Jazz giants Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus and John Coltrane are rightfully celebrated. The heart and soul of jazz, however, lies in the lives and legacies of musicians like Chicago's Von Freeman and Kansas City's Ahmad Alaadeen. As Howard Reich's essential and astounding remembrance indicates, Freeman was more of a hometown hero than a universally hailed legend. That doesn't mean that Freeman wasn't brilliant. His ancient-sounding tone on the old-fashioned tenor battles on the pictured album gives me chills. While Frank Catalano holds his own, Freeman's out-oriented concepts are stunning. I also love "Doin' It Right Now", "Vonski"'s brawny debut album as a leader. Here's essential interview and performance footage from last year. His rendition of "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" from the same gig will break your heart. Freeman died Saturday.
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I absolutely adore 'Round Midnight, the entirely conventional new swing album by Scott Hamilton and Harry Allen.
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The EPK for Stevie Stone's new album makes a strong case for the commercial viability of the Strange Music artist.
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XV's Popular Culture figures to make my year-end best-of list. Here's "making-of" footage.
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Hey jerks, why didn't any of you turn me on to Mandali?
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Thanks to Good Music Alert, I'm aware of the new album by Curumin.
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Kansas City Click: Hermon Mehari is at the Majestic on Tuesdays.
Guardian Alien appears at the RecordBar on Wednesday.
(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)
3 comments:
30 bucks for the Hamilton/Allen cd?
Geeze...I wish I got them for free like you.
Yeah, that's crazy, Frankie. For the record, I streamed it at Spotify.
Hey, glad you liked Curumin!
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