The Making of The Curtis Brothers' "Completion of Proof" Album

 Luques and Zaccai CurtisDuring the past few weeks, I've thought about doing this as a regular feature for the blog.

It's a win-win situation for everyone. The artists creating the music get the message out about their project to more people. The readers of the blog get to find out about new music and support the creation of it! YAY!

Kickstarter Project of the Week:

"Completion of Proof" Album by the Curtis Brothers.

The first time I saw bassist Luques Curtis perform live was approximately 4.5 years ago in New York City as a member of Sean Jones' quintet. I remember thinking to myself how his playing of the double bass made me aware of it and kept my attention. I know that's not a profound statement but I do know that prior to that evening, I would rarely focus on the upright bass at a live show.

[That was then, this is now - I discovered the music of Charles Mingus, Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Renaud Garcia-Fons, Christian McBride, Jasper Hoiby and Ms. Esperanza Spalding so I'm good now. :)]

I've never had the pleasure of seeing composer and pianist Zaccai Curtis live but I have checked out Curtis Brothers' YouTube videos over the past couple of years. They are adept at playing straight-ahead  and latin jazz with equal aplomb.

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Donna M’s Unconventional Top 5 Albums for 2010

Motéma Music asked me for a "Top 5" list of 2010 Jazz albums a couple of weeks ago. The following five albums got the most repeated play in my mp3 player for 2010. I figure that’s as legitimate a reason to qualify for a “Top 5” list as anything else I’ve read this year. :)

They are listed in alphabetical order by last name or group name.

 Edo Castro

 “Sacred Graffiti” [Passion Star Records]

I didn’t know much about Edo Castro before I got this album.  I have since concluded that he is a phenomenal bassist that created a fully-textured, multi-layered album called “Sacred Graffiti”.  Listening to this 16 track album takes me through a “Day in The Life” kind of experience, much like King Britt’s “When the Funk Hits the Fan” did back in the late ‘90s.

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Music Review: Brian Lynch's "Unsung Heroes Project" Volumes 1 and 2

A review of trumpeter Brian Lynch's "Unsung Heroes Project" Volumes 1 and 2 written by Atane Ofiaja:

When the opportunity presented itself for me to review Vol 1 and Vol 2 of the "Unsung Heroes Project" by Brian Lynch, I was ecstatic.  Lynch had been on my radar since 2007.  I remember it well because I was covering NYC's J&R Jazz music festival. The stagehands backstage were listening to music that sounded awesome. I asked them what was playing, and they told me it was "Simpático" by Brian Lynch and Eddie Palmieri. I was so impressed; I bought the CD the next day.

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