Andrea Brachfeld – Flutist, Composer, Educator

Andrea Brachfeld – Flute – Born May 3rd

On this day May 3rd in the year ??? (Hum, we don’t really need to know that) flutist Andrea Brachfeld was born! From All About Jazz….

Flutist Andrea Brachfeld, is a graduate of The High School of Music and Art and Manhattan School of Music. Over these past 20 years she has recorded more than a dozen CD’s with many artists including, Africando, Noel Pointer, and Timbalaye. Her breakthrough performance as the flutist for the popular Latin band Charanga ’76, catapulted her into Salsa history and fame as the first female flutist to play this music in the United States. While in high school she received the “Louis Armstrong Award for Outstanding Student” from Jazz Interactions. Study with Hubert Laws, Jimmy Heath, and Mike Longo helped her develop her own style. Downbeat magazine referred to Andrea as “one of the finest jazz flutists around.” She has twice been the recipient of the Latin New York Music Award as a flutist. Read More Read More

Randy Raine-Reusch: World Multi-Instrumentalist

Randy Raine-Reusch – Plays an Amazing Array of World Instruments        

Born : May 2, 1952

 As I looked down the list of jazz musicians who are celebrating their birthdays today (May 2nd), I saw the name Randy Raine-Reusch a multi-instrumentalist. Since I am always interested in multi-instrumentalists I clicked on his name to find out more about him and I saw several pictures of Randy playing some very strange-looking instruments.One of them that interested me was this one… hum?? What instrument is that?  As I explored more I discovered that….. Read More

Mel Carter – “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me”

Mel Carter (born April 22, 1943, Cincinnati, Ohio)

There was one thing I knew for certain when I was growing up in the early Sixties, when It came time for a yearly countdown of the greatest songs of all time there among the top would be Mel Carter’sHold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me“. Every year it would take a year to get that song out of your head and, then, it get put right back into it for another year, but what a great song it was!! Well, today Mel Carter celebrates his 72nd birthday. From Wikipedia: Read More

Midwinter – Jon Richards

After Winter Ends I Discover Midwinter by Jon Richards

One of the New Age albums that has been in my music rotation for the last week or so is Midwinter from Jon Richards. The album has been the soundtrack for a run As while as being played while I was reading and doing my morning yoga routine and it has been enjoyed in all those. Jon Richards is a New Age artist whose hometown is Minehead, Somerset in the United Kingdom. Time for a favorite digression of mine – finding out where towns are!! A quick googling of maps ended with this map showing the location of Minehead Read More

Traveler – Lawson Rollins

Lawson Rollins – Traveler – Another Awesome Album!

I discovered the fantastic guitar of Lawson Rollins a few years ago. My first encounter with his music was through his work as part of the duo Young & Rollins,  then in 2013 I met the solo artist, when I listened to his 2013 release Full Circle.  In both settings,Rollins is amazing! Just ask Guitar Player Magazine who says this about his playing: “ungodly classical chops…dazzling speed, uncanny accuracy and beautifully delicate touch.”  That artistry is on display again on Rollins’s latest release Traveler. Read More

Summon the Wind – Timothy Wenzel

Summon the Wind

Timothy Wenzel – Summon the Wind

Fantastic electro-acoustic Contemporary Instrumental/New Age/Celtic music.

Timothy Wenzel - composer Summon the Wind

Over the last week or so the latest release Timothy Wenzel Summon the Wind has been in my music listening rotation. I spotted the album on the Zone Music Reported Chart for January where it was at number 6 on the chart. I had previously listened to Wenzel’s 2012 release A Coalescence of Dreams and his 2013 release River Serene and enjoyed both of the albums.According to Wenzel’s website, Wenzel   “writes and plays highly engaging electro-acoustic Contemporary Instrumental/New Age/Celtic music.” From his biography…… Read More

John Luttrell – The Dream Exchange

The Dream Exchange the latest release from composer, singer-songwriter, producer, and performer John Luttrell sat at No. 1 on the Zone Music Reporter’s Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart back in June of this year and that may be when I discovered the album. Anyway the album has been in my music rotation for a good part of the last half of 2014! The reason for that is easy to explain – it’s a great album. Here’s what some folks have to say about the album Read More

Johannes Linstead – Midnight Rhumba

Johannes Linstead - Midnight Rhumba

Johannes Linstead – Midnight Rhumba – Guitar and Kundalini – Yes!

So last week  I instituted a new item into my daily routine, The Music and Reading Hour. The idea is to set aside an hour a day to listen to music from musicians that I don’t know and read the books that I am currently reading. The first Music and Reading Hour featured five jazz artists, while the second featured four New Age artists. One of those artists was Johannes Linstead, I listened to a few tracks from Linstead’s latest release Midnight Rhumba. Read More