Greetings! Every Friday I’ll be bringing you some highlights of new music we are featuring here on Jazz88. This is all connected to This Just In, our weekly show that celebrates new jazz releases. You can catch This Just In, hosted by moi, Fridays at noon on 88.5, or catch it on your own schedule from our on-demand page.
If you have input about the music we’re playing, or ideas about what else we should be playing, let me know please! I can be reached at sean@jazz88.fm.
Cornbread Harris – “Night Train” from his new album, Blue, Blue, Blue Listen Here
It’s another banner year for the Cornbread! Friend of the station and celebrated music writer, Andrea Swensson, recently released the book, Deeper Blues: The Life, Songs and Salvation of Cornbread Harris, and this past March, Harris released a new collection of tunes. The bluesy jam sounds lively, joyous, and comfortable. The band sounds relaxed, and I swear if you turn it up, you can hear a very audible beer can open during the last chorus of Cornbread’s piano solo. That’s the spirit. Long live the Cornbread.
Eric Alexander – “Serenade to a Cuckoo” from his album, Timing Is Everything Listen Here
Congratulations to mainstay Eric Alexander for delivering a beautiful record in record time with his new release, Timing Is Everything. According to the liner notes, once the engineer and the producer had the sounds all dialed in, the band was in and out within two hours. It’s a tribute to the great skills of the players, recording staff, and leader Alexander’s ability to curate the session with material and players that lock together. Though Alexander’s sax work is internationally recognized, I was most drawn in by the flute playing of Jed Paradies, who handles the melody on the cover of Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s “Serenade to a Cuckoo.” Once Rale Micic finishes up his guitar solo, Eric Alexander delivers a throaty, complete solo in one progression and then falls back for the melody to re-enter. In a matter of a minute and a half, Eric Alexander has made his contribution to the collective and steps back for the flute to shine. It’s the understated song-first style that only a veteran of the jazz world can provide, and Alexander does so beautifully.
Jacky Terrasson – “My Baby Just Cares For Me” (feat. Kareen Guiock Thuram) from his new album, Moving On Listen Here
For thirty years, Jacky Terrasson has been stretched between two continents with firm home bases in France and in New York City. For this album, Terrasson embraced his transcontinental life and worked up great trios on both sides of the Atlantic and then fleshed it out with appearances from vocalists and guest instrumentalists. I was particularly impressed with his reworking of “My Baby Just Cares for Me.” No matter who has done that song, I have always thought of it as grooving, relaxed, and a bit leisurely in pace. On Terrasson’s version, he must’ve downed three French espressos before sitting at the piano bench because the tune now crackles with urgency and intensity. When the new groove is combined with some updated lyrics, the result is an awesome take on an old classic with a memorable vocal from Karren Guiock Thuram. If Terrasson needs to rack up all sorts of frequent flyer miles to track a record of this quality, so be it. The proof is in le pudding.
Thanks for checking out This Just In, and be sure to shoot an email over to sean@jazz88.fm if you have any input about our music programming!
-Sean McPherson
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