Music Review ~ Trumpeter Claudio Roditi's "Bons Amigos"

Bons Amigos means good friends in Portuguese, and it is the title of the latest album from Brazilian trumpet and flugelhorn master, Claudio Roditi. What you get on this album are ten songs that feel like a cool breeze on a warm summer day. Like a gentle breeze, it’s inviting, pleasant, and downright refreshing. If you’re looking for a blowing session with blistering, unrelenting hard-edged solos, this isn’t it. Instead, Roditi and friends create a groovy atmosphere that invokes some of the cool sounds of bossa nova, and rhythms of samba, in a fresh, non-derivative manner. 

One thing the listener will notice about Roditi’s sound is how robust, rich, and full bodied it is. The distinct warmth of his horn fully envelopes the listener.

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Music Review ~ Keiko Matsui "The Road..."

Today's review was written by The Jazz Post's Rachel C! I often read her blog to find out what's going on in the ever-changing world of a young jazz musician.

Here are Rachel's thoughts on Japanese keyboardist and composer Keiko Matsui's 2011 album entitled The Road...

Keiko Matsui's "The Road..."I had my first encounter with Keiko Matsui during the first year of high school – she was playing at a local theater, and our jazz band had been asked to be the opening act of her show. It was also one of my first experiences at a jazz show in general – up until then, all I knew about jazz was from our eighteen-piece high school band.

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