Kenny Shanker - Beautiful Things

Kenny Shanker
Beautiful Things
Wise Cat Records

Kenny Shanker is a saxophonist, pianist, vocalist, and award-winning composer from Pleasanton, California. He started playing piano when two and has developed into an impressive talent. Shanker has performed with the New World Symphony, Richard Bona, David Benoit, Shelly Berg, Lage Lund, Taylor Eigsti, Bill Mobley, the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, and many others. Now residing in New York, he has performed at Carnegie Hall, Birdland, Dizzy's Club, Smoke, Smalls, Fat Cat, Jazz at Kitano, and other locations.

"Beautiful Things" is his fourth album, second for Wise Cat Records. On this session, he played alto saxophone and backed by a rhythm section of Daisuke Abe - Guitar, Mike Eckroth - Piano, Yoshi Waki - Bass, and Brian Fishler - Drums. Bill Mobley plays trumpet on three of the twelve selections. Shanker wrote 5 of the twelve tunes, with the other seven being standards.

The opening "Cool Mint" has the feel of a sixties Brill Building hit with a memorable melody before Shanker's fruity solo followed by thoughtful solos by Eckroth and Abe. It is followed by the hard bop "Prestissimo" with a breakneck tempo that evokes "Giant Steps." Taken at an almost frantic tempo, Shaker, trumpeter Mobley, and pianist Eckroth navigate the changes impressively. On Rogers & Hart's "It Never Entered My Mind," it sounds like synthesized strings added to a ballad performance where he exhibits a beguiling tone. Abe takes an alluring acoustic solo here. It is followed by the bouncy "Mirth," with a solo that suggests Sonny Fortune and other Coltrane-influenced alto saxophonists. Mobley adds some mid-range heat on his trumpet on this selection.

Eckroth opens the swinging interpretation of Oscar Peterson's "L'impossible," with Shanker exhibiting fluidity along with his melodic tone over the entire range of the alto sax. Abe's guitar chords help set out the walking tempo for Shanker's lyrical playing on "Without a Song." A charming rendition of "I'm Old Fashioned," where Abe takes solos crisply and cleanly. "Like Someone In Love," an alluring duet with Waki on bass, is another choice track.

Thelonious Monk's "In Walked Bud" opens as a duet between Shanker and drummer Fischler. Eckroth and Waki join the performance halfway through. Eckroth also solos before Fischler does, with Shanker riding the performance out over Fischler. Shanker's title composition closes the recording in a beautiful manner (pun intended). Kenny Shanker plays thoughtfully, displays a beautiful tone and fluid technique, and is backed by a splendid band on an outstanding recording.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is a promotional video for this recording.

Peter Leitch New Life Orchestra New Life

Peter Leitch New Life Orchestra
New Life
Jazz House

This two-CD collection of big band performances highlights the composing and arranging skills of Peter Leitch, who continues to create music when no longer able to play. Leitch was a guitarist who lost the use of an arm as a result of life-saving treatment for lung cancer. Leitch says, "At my age [74], I considered myself retired from the music business. I couldn't play anymore. But I couldn't get rid of this urge to be involved in music and it seemed to me that the only way I could do it was to start writing. I wrote a few things and wanted to hear what they sounded like, set up a rehearsal and it went from there. Suddenly I found myself being a bandleader, which I didn't expect to happen." The title 'New Life' in his orchestra's name, and this recording refers both to his odyssey and the music itself.

For this recording, he has assembled quite a line-up for his orchestra. Members of the band include Duane Eubanks trumpet,  Bill Mobley on trumpet, flugelhorn, Tim Harrison on flute, Jed Levy on tenor sax, flute, and alto flute, Steve Wilson on alto & soprano sax, Dave Pietro on alto & soprano sax, Carl Maraghi on baritone sax, bass clarinet,  Matt Haviland on trombone, Max Siegel on bass trombone,  Phil Robson on electric guitar, Chad Coe on acoustic guitar; Peter Zak on piano, Dennis James on arco bass, Yoshi Waki on bass, and Joe Strasser on drums.

Leitch spent two years composing, arranging, and orchestrating the 17 pieces that comprise this project. In search of a personal voice in writing for a medium-sized ensemble, he was looking for something that sounded like a bigger band and also had the freedom and looseness of a small group. Additionally, he wanted to combine the written and the improvised seamlessly. In the liner notes, Leitch also writes about avoiding the traditional groupings of sections in favor of other instrumental combinations that result in different sonic textures. The program on the two discs correspond to 2 sets of music in a concert or club, and there is a little over two hours of music heard.

There is plenty of interest provided by Leitch's compositions starting with "Mood For Max" that was written for his oncologist. It is a bright, breezy performance with the flutes adding an unusual flavor to the ensembles and a solid trumpet solo. "Portrait For Sylvia," dedicated to his wife, is a lovely ballad taken at a marvelous tempo with another exquisite trumpet solo and some superb guitar from Phil Robson. There are also performances dedicated to Clifford Jordan and Charles Davis. "Clifford Jordan" is a swinging salute to the great tenor saxophonist set against a crisp Latin groove with inspired tenor sax from Jed Levy and rousing baritone sax by Carl Maraghi. "Ballad For Charles Davis" has outstanding ensemble work and short, notable solos from several players.

For some reason, listening to several of the performances suggest the late, great Oliver Nelson, whose most famous recordings involved a sextet or septet, but also wrote some rousing big band charts. "Sorta Kinda" and "Penumbra" are both performances that evoke the groove of some of Nelson's recordings and shows how successful Leitch was in achieving his goal of having his orchestra sound like a bigger band but had the freedom and looseness of a small group. After "Monk's Circle," written to commemorate the official renaming of the cul-de-sac in Manhattan where the Monk family resided for years, the orchestra performs the classic "'Round Midnight." Guitarist Robson first sets out the melody before the ensemble with Leitch's judicious employment of flutes in setting the atmosphere. Flutes also help set the mood for the bright, brisk "Exhilaration." Jed Levy wrote "The Minister's Son" in honor of the late jazz pianist John Hicks. Levy solos at length, followed by Peter Zak's thoughtful, fluid piano.

A lengthy blues "The Long Walk Home" brings this recording to a close opening with fine blues playing from Zak before the full horns come in, and the members all get a chance to solo. Acoustic guitarist Chad Coe channels Freddie Green on this superb cut. It is an excellent close to a first-class straight-ahead big band recording with outstanding compositions, a top-notch ensemble, and terrific soloists.

I received my review copy from a publicist.

Matt Haviland Something To Say

Matt Haviland
Something To Say
Connotation Records

Trombonist Matt Haviland has been performing and been a featured soloist with some of the top names in been jazz since the early 1980s. Past credits include work with the Illinois Jacquet Big Band, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Maria Schneider, Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra, and the Mingus Big Band. Currently, he is a regular member of several ensembles in the New York area, notably the Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra, Scott Reeves Jazz Orchestra, Peter Leitch's New Life Orchestra, and Diane Moser's Composer's Big Band.

For this recording, he put together a stellar ensemble with Vincent Herring on alto sax, David Kikoski on piano, Ugonna Okegwo on bass, and Johnathan Blake on drums. Mark Gross on tenor sax and Bill Mobley on trumpet are each present on three selections. Four of the performances are by a quintet, one by a quartet, two by a sextet, and two by a septet. Whatever the format, this is a terrific contemporary jazz recording in the mode of classic sixties Blue Note recordings.

The bright sextet interpretation of Freddie Hubbard's "Arietis" gets the music off in a heated manner. Haviland exhibits a rowdy, gravelly tone while his solo develops fluidly. Gross's tenor contrasts with a somewhat dry tone followed by Herring's fiery trills kicking off an inspired solo that is energized by Blake's drums before Kikoski's follows with more spirited playing.

The leader's "Fillet of Soul" is built on a bass line with shifting minor harmonies that evokes "Body and Soul." This septet performance opens with Okegwo's statement of the bass figure over which the four horns all solo. In addition to the marvelous harmonies from Haviland's arrangement of the four horns, Gross and Mobley are exceptional here." The other septet performance is the energetic "The Way It Is," with the energy building with each of the horn solos.

Kikoski provided the arrangement for a lively rendition of Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge." Haviland and Herring are inspired before Blake provides some percussive fireworks. Kikoski provides a lovely setting for Haviland's wooly, lyrical solo on the quartet performance of Cole Porter's "Get Out Of Town." Blake adds to this splendid performance with his agile use of brushes. Haviland's imaginative arrangement of Charlie Parker's "Visa," transforms the tune into a slower tango number, with Blake's off-kilter rhythms adding to the appealing, if quirky, flavor here.

The rest of this recording is of similar quality. "Something To Say" is an outstanding recording with first-rate material and excellent, imaginative, and inspired playing that showcases Matt Haviland's talents as a composer, player, and leader.

I received a download to review from a publicist. Here is Matt Haviland leading a group at Small's in NYC in 2018.