Dan John

This set is a little different than most ECM releases, because the trio (guitarist John Abercrombie, organist Dan Wall and drummer Adam Nussbaum) performs a couple of fairly straight-ahead standards – "You and the Night and the Music" and "Long Ago and Far Away" – in addition to six originals, including Wall's rhythmic "Bo Diddy." Not sounding at all like a typical soul-jazz organ group, these musicians take more advanced improvisations, with Wall (whose accompaniment of Abercrombie is quite atmospheric) emerging as the top soloist.

For his second album, and first for Brother Mister Productions, Christian McBride’s new imprint, Dan Wilson showcases his fluid mainstream guitar work on an array of material that includes a slinky remake of Stevie Wonder's "Bird of Beauty," and an intriguing mashup of John Coltrane's "After the Rain" and Marvin Gaye's "Save the Children," the latter sung by guest vocalist Joy Brown.
Wilson, a native of Akron, Ohio, has toured extensively with organist Joey DeFrancesco and McBride's Tip City band. On the McBride-produced Vessels, the guitarist is deftly backed by pianist Christian Sands, bassist Marco Panascia and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts, all of whom shine in their own solos.

Give Jim Belushi and Dan Aykroyd credit for at least one thing: the subtitle of "Big Men - Big Music" to their 2003 album, Have Love Will Travel, is pretty fun, and partially accurate. The two comedians-cum-retro-bluesmen are indeed big men, and they at the very least have a big band: the back cover features no less than 12 musicians, including the duo, begging the question of just how much does the Have Love Will Travel Revue actually pull in per gig. That's a question better settled by accountants and auditors, of course, but a lot of musicians does mean that the music at the very least sounds busy, even if it doesn't necessarily sound big. But that's really no change from Aykroyd's previous musical excursion, the Blues Brothers, who always utilized a big band to make faithful music.