Tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton's debut for Concord alerted the jazz world to the young swing stylist and predated Wynton Marsalis' first record (and the emergence of the Young Lions) by a couple years. Hamilton, who mixed together Zoot Sims and Ben Webster to form his own recognizable tone, already sounded in prime form for this set. Teamed up with trumpeter Bill Berry, pianist Nat Pierce, bassist Monty Budwig, and drummer Jake Hanna, Hamilton essentially launched the revival of mainstream jazz with this record. Highlights include "Indiana," "Stuffy," "Broadway," and "Blue Room," but all eight selections are quite enjoyable.
Wide Awake (In My Dreamland) is the 7th solo album by hard rock veteran Jeff Scott Soto that blends melodic rock/AOR with hard rock influences. The singer, who has more than 60 albums under his belt along with numerous collaborations and recordings, has established himself as a consummate professional who manages to expertly deliver with his vocal performances across multiple musical genres, from Metal to Hard Rock to Progressive Rock and even Funk. JSS currently also fronts Sons Of Apollo. CD versions of the album also include a bonus live album recorded at Frontiers Rock Festival in 2019, “Live At Frontiers Rock Festival 2019," which was released in digital format only this past April (2020).
Maxine Sullivan's final concert (although she would record part of her Jule Styne tribute studio album for Atlantic a few months later) is an excellent retrospective of her career. Joined by tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton's quintet (with pianist John Bunch and guitarist Chris Flory), Sullivan performs for the final time some of her favorite numbers, including nostalgic and near-classic renditions of "As Long as I Live," "I Got a Right to Sing the Blues," "A Hundred Years From Today" and "You're Driving Me Crazy." Ironically, the final song that Maxine Sullivan sang was also the same tune that she had used to start her recording career back in 1937, "Loch Lomond."
The two Swedes Jan Lundgren and Hans Backenroth are musical storytellers, their playing is without any vanity and full of vivid stories. Qualities that Lundgren has already demonstrated with his own projects, the pan-European success trio "Mare Nostrum" and in duos with trombonist and singer Nils Landgren and bass icon Georg Riedel. Especially the latter finds a worthy continuation in the collaboration with Backenroth, an internationally sought-after European bassist.