New Releases Spotlight: Week of July 14, 2014
This week in the music lounge, we’re going to stay close to home and check out three great new releases from right here in Chicago…
Orbert Davis' Chicago Jazz Philharmonic - Sketches of Spain Revisited
First off, our very own Orbert Davis, who you can hear Friday nights at 7 on WDCB has a new disc out with the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic. It’s quite an ambitious project called Sketches of Spain Revisited. As you can imagine, it pulls a couple of songs from the Miles Davis original ("Concierto de Arjuanez and Solea"), breathing completely new life into them with the addition of a string section and some inspired arranging from Orbert. My favorite song on the CD is "El Moreno," which gets into a nice Latin-Funk groove, but really, the entire album is a standout.
Michael Fiorino - Ensemble 456
Bassist Michael Fiorino has a new disc out too, called Ensemble 456. If there’s a space between straight ahead jazz and fusion, Fiorino has found it, and is making some very cool music there. The only standard on the disc is a really nice version of Duke Ellington’s "Prelude to A Kiss," but nearly every WDCB listener will hear something they like on this mostly original album.
Dee Alexander - Songs My Mother Loves
Finally, one of Chicago’s leading vocalists, Dee Alexander has a brand new album out called Songs My Mother Loves, and it’s a beautiful album from first track to last. Dee’s playing with a killer band of top shelf Chicago talent – Miguel De La Cerna, Harrison Bankhead, Ernie Adams, Ari Brown and Corey Wilkes are just a few of the great players represented here – and singing great versions of some fantastic jazz songs. "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise," "Lonesome Lover" and "Soul Serenade" are just a few of the highlights. Once you’ve heard this, you’ll be looking forward to her FREE WDCB show at the Lakeside Pavilion on campus at The MAC here at College of DuPage on July 25th.
There’s plenty more great new music on the way here on WDCB, and we’ll tell you about more of it next week! Happy listening!