By Dee Dee McNeil
May 1, 2023
JOANIE PALLATTO – “ACCIDENTAL MELODY” (featuring FAREED HAQUE) – Southport Records
Joanie Pallatto, vocals/composer/finger snaps; Fareed Haque, classical & electric guitars/steel string guitar; John Christensen, acoustic bass; Eric Hines, conga/cymbals/chimes; Juan Pastor, cajon/shaker/tambourine/military snare/percussion; Bradley Parker-Sparrow, piano.
The compositions on Joanie Pallatto’s latest album are composed, using a wide variety of styles and featuring master guitarist, Fareed Haque. All the music is penned by Pallatto or in collaboration with her husband Bradley Parker-Sparrow or with her featured artist, Fareed Haque. It is Joanie’s sense of lyrical stories and poetry that weave like silk threads and tie this music together.
On the opening tune, it’s Fareed Haque’s guitar solo that puts the ‘J’ in jazz, while Joanie Pallatto’s voice is a warm alto instrument that is a surprising mix of jazz and folk music. Joanie and her pianist husband have run a recording studio for four decades. Over the years, Joanie Pallatto has made a successful living as a musician and voiceover artist. She has expertise in all aspects of musical production and is a versatile vocalist, singing lead at times or blending harmonically with various vocal groups. Pallatto has also sung jingles for hundreds of national radio and television commercials. Inspired by Eddie Palmieri, after listening to his album Joanie wrote the title tune, “Accidental Melody” that’s a salsa arrangement. Many of her songs have a Latin flare, like “A Shooting Star” that she says she wrote specifically for guitarist extraordinaire, Fareed Haque. Pallatto and husband, Bradley Parker-Sparrow, perform as a duet on their composition, “The melody of You.” “Don’t Ever Look for Love” has lovely chord changes and a compelling melody that builds and expands, with lyrics aimed at a friend of Joanie’s after a conversation they had about illusive love. Another favorite is the spicy, Latin flavored “In the Middle of Life.” Great lyric! On “Sound” she performs with her pianist and she scats over Bradley Parker-Sparrow’s Avant-garde piano improvisation.
In the 1970s, Joanie Pallatto toured with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. She relocated to Chicago, Illinois, where Joanie married and settled down, putting her energy into singing, composing and eventually running her Southport Record company with hubby. This is her thirteenth album release and celebrates Pallatto’s composer talents. During this performance, you hear the freedom Pallatto feels when she’s singing, improvising and emotionally sharing her original music with us, her attentive audience.
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MATT BARBER – “THE SONG IS YOU” – MB Records
Matt Barber, vocals; Bradley Young, Day Kelly, & Marc LeBrun, piano; David Enos & Brian Ward, bass; Greg Sadler & Daniel Dennis, drums; Tony Guerrero, flugelhorn; Joakim Toftgaard, trombone; Dori Amarilio & Pablo Sune, guitar; Stephan Oberhoff, strings/guitar; Mack Goldsbury, saxophone/ piccolo; Madison Hardy, backup vocals.
The voice of Matt Barber recalls the ‘Ratpack’ days, when Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. ruled the Las Vegas strip. Matt does not mimic either famed singer but instead, has his own tone and style. Barber offers us a dozen standard tunes, easily recognizable, that bring back the Tony Bennett era of well-dressed stage performers and cool jazz. You will enjoy music by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein, Johnny Mercer, Nelson Riddle and Billy Joel, to name just a few. I enjoyed his interpretation of “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” that features the attention pleasing trumpet of Tony Guerrero. The arrangement is at a ballad tempo with Latin rhythms offering a unique, slow Bossa Nova approach. Barber’s vocals sounds smooth and comfortable. He currently performs approximately three-hundred concerts per year and also sings at a select handful of exclusive hotels across the country. Since his debut in 2005, Matt Barber has recorded seven albums that have all received stellar reviews. He dedicates this one to one of his mentors, Los Angeles based pianist and arranger, Bradley Young, who became a victim of the COVID epidemic and left us far too early.
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JOHN ALLEE – “PAST IMPERFECT” – Portuguese Knees Music
John Allee, vocals/piano/background harmony/composer/co-producer; Jeff Peters, co-producer; Adam Bravo, piano; Mike Schnoebelen, bass; John Harvey, drums; Javier Vergara, tenor saxophone; Jeff Kaye, flugelhorn/trumpet; Jane Lui & Cortes Alexander, background vocals.
The double bass opens this album, setting the groove, the rhythm, and the track slow swings for John Allee to vocalize upon. The tune is called “Let’s Hear It” and is one of seventeen songs John has composed. Like many of his original compositions, the melody is catchy and makes you want to hum along. He scats on this one, and is a hair off-key in some places, but his Sammy Cahn Award-winning songwriting skills are obvious and stellar. Track #2 is immediately one of my favorites. The lyrics are so fresh and incredible on this tune called, “Like.” He writes lines that read:
“You are like the rain. You pitter patter on my windowpane and blow right through me like a hurricane. … You are like the snow. You’re up above me when I’m down below. You lay your blanket anywhere you go.”
If I were a recording artist, I would gobble-up these excellently written songs and record them myself. John Allee has a way of painting pictures with his words, as though we are watching a film. Perhaps that is because he has a background in acting as well as singing and songwriting. Allee has been working at all three careers for the past four decades. “Until the Money’s Gone” is a blues that reminds me of that hit record sung by Bobby Gentry, “Ode to Billie Joe” when someone threw something off the Tallahassee Bridge. John Allee’s lyrics are nothing like that song, but instead, paint a fresh, intricate picture of a character we all can clearly see, with the rhythm section playing blues-changes that cushion his story. A song called “Hard Sell” is bebop to the bone, played at racehorse speed, with Allee’s vocals keeping pace and telling us a story about a salesman’s life. This is a song Lambert, Hendrix and Ross would have loved to record. Javier Vergara makes a strong statement during his tenor saxophone solo. John Allee has a songwriter’s voice. What I mean by that, he is not an outstanding jazz vocalist. Instead, he knows how to sell his songs, tell his stories, emotionally connect with his listening audience, as he feeds us stories that beg to be heard and melodies that caress our ears. I find myself feeling like a baby bird, awaiting the mother bird’s return to the nest with open beak, eager for the John Allee’s next song. “Past Imperfect” is an album full of tall tales, small tales, character analyzations and unusual situations. It reminds me of my Motown days when I sat in a room and listened to Ron Miller play piano and compose “For Once in My Life” or hearing Bernard Igner on the A&M lot playing me “Everything Must Change” on their upright piano, long before it was ever recorded by Quincy Jones. We both cried. John Allee may not be a great singer, but he has that same magic as an exceptional songwriter. This album will be available May 5, 2023.
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BEN WENDEL – “ALL ONE” – Edition Records
Ben Wendel, tenor & soprano saxophone/bassoon/EFX/hand percussion/composer; Cécile McLorin Salvant & Jose James, vocals; Terence Blanchard, trumpet; Bill Frisell, electric/ acoustic guitar/EFX/composer; Elena Pinderhughes, flute/alto flute; Tigran Hamasyan, piano.
Grammy nominated saxophonist, Ben Wendel, offers us his “All One” album that features Wendel’s original compositions and a few familiar standard tunes like the opening Gershwin treasure, “I Love You Porgy” beautifully sung by Cécile McLorin Salvant. The melodic ideas that harmonically create the main tracks of Wendel’s original music are somewhat Avant-garde. For example, on the “Wanderers” tune, the track is extremely repetitious, despite the addition of Terrance Blanchard on trumpet. On Bill Frisell’s composition, “Throughout” the band incorporates a lot of dissonance and elongated chords, stretched electronically, with Wendel’s tenor saxophone bursting-out in moments of improvisation, dancing atop the rhythm track. Frisell’s guitar is the lead singer during this arrangement and brings some sense of melody and calm. “Speak Joy” is another Wendel composition and features Elena Pinderhughes on flute. There is a fair amount of dissonance in the chordal structure of Wendel’s work and instead of using a bass instrument in this entire production, Ben has chosen to incorporate his bassoon talents into the mix. I love the bassoon instrument, but the songs themselves are melodically unmemorable and the arrangements nest in thick chords of repetition, with the instrumental solos circling each nest like frightened birds afraid to land. The fifth cut is the old and beloved standard of “Tenderly” that Sarah Vaughan made so popular. José James brings his enjoyable voice to stage center, doing a fine job of presenting the lovely melody, despite the odd band harmonics. Still, Ben Wendel’s tenor saxophone solo is stellar. Here is a project where you should be prepared for the unexpected, shape-shifting variations that Ben Wendel’s imagination dictates. My favorite cut is the first one that features Cécile McLorin Salvant. However, José James comes in a close second, just for the strength of purpose to vocally hold his own against this challenging arrangement, exposing beautiful tone and mad technical skills. Although I applaud Ben Wendel’s bassoon mastery and saxophone creativity, some of the arrangements are way over my head.
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ALLISON ADAMS TUCKER – “RETRO TRILOGY” – Allegato Music
Allison Adams Tucker, vocals/composer; Kevin Hays, piano/Fender Rhodes/ melodica/vocals; Tony Scherr, bass/guitar; Kenny Wollesen, drums/vibraphone; Yotam Silberstein & Peter Sprague, guitar/composer; Bashiri Johnson, percussion.
The first thing I think when I listen to Allison Adams Tucker’s premiere song on this, her latest album, is that she is a very strong pop singer. She opens this production by covering a Cat Stevens song called, “The Wind.” On track #2, her voice rings warm, like a whistle in the wind. She starts out wordless, just a round “Ooo” sound against the quiet. Moments later, she breaks into the lyrics of “You’re My Best Friend.” This too is a pop/folk song arrangement. Allison also covers the David Bowie song, “Life on Mars” that stretches her range and exhibits what a lovely, pure toned soprano voice she has. “Wonderland” is an Allison Tucker composition that she co-wrote with guitarist Peter Sprague. It is a well-written song, but once again, it’s not jazz. This is a well-produced pop album that features a talented singer covering popular songs by such artists as Paul Simon, Prince, Annie Lennox and Sting. I am reviewing it because it is so well-produced and because I think Allison Adams Tucker is super talented. But no way should this album fall under the category of jazz.
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KRIS ALLEN – “JUNE” – Truth Revolution Recording Collective
Kris Allen, alto saxophone/composer; Carmen Staaf, piano; Luques Curtis, bass; Jonathan Barber, drums; Chris Dingman, vibraphone; Jeremy Pelt, trumpet; Michael Mayo & Shenel Johns, vocals.
Alto Saxophonist, Kris Allen, has created a contemplative album of mostly original compositions that are nature themed. Opening with “Sunlight” Carmen Staaf is outstandingly imaginative on piano, tinkling atop the horn players (Kris Allen on alto sax and Jeremy Pelt on trumpet). Staaf deliciously distracts from their simplistic, but lovely melodic lines, using her own improvisation that’s creative and quite beautiful. Chris Dingman adds his tasty vibraphone licks and Luques Curtis stands strongly in the spotlight, wearing his heart on his sleeve as he takes his bass solo. This is a charming, peaceful way to open the Kris Allen album titled “June.” It is his third release as a bandleader. Jackie McLean was one of Allen’s inspirational mentors.
“The vibe is simple and elemental. The titles and concepts are really concise, often a single word like ‘Trees” or “Sunlight” or “Ember.” I wanted it to be meditative and to reach for melodies that could be singable,” explains Kris Allen.
The second cut on this album is the famous “Trees” tune, sung by Michael Mayo, … I think that I shall never see, a thing as lovely as a tree …who also scats his clear message across the moderate tempo arrangement with a smooth, clear tone. Kris Allen has composed “Ember” that begins with the rolling drums of Jonathan Barber who sets the tempo and mood of the song. Allen’s alto saxophone blasts on the scene like a shooting star streaking across the night sky. The fire glows from the first percussive ember and grows. This tune is Straight-ahead and the kind of jazz that demands you tap your toe and nod your head in agreement.
“I Have a Dream” is the only other ‘cover’ tune that Kris Allen plays. It was composed by Herbie Hancock, an obvious tribute to the late, iconic Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This is followed by “Morning” featuring the sweet vocals of Shenel Johns, followed by the title tune, “June.”
“June is my pandemic meditation, and the title is meant as a bit of a metaphor for the middle of one’s life. June is a time of year where I am ever aware of just how much beauty I am continually taking for granted,” Kris Allen shared his love of nature in the summer.
You will find plenty of beauty in this recording, a work of art to be played time and time again provoking much enjoyment.
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DANIEL STEIN & STUART ZIFF = R FOR ROMEO –“PLAN R” – Moondo Music
Daniel Stein, Keyboards/producer/composer; Stuart Ziff, guitars/producer/composer; Rene Camacho & Travis Carlton, bass; Fred Dinkins, Kevin Stevens, & Rick Latham, drums; Marcos Reyes, percussion; Chris Tedesco, trumpet.
Daniel Stein and Stuart Ziff are old friends, seasoned musicians, composers, and producers who came together with the idea of recording their own original music. Ziff teaches blues guitar, slide guitar, and gives performance workshops incorporating different styles, while Stein teaches piano, live performance, songwriting and synthesis. Veterans of the music business, in front of and behind-the-scenes, Ziff has been the guitarist for the legendary funk band, “War” over two decades and Stein became a top jingle writer, a composer for scripted and reality TV shows, as well as co-founder of the very successful independent music library titled, “Music Box.” Between the two, they worked in New York City, before relocating to Southern California and were members of several backing bands for Atlantic pop and R&B artists. They each know how to lay down a solid music track, one that will make an artist shine.
This R for Romeo project offers just that, a plethora of well-produced and well-composed tracks that are screaming for a solo artist to dance atop of these solid grooves. The musicianship is outstanding, and each piece is unique and compelling to the ear, be it the Marvin Gaye kind-of-blues groove they title “Midtown” (co-written by the two friends) or the funk tune called, “Barney’s Groove” inspired by the hit television sitcom, Barney Miller. They reworked the Barney Miller theme song, expanding on the familiar bassline to create a brand-new composition. Still, my ear strains to hear a solo artist. Although every one of these tracks are strong, this well-written background music is begging for a soloist or a vocalist to fuel their wonderfully produced and played music, and set it on fire.
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TERELL STAFFORD, DICK OATTS, BRUCE BARTH, TIM WARFIELD, MIKE BOONE, JUSTIN FAULKNER – “FLY WITH THE WIND” – BCM+D Records
Terell Stafford, trumpet; Dick Oatts, alto saxophone; Tim Warfield, tenor saxophone; Bruce Barth, piano/arranger; Mike Boone, bass; Justin Faulkner, drums.
Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, has always been a stew pot of jazz music and musicians. It is one of the cities that represents a spicy explosion of America’s classical music called jazz. Four important names were born and raised in the arms of this city, and they are celebrated on this album of extraordinary music. One was John Coltrane, who grew up in a rowhome at 1511 North 33rd Street in the Strawberry Mansion section of North Philadelphia; McCoy Tyner, who started playing piano inside his mother’s beauty parlor located at the family home in West Philadelphia; trumpeter, Edward Lee Morgan, who was raised at 2035 W. Madison Street in the Tioga neighborhood of North Philly and Jimmy Heath of the Heath Brothers (Percy and Tootie Heath). Jimmy attended Walter George Smith School on the South Side of Philly.
A Sextet of iconic musicians (in their own right) have come together on this project to play the music of Trane, Heath, Tyner and Morgan. They represent the jazz faculty at Temple University who are inspiring the next generation of jazz royalty. These six musicians shine while playing the music of their legendary Philadelphian jazz masters.
“For me, this album represents the rich tradition of songs written by Philly composers,” says Bruce Barth.
Barth selected and arranged the four compositions on “Fly With the Wind,” a title pulled from Tyner’s 1976 Milestone debut. They open with Jimmy Heath’s composition, “All Members” that was recorded by Jimmy and his quartet in 1975 on his album, “Picture of Heath.” The Temple Jazz Sextet swings its way into my listening room with Stafford’s trumpet leading the way. I want to wave my white hanky and parade around my house. Warfield follows with the blues blowing out of his tenor saxophone in a gritty, no-nonsense way and then Dick Oatts enters the musical moment, softening the arrangement with his lyrical solo, but never losing the intensity. The arranger/pianist, Bruce Barth swings into the spotlight unapologetically and thrills me with his piano improvisation. Afterwards, Mike Boone struts his stuff on double bass and all the while, Justin Faulkner holds the tempo and the groove tightly in place. I immediately know I’m in for a pure-pleasure treat! The rest of this album is all that and more.
Their arrangement of Coltrane’s “Naima” is so sweet, tender, and emotional that I pause and play it twice. The warm camaraderie between these players and educators is palpable. Their choice of tunes certainly honors the legendary composers and Philadelphia jazz icons who they tribute. On the title tune, penned by McCoy Tyner, they play powerfully and without reserve.
“McCoy played with an intensity that’s hard to describe and that we all strive to get to. The power and depth of his expression came through on the records, but there were a few times hearing him live where it was almost an otherworldly experience,” Barth explained.
This album is fire and flame, sincere and emotional, saucy, and sweet. It’s a beautiful, completely unforgettable tribute to Philadelphian jazz icons.
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BEN CASSARA – “WHAT A WAY TO GO!” – Audiophile
Ben Cassara, vocals; Josh Richman & Ronny Whyte, piano; Boots Maleson, bass; Tim Horner, drums; Harry Allen, saxophone.
Ben Cassara is a Manhattan jazz singer who sounds intimate, casual, and believable. Cassara started out playing piano and singing at piano bars in Greenwich Village in the 1970s. Although he was somewhat naïve to the business of jazz back then, Ben’s friends and mentors (Carol Fredette, the late Marlene Ver Planck and Roz Corral) taught him how to deliver a lyric and how to feel the jazz pulse. Carol Fredette once gave him the key to success when she said, “Don’t think of how you would sing it. How would you say it?”
Although Ben’s not a smooth crooner like the iconic Billy Eckstein, nor can he swing like the legendary Joe Williams or Frank Sinatra, but Ben Cassara knows how to phrase and sell a song. He applies honesty and emotion to each interpretation. His repertoire is full of stories we know or we ourselves have lived. His “What a Way to Go” album of fourteen songs unfolds like a musical movie. His choice of composers ranges from Dave Frishberg to Antonio Carlos Jobim; from Harry Warren’s ‘I Wish I Knew” to Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson’s “I Just Found Out About Love (and I like it!),” as well as Duke Ellington’s composition, “I Let a Song go out of my Heart.” He also includes several original compositions by his pianist, Ronny Whyte including, “The Party Upstairs” where Harry Allen plays a jazzy saxophone solo and “Linger Awhile” with lyrics by Roger Shore. Ronnie Whyte is one of the last of the popular piano bar performers and sometimes is referred to as a saloon singer. He’s a wonderful accompanist. In 2013, Cassara released his first CD titled, “Sister Moon.” In 2014, he debuted his Bobby Troup Project and vocalist, Ben Cassara continues to perform in venues around the New York tri-state area while promoting his latest release, “What a Way to Go!”
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RAMANA VIEIRA – “TUDO DE MIM (ALL OF ME)” – Independent Label
Ramana Vieira, piano/vocals/composer/backing vocals/programed strings; David Parker, bass/co-producer/arranger/backing vocals/drums/keyboards; Jeff Furtado, guitar/lead vocals; Jose Luis Iglesias, guitar; Earl Jackson, percussion/drums; John Clark. Bass.
Ramana Vieira presents a collection of Fado songs, some original and some traditional, inclusive of the historic music that was born back in the 1820s, when Fado was developed as the folk music of Portugal. Vieira is not from Portugal, but is American and hails from Northern California, with a heritage of Portuguese descent. Raised in San Leandro, a city just outside of San Francisco, she grew up with a deep love for music. At sixteen-years-old, she discovered Fado music. Vieira has been spreading the culture and music of Fado ever since. For the past two decades Ramana Vieira has been recording this Portuguese folk music and this is her sixth album. She plays piano and sings in Portuguese and English. Although I do not understand the Portuguese language, there is power and emotion in her delivery. On her original composition, “Fado La La La” she sings in English. The melody is quite addictive and folksy. Makes you want to sing along. The song titled, “Mother Mary” is listed as an original song, but clearly it’s based on the popular Ave Maria tune. You can’t just change the title of a historic composition like Ave Maria and expect to claim it as your own.
However, for Fado aficionados, songs like “Trago Fado Nos Sentidos,” where José Luis Iglesias shines on guitar, and “Lambada” featuring Jeff Furtado on lead vocals, are both well executed and bring authenticity to a tradition that Ramana Vieira attempts to modernize and reinvent.
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