Exhaustive and exhausting (because you won't be able to stop dancing), A Man and His Music--El Alcalde del Barrio presents the first major retrospective of the 240 albums recorded by Joe Cuba, the Father of Latin boogaloo, and was released in February 2010 to commemorate the one year anniversary of his passing...
It may not approach the freak-show proportions of the bass saxophone Adrian Rollini popularized in the 1920s, but the baritone is still an impressive beast, one that has frequently been employed as much for its visual impact as for the notes it produces. Ever since Little Richard introduced the unwieldy instrument to his touring band in the 1950s--at one time his reed section consisted only of two baritones--rock and roll and rhythm and blues groups have employed it primarily for theatrical effect (while favoring the more penetrating bite of the alto or tenor on disc)...
A New Face is a somewhat misleading title for this album. True, this is the debut recording as leader by the 25-year-old Bobby Avey but he's been on the jazz scene for some time. Most notably, he joined star saxophonist Dave Liebman on Vienna Dialogues (ZOHO, 2006) while he was still a student and his regular trio--bassist Thomson Kneeland and drummer Jordan Pearlson, both featured effectively here--has been together since 2005...
Finally.
The Complete Reprise Recordings compiles every tune--all 20--that America's supreme vocalist recorded with Brazil's preeminent composer during their legendary late 1960s summits. The first ten comprise the famous, fantastic Francis Albert Sinatra / Antonio Carlos Jobim album arranged and orchestrated by Claus Ogerman, released by Reprise in 1967. Sinatra and Jobim reconvened two years later, with Eumir Deodato replacing Ogerman as arranger, to record 10 more tunes for a second Sinatra-Jobim album that the Chairman withdrew from the market as soon as it was shipped (we'll explain why). Seven of those tunes later appeared as the first side of Sinatra and Company, released by Reprise in 1971; this new compilation unveils the other three--"Bonita," "Desafinado (Off Key)" and "The Song of the Sabia"--for the first time...
Just one listen to The Devil is an Angel Too, Janiva Magness' ninth album and second for Chicago's venerated blues label Alligator, immediately reveals why she's the Blues Music Awards' reigning "Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year" and "B.B. King Entertainer of the Year" (only the second female to cop the "Entertainer" honor--Koko Taylor was the first)...