Category: Guitar
The Safari goes up the NJ Turnpike to find Jazz Guitarist – Bob DeVos’ – Shadow Box
So this week on the JazzWeek Radio Chart ar No 30 is Bob DeVos and his current release Shadow Box. As usual the Safari asks the questions – Who is this Bob Devos, What does he play?? Where is he from?? Turns out the answer to the last question is, just northeast of me in Patterson, New Jersey! What and Who is Bob? Bob is as the title of his website reads a “Jazz Guitarist. His biography at Wikipedia says that his playing style is similar to the playing of Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery-( DeVos moves the ball to the 40 yard line) – and he is most noted for his work with organist Richard “Groove” Homes -( he’s over mid field and into the red zone)!!! In his biography below I read “Mr. DeVos has headed his own modern, powerhouse Bob DeVos Organ Trio with Dan Kostelnik on Hammond B3 organ and Steve Johns on drums.”
Today in Music – Dec 5, 1947 – Happy Birthday, Egberto Gismonti !!
Somewhere over the last several weeks I came across the name of Egberto Gismonti and even listened to his 1980 release Circense. From AllMusic guide….
This excellent release by Egberto Gismonti was conceived under the concept of a circus, an institution that has the ambivalent quality of being at the same time universal and regional; the “circense” tradition exists in almost all parts of the globe, but it is enriched by the smaller companies that keep struggling to survive in poorer setups, adding regional elements to the whole. It fits like a glove for the music of Gismonti, which also aims to enrich Brazilian musical tradition with elements of worldwide classical and popular acquisitions. More at MOG
Today in Music – November 28 – Happy Birthday Goh Kurosawa!
So I started this mornings birthday reviews at All About Jazz by looking for a younger jazz artists and one that caught my eye because of his name was Goh Kurosawa. I went to his page at All About Jazz where I read:
Exploring the Music of Russell Malone – finding Dianne Reeves – together they perform “You’ve Got a Friend”
Ok so to honor Russell Malone on his birthday today, I said I would listen to his 2010 release Triple Play. But when I went to MOG, there was a 2013 release listed at the top of his discography, so I downloaded that and listened to it! It was great! I came home tonight and discovered that, the album I listened to was Playground which was actually released in 2004! I don’t know why it’s listed as 2013 unless it has been re-released??? The last song on Playground is Carol King’s “You’ve Got a Friend” a song that won both James Taylor and Carol Grammys! Now hearing Malone’s guitari instrumental version of the song was great, but earlier in the day I had watch portions of a video of a performance of the song with Russell playing guitar and Dianne Reeves providing the vocals. Now I didn’t know anything about Ms. Reeves, but I certainly want to find out more about her! What a wonderful voice, so rich, so soulful. Well I’ll just let you decide for yourselves as we go “into the morning” with the guitar of Russell Malone and the voice and soul of Dianne Reeves and the equally wonderful songwriting of Carole King (her Tapestry album is in my vinyl collection and millions of other people’s collections throughout the world )
Today in Music – November 8, 1963 – Happy 50th Birthday Russell Malone!!
The first time I really heard the guitar of Russell Malone was one night a while back when I stumbled upon this video of Malone, Christian McBride and Benn Green performing Wes Montgomery;s “Jingles” and I was blown away by his talent!! (and McBride and Green’s talent too!!)
Jazz Guitar from Graham Dechter – Takin’ It There
At number 48 on the Roots Music Report Jazz Chart this week sits the latest release from jazz guitarist, Graham Dechter, Takin’ It There. The first track on the album is titled “Road Song” Hum, could this be Wes Montgomery’s “Road Song”? After the first few notes, it was obvious that it was!! Here’s a bit about the Takin’ It There from AllMusic….
Today in Music – Oct 22, 1973 – Nick Andrew is born: Discovering Nick leads to a Music Filled Morning!!
When I looked down the list of musicians who were born on this day the first one that caught my eye had the same first name my first son – Nick, Then I looked at his last name and it’s my second son’s first name Andrew now I was really intrigued! A look at his instrument, the electric guitar sealed the deal ! I was going to check out Mr Nick Andrew. My first stop was his website, where I read…..
Yesterday in Music – Oct 20, 1957 – Happy Birthday – Anouar Brahem!
The second name on today’s list of jazz musician birthdays at All About Jazz was Anouar Brahem. The thing that caught my attention about Anouar was the instrument he was holding an Oud! Time out let;s first explore the Oud before finding out about Mr Brahem. From Wikipedia: 
