Gary Smulyan “Alternative Contrafacts” (SCCD 31844)

SCCD 31844 Gary Smulyan “Alternative Contrafacts” Baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan brings here his trademark “contrafacts” (a music making method that shares the chord progressions with other compositions) approach to this first SteepleChase leader outing challenging us (maybe?) to guess the tunes he is employing. Smulyan whose professional career took shape by joining Woody Herman’s Young […]

Christian Winther – From The Sound Up (SCCD 31721)

SCCD 31721 Christian Winther Danish-born New Orleans tenor saxophonist Christian Winther invites Roman Skakun, young rising star on vibraphone from New Orleans to his band to create a special sound for this latest album. Jon Barron of AllAboutJazz commented on Winther’s previous release Soul House (SCCD 31633), “ Soul House is full of feel-good moments, […]

Dick Oatts – Two Hearts (SCCD 31694)

Dick Oatts, as shown in his “Standard Issue” (SCCD 31439) and its squeal “Standard Issue volume 2 (SCCD 31482), cherishes tunes from the great American songwriters of the 20 th century. For this new album Dick Oatts compiles a collection of evergreen “love songs” mostly written in the 40s. “…. Longtime lead alto man with […]