a.v
'REVIEW: Eric Bibb, 'The Happiest Man in the World,' Stony Plain Records
-
'REVIEW: Lafayette Harris, Jr.,'Hangin' With The Big Boys,' Airmen Records
Lafayette Harris, Jr. is 'Hangin' with the Big Boys' on his new Airmen Records release. Actually, the one big boy he's hangin' with is Houston Person, 81, a classic oh-so-lyrical-and quite persuasive-tenor sax man who can elicit goose-bumps with his tone. Harris rightly defers to him yet sprinkles the sweetly swinging session with clusters of notes up and down the 88s in a soulful style bound to woo both jazz fans and lite-jazz fans alike. -
'REVIEW: Rocco John Quartet, 'Embrace the Change,' Unseen Rain Records
There's no telling where Rocco John Iacovone will go. The sax man studied under Lee Konitz and Sam Rivers. In the case of the latter, John has successfully taken the Rivers dictum (if they can't understand it, go even further!) and whittled away at it, sanding it down, putting on a coat of varnish, to ultimately let his listeners alternately swoon and get excited. 'Embrace The Change' (Unseen Rain Records) is more than a CD title. It's good life advice.
