim’s World — harmonica and piano player Neil Adler chose originals and standards for Emi’s Song. The other difference between the three releases is that Adler plays both harmonica and…
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Continue reading →: Gary Smulyan & Frank Basile: Boss BaritonesSTEEPLECHASE 31963 (RECORDED DECEMBER 2023) “Oh Gee,” a tune recorded by Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and Johnny Griffin on their 1961 Blues Up & Down release, is the perfect way to kick off Boss Baritones. After baritone players Frank Basile and Gary Smulyan state the melody, they immediately start trading choruses.…
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Continue reading →: Gerard Chumilla: IntroducingFRESH SOUND/NEW TALENT 683 (RECORDED APRIL 2023) It’s no surprise that tenor saxophonist Gerard Chumilla chose to record Warne Marsh’s “Dixie’s Delimma” on his inaugural release. Afterall, his teacher/mentor and saxophonist Mark Turner recorded that same tune on his 2018 Temporary Kings release. Nor is it a surprise that Chumilla…
Hello,
Welcome to Papatamus Redux
I started reading Cadence in the early 1980s. Since that time, I have come to respect editor and jazz critic Robert Rusch for his intelligent, succinct and unbiased reviews. Over the past twenty years, it has been my pleasure to get to know Robert and his family, making frequent trips from our home in Iowa to New York’s North Country. Several years ago, I was honored to be asked to help edit Robert’s Papatamus column.
I was equally honored to be asked by his family to keep Robert’s legacy of intelligent, succinct and unbiased jazz reviews alive with Papatamus Redux. You can view older editions of Papatamus at papatamus.com.
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