Jeff Ellwood - The Sounds Around My House

Jeff Ellwood - The Sounds Around My House -Self-produced

Jeff Elwood's "The Sounds Around My House" is an auspicious debut for the tenor saxophonist as a leader. A Southern California native, Ellwood leads a quartet of Alan Pasqua on piano, Dark Oles on bass, and Joe LaBarbera on drums. Bob Sheppard adds his tenor sax to one selection. This band is heard on a nicely programmed set of tunes that includes an Ellwood original, three Pasqua originals, and one original by bassist Oles.

Ellwood's "U-R," a contrafact based on "All the Things You Are," is the opening selection and introduces us to Ellwood's robust playing with little vibrato, backed by an excellent, swinging rhythm section. After his solo, pianist Pasqua carefully crafts his solo with a deft touch, followed by skilled solos from Oles and LaBarbara. Following this performance are two of Pasqua's originals. "Agrodolche" is an engaging ballad with charming performances by Ellwood and Pasqua. "Old School Blues" is a modern blues composition, shifting between minor and major modes. Ellwood's mastery of the saxophone's full tonal range is on display here. The title track is a lesser-known song from Alec Wilder and Johnny Mercer. Pasqua's restrained playing introduces this enchanting performance.

Ellwood pays homage to Rick Margitza, a saxophonist who had a significant impact on him, in a dreamy performance of Margitza's "Provence." With Bob Sheppard adding a second tenor sax, Ellwood pays homage to Dick Oatts on Oatts' "King Henry." Pasqua's chord work helps provide the foundation for a Coltrane-styled performance with the two contrasting saxophonists. Sheppard has a huskier tone, compared to Ellwood's more airy delivery. Pasqua writes very memorable melodies, and his "Barcelona" is another composition that allows Ellwood's lyrical playing to shine. Bassist Oles shines on this number. Bassist Oles contributed the hard, swinging "The Honeymoon," with Ellwood further displaying his playing's fluidity and clarity. Pasqua is dazzling on this, while LaBarbera is explosive on his solo. 

The album closes with Ellwood and Oles's exquisite duet interpreting "For Roger," composed by Joe Magg. It caps a superb album of robust, contemporary jazz by an outstanding saxophonist supported by an excellent band.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here Jeff Ellwood is heard on "All or Nothing at All.

Judy Wexler Crowded Heart

Judy Wexler
Crowded Heart
Jewel City Jazz

This is the fifth album by Judy Wexler and is an effort to present "jazz standards for the 21st century," an anthology of ten timeless modern jazz compositions by contemporary songwriters. The album is arranged by piano great Alan Pasqua (who co-produced this with Wexler). It features a band comprised of some of the finest, first-call musicians in Southern California including Alan Pasqua piano, melodica, whistling; Larry Koonse guitar; Josh Johnson alto sax; Bob Sheppard alto flute; Darek Oles bass; Steve Hass drums; Aaron Serfaty percussion; and Stefanie Fife cello.

When Wexler first conceived of this project, she reached out to jazz historian Ted Gioia, author of "The Jazz Standards," for advice. He told her that jazz stays alive and becomes more than a history lesson or museum piece when a modern composition is embraced and recorded by many vocalists. Gioia himself states that this recording is a joy to listen to and commends "their astuteness in finding and featuring outstanding songs by current-day jazz composers." Some of these composers are Luciana Souza, Larry Klein and David Batteau; Richard Galliano; Kurt Elling; Gregory Porter; Fred Hersch; Norma Winstone; Alan Broadbent; Georgia Mancio; René Marie; Enrico Pieranunzi, Lorraine Feather; Larry Goldings, and Alan Pasqua.

Wexler has a delightful, sometimes dreamy voice that conveys joy and heartbreak with her swing, phrasing, clear diction, and sweet-tone. This is clear on the opening "Circus Life" (from Sousa, Klein, and Batteau), with the supple backing, including Koonse's guitar, which adds a samba-tinge, Pasqua's understated support, and whistling, and Wexler's overdubbed second vocal part. Then there is the charm of her vocal that expresses the longing inherent in Galliano and Elling's "Parisian Heartbreak." Pasqua's melodica solo adds to the allure of this performance. Then there is her rendition of the title track about a relationship ending as she realizes it is time to part which is delivered with style.

While I enjoy Wexler's interpretation of Gregory Porter's "Painted on Canvas" with Josh Jackson's sonorous alto sax, and Pasqua's ingenious arrangement, her mellifluous vocal is overshadowed by Porter's original. Bob Sheppard's alto flute adds to the allure of "The Last Goodbye," another song of remembrance and longing. Then there is Wexler's unabashed romanticism singing René Marie's "Take My Breath Away," with a stunning Koonse acoustic guitar solo. In a program of mostly ballads, the gentle swing of "I Took Your Hand," is a nice change of pace.

Pasqua collaborated with Kirk Elling and Philip Edward Galdston in writing "And We Will Fly" with the dreaming vocal supported by the lovely backing with Fife's cello adding color along with another choice acoustic guitar solo. It closes a beautiful, first-rate vocal jazz recording.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is "The Last Goodbye" from this CD.

3 Nights in LA with George Garzone, Peter Erskine, Alan Pasqua, and Darek Oles

George Garzone, Peter Erskine, Alan Pasqua, and Darek Oles
3 Nights in LA
Fuzzy Music

"3 Nights in LA" documents a January 2019 performance at a new Los Angeles club, Sam First. Peter Erskine took to the bandstand with pianist Alan Pasqua and bassist Darek Oles, his fellow faculty members at University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music joined by tenor saxophone player George Garzone, in town to teach a master class, for three nights, two sets a night. The result is this three-disc release, with each disc representing a different night with a total of 20 tracks and over three hours of music.

Erskine is likely the best known of these players from his time with Weather Report as well as playing with the likes of Steps Ahead, John Abercrombie, Kenny Wheeler, and Marc Johnson. Pianist Pasqua, a veteran of the New Tony Williams Lifetime and Allan Holdsworth, and bassist Oles, one of the most sought after bassists on the West Coast, have been playing with Erskine for over a decade. Tenor saxophonist Garzone, besides being a formidable master of the saxophone is a revered educator, with noted students including Joshua Redman, Branford Marsalis, and Donny McCaslin. Garzone first played with Erskine in 1998, an experience that left a deep impression and they have crossed paths several times since.

Those three nights in January produced some superb music. Erskine and his trio would be delightful to hear by themselves, but add Garzone's tenor saxophone, and the music is excellent in the vein of the classic John Coltrane Quartet as well as the '70s and '80s music of Dexter Gordon and Art Pepper. One may hear elements of Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Hank Crawford and others in Garzone's full-toned, robust playing. The Coltrane tone may be most evident on the excellent rendition of the blues, "Equinox," the lovely ballad "I Want To Talk About You," but also on Garzone's "Tutti Italiani," where he builds his solo with fire followed by Pasqua's lyrical solo. There are three superb, different interpretations of "Have You Met Miss Jones?" and a rousing rendition of Bronisław Kaper's "Invitation."

There is also Garzone's original "Dedicated to Michael Brecker," which sounds like a contrafact of Lerner and Loewe's "If I Ever Would Leave You" from "Camelot." Garzone is fabulously complemented by Pasqua's rhapsodic solo and the support by Oles and Erskine (who takes a thoughtfully constructed solo here). The remaining music of these discs is also superb making "3 Nights in LA" a terrific release.

I received a download to review from a publicist. There is more on this recording at Peter Erksine's website, https://petererskine.com/featured-album/3-nights-in-la/. Here is a promo video for this recording.

Here is a video from the Sam First engagement.