Lunchtime Music from The New Gary Burton Quartet – Guided Tour!

This morning I was preparing a report, so it was a jazzy kind of morning. When I turn to jazz while writing and organizing many times the artist is the legendary Gary Burton. Today I listened to his latest release Guided Tour. The album is his second release on Mack Avenue Records. (Note to self check out Mack Avenue Records, their name has come up a lot lately). Common Ground, Burton’s 2011 release was his first on that label and  featured the New Gary Burton Quartet. This Quartet reunites Burton with guitar star Julian Lage and adds drummer Antonio Sanchez and bassist Scott Colley. The group has toured throughout 2011 and 2013 in support of both albums. Read More

A Night of Exploration – Contemporary Jazz Trumpeters!

When the Heart Emerges GlisteningSo as a follow-up to listening yesterday to the music of Christian McBride, last night and today I explored the music of some of his jazz contemporaries. Today’s focus has been mainly on trumpeters. Typically, if I’m listening to the trumpet the musician is usually Miles Davis, Chet Baker, or Freddie Hubbard with Blue Mitchell occasionally thrown into the mix. Somehow last night I ended up on MOG checking out the music of  Ambrose Akinmusire  and his debut release on Blue Note,  When the Heart Emerges Glistening. Here’s what Jeff Tamarkin  at AllMusic writes about the album: Read More

Sunday Morning Jazz from the Christian McBride Trio – Out Here

ChristianMcBrideTrio_OutHereSo yesterday I was browsing around for new releases and came across bassist Christian McBride’s latest from his Christian McBride Trio, Out Here. I gave it a listen and I now have a new jazz artist’s music to explore, because the album is great. The trio consists of McBride on bass (duh), Christian Sands on piano, and Ulysses Owens, Jr. on drums. Here’s what it says about the album at Mack Avenue Records about the album: Read More

Yesterday in Music – 1943 – The Birth of a Blues Guitar Great – Mike Bloomfield

Mike BloomfieldSo yesterday would have been the 70th birthday of one of my guitar heroes, the great Michael Bloomfield. From Wikipedia:

Michael Bernard “Mike” Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American musician, guitarist, and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, since he rarely sang before 1969–70. Respected for his fluid guitar playing, Bloomfield knew and played with many of Chicago’s blues legends even before he achieved his own fame, and was one of the primary influences on the mid-to-late 1960s revival of classic Chicago and other styles of blues music. In 2003 he was ranked at number 22 on Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”. Full Biography Read More