Jazztimes April 2016

The Hot Club Of San Francisco goes Fab! The venerable Gypsy Swing Combo interprets The Beatles on the gorgeous new album 'John, Paul, George & Django. It was only a matter of time before guitarist Paul Mehling focused his creative mojo on Lennon and McCartney's vast and enduring treasure trove of songs. The founder and guiding spirit of the Hot Club of San Francisco, America's longest running Gypsy swing ensemble, Mehling was first inspired to pick up a guitar when the Beatles launched the British Invasion via Ed Sullivan's show on Feb. 9, 1964.

Epically Cracked is among the vanguard of new artists fusing jazz, funk, rock and electronic music in exhilarating and musically rewarding ways…

Trumpeter Ralph Alessis ECM leader debut 2013s "Baida" was the album where everything came together for him, according to Nate Chinen in a JazzTimes profile. Without abandoning his yen for oppositional energies, its a beautifully coherent statement, not just his most accomplished album but a contender for one of the years best. With Quiver, Alessi teams with pianist Gary Versace and the trumpeters longtime rhythm section of choice bassist Drew Gress and drummer Nasheet Waits to create a follow-up of quicksilver melodicism and subtly energized rhythm; there is a lyricism to Alessis playing that channels such forebears as Miles Davis and Kenny Wheeler, the mood reflective, even pensive. As DownBeat says, "Alessi works between the notes, his thoughtful, conversational solos as meditative as a calligraphers art, each line free-flowing and declarative but with immaculate shape and beauty".

There are no doubts about it. Alma Micic (Mee-cheech) is a first rate jazz singer. On her debut album, Introducing Alma (CTA, 2004), she opened some doors with her seductive style working the Great American Songbook. Giving no hint of what was to follow, the release of The Hours raises the bar, leaving no hesitation about where this vocalist is headed. The Hours is far from the type of breakthrough bestseller that one might intimate.

Danish vocalist Sinne Eeg has a mature, pliable voice that shows traces of singers like Peggy Lee and Sheila Jordan in its contours and sound. She is a long-established presence in her home country but Dreams is only her second album to be released in America. For the occasion she has put together a solid cast of veteran American musicians in guitarist Larry Koonse, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Joey Baron along with her countryman, pianist Jacob Christoffersen.

Louis Hayes & the Cannonball Legacy Band pay tribute to the drummer's late employer by exploring a number of songs that he recorded while working with Cannonball Adderley. The veteran is in great form, joined by alto saxophonist Vincent Herring, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, pianist Rick Germanson, and bassist Vicente Archer. The music doesn't focus on any one edition of Adderley's band, but delves into music the alto saxophonist recorded during the early '60s. Hayes' crop of Young Lions opens with an explosive take of "What Is This Thing Called Love?," delves with gusto into Bobby Timmons' soul-jazz hit "Dat Dere" and Nat Adderley's spiritual-flavored "Work Song," and delivers a playful performance of "Fiddler on the Roof," the latter tune showcasing the leader's effective solo. No effort is made to mimic Adderley's style or the sidemen who played alongside him, though it is clear that all the musicians are enjoying themselves throughout these sessions.

Acouple of years ago I paid a princely sum for a rather unusual CD reissue (manufactured in New Jersey but created for the Japanese market, complete with Japanese liner notes) of the aptly titled Rare Evening. Then, as now, I considered it money extremely well spent. Though the Simone catalog overflows with live recordings, this 1969 German concert outranks all others.

Albums crafted around moon-related tunes aren’t anything new. Mel Tormé delivered his terrific Swingin’ on the Moon in 1960. Six years later, Frank Sinatra shaped the more somber Moonlight Sinatra. While the concept may lack originality, vocalist Allegra Levy beautifully explores the lunar theme with this soft-hued assemblage. And, following Levy’s two previous releases, Lonely City and Cities Between Us, both focused on original compositions, it’s intriguing, and mightily satisfying, to hear her navigate 13 covers.