Bunny Wailer is not only known as an original member of reggae group The Wailers, but also because of his fantastic solo career. His second album Protest is full of solid reggae rhythms and conscious lyrics. It's subtle with a lot of slowly growing repetitions and the great Peter Tosh appears on the guitar. As the title suggests, it is more of social commentary, Bunny protests against vanity and rallies for human rights. All over this one needs to be in everybody's Reggae collection.
Soul Jazz Records presents this collection featuring the heavy 70s roots reggae of Bunny Lee – a living legend, one of the last of the great Jamaican record producers who helped shape and define reggae music in the 1970s from a small island sound into an internationally successful musical genre.
Reggae fans overlook this one at their peril. Originally released as two separate albums on Bunny Wailer's own Solomonic label, this CD brings together the dub versions of songs from Blackheart Man, his solo debut, and Bunny Wailer Sings the Wailers, his tribute to the band he originally founded with Peter Tosh and Bob Marley.
Bunny Brunel is best-known as a virtuosic electric bassist who is featured in high-quality fusion settings. This particular recording is quite a bit different for Brunel is heard exclusively on acoustic bass, performing advanced jazz standards including pieces by Wayne Shorter, Steve Swallow, and Herbie Hancock along with two of the bassist's originals, "Stella by Starlight," Charlie Parker's "Relaxin' at Camarillo," and "Someday My Prince Will Come." Guitarist Mike Stern has plenty of solos, pianist Billy Childs gets in his spots, and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta is fine in support, but Brunel clearly controls the music. On the concluding "Twelve Bars for Leberstraum," Chick Corea guests on piano.
Honeymoon is the excellent debut album from Beach Bunny, the four-piece band out of Chicago. Recorded at the iconic Chicago studio Electrical Audio with producer Joe Reinhart (Hop Along, Algernon Caldwaller), the nine songs on the LP burst with energy that capture their vital and life-affirming live shows. Songs like the swooning and anthemic singles "Dream Boy" and "Ms. California" encapsulate the highs and lows the exiting the honeymoon stage of a relationship. The long-awaited debut LP “Honeymoon” from Beach Bunny follows their breakout hit on Tik-Tok, "Prom Queen” (65 million global streams, 518K+ TikTok videos). Honeymoon will be released on February 14th, 2020 following a major market tour with festival plays.
Having made a name for himself in the bands of Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman, trumpeter Bunny Berigan set out on his own in 1937. Heading up a big band that included such shifting personnel as drummer Buddy Rich, tenor saxophonist George Auld, trumpeter/arranger Ray Conniff, and pianist Joe Bushkin, Berigan blazed brightly and briefly, until alcoholism and a lack of discipline forced him to break up his band in 1939. This Classics disc features tracks cut before things went south. Covering the years 1937-1938, the 20 sides find Berigan and company in their prime, with sparkling solos coming from Berigan, Auld, Conniff, and Bushkin. While the disc sags a bit with some requisite filler by vocalist Ruth Gaylor, instrumental highlights like "Wacky Dust" (a possible cocaine-reference here?), Ellington's "Azure," and Irving Berlin's "Russian Lullaby" ensure this batch of mostly solid swingers stays fresh.