The beauty of music in New York is that it is never ending. The latest batch of CDs that arrived for the NY Culture Examiner features the talents of local staples, and the utilization of fine city recording studios and engineers.
Dana Lauren- It’s You or No One (www.danalauren.com)
Lauren has a lovely voice, good phrasing, and Arturo Sandoval praising her talent. Pretty good start to a promising career.
Standout Tracks: On the Sunny Side of the Street, It’s You or No One. I Had the Craziest Dream; There’s a Small Hotel.
Kneebody- You Can Have Your Moment (Winter & Winter)
"The Entrepreneur" is a brooding, moody song with an off-beat that holds your attention. The horns give “You Have One Unheard Message” the same repetitive buzz of an answering machine. Kaveh Rategar and Adam Benjamin lock into each other on bass and keyboards through “The Blind”, creating a rolling groove for drummer Nate Wood to play around and embellish.
The best compliment to give You Can Have Your Moment is that one wishes certain songs didn’t end so soon- it’s very clear with the gifts of creativity and improvisation flowing throughout this album, music could extend for hours. Perhaps in Volume 2.
Standout Tracks: Desperation Station, The, Nerd Mountain, The Entrepreneur, High Noon.
Suresh Singaratnam- Lost in New York (www.whoissuresh.com)
Lost in New York is a 68-minute, nine-chapter novel of a boy and his trumpet, making his way to the city and experiencing many life lessons. The CD, with a lengthy booklet filled with beautiful graphic illustrations, is a finely composed suite, merging jazz and the classical in contemporary fashion. Colors are rich, instruments are warm unless intentionally cold, and the storyline is continuous. It doesn’t seem appropriate to name individual tracks, since there is a solid sense of unity from “Temporal Incursions” to “Peripheral Fission”. An absolute must.
The Dave Liebman Big Band- As Always (Mama Records)
Big bands hold a special place in this examiner’s heart. The trombones, the large sound of saxophones and trumpets, and elaborate arrangements are all the ingredients for happy listening. As Always is no exception. It is an elegant, lush full-bodied CD recorded live and directed by Gunnar Mossblad. Liebman gives us further evidence that big jazz is still growing and evolving year by year.
Standout Tracks: As Always, Anubis, New Breed.
Jared Gold- Out of Line (Posi-tone Records)
Here is another release from the man who brought you the theme from “Welcome Back, Kotter” on the last CD, Supersonic. Chris Cheek on saxophone, Dave Stryker on guitar and Mark Ferber on drums complement Gold’s Hammond B-3 organ. Out of Line is more subtle that Supersonic. The songs, ranging from Stevie Wonder’s “You Haven’t Done Nothin’” to a variation on the traditional hymn “It Is Well”, shows a more contemplative tone that works well in the good old summertime.
Standout Tracks: Preachin’, You Haven’t Done Nothin’, It is Well, La-La(Means I Love You).
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