WCSound’s two Gibbs releases in JazzWeek’s top ten for the year

WCSound’s two Gibbs releases in JazzWeek’s top ten for the year

JazzWeek Top 100 for 2017

Two Gibbs releases in the top ten for the year!

Rounding out the top 5 are: Louis Hayes Serenade for Horace (Blue Note), Terry Gibbs 92 Years Young: Jammin’ At The Gibbs House (Whaling City Sound), DeJohnette, Grenadier, Medeski and Scofield Hudson (Motema), and Christian McBride Big Band Bringin’ It (Mack Avenue).
The rest of the top 10 are: Christian Sands Reach (Mack Avenue), Joey DeFrancesco + The People Project Freedom (Mack Avenue), Gerry Gibbs & The Thrasher People Weather or Not (Whaling City Sound), Diana Krall Turn Up The Quiet (Verve), and Cyrus Chestnut There’s A Sweet, Sweet Spirit (HighNote).

#19, Eric Wyatt Look to the Sky (Peaked at #17, 6 weeks) Brooklyn-born and bred Eric owns a solid berth along the saxophone continuum originally laid out by guys like Parker, Coltrane and Rollins. Throughout his career, his playing has been edgy and inventive, heartfelt and poignant. In fact, his father was good friends with Rollins and after Wyatt’s dad passed away, Sonny Rollins became involved in Eric’s music. “After my dad passed in 1989, Sonny became very present in my music and offered his help. I was given the opportunity to record my first CD, Godson, on the Japanese label King Records. Sonny suggested the title Godson because it explained his and my dad’s Hope. The Godson CD featured Al Foster, Rufus Reid and Mark Soskin, all members of Sonny’s bands. Look to the Sky, Wyatt’s debut for Whaling City Sound and his sixth recording overall, is magnificently realized, both instrumentally and emotionally. There are musical nods to his father (“Jolley Charlie”) and mother (“Psalm for Phennie”), to Coltrane (“My Favorite Things”) and a few other intimate touch-points, some original, a few written by his accompanist, Benito Gonzalez. Indeed, Wyatt is joined here by excellent progressive musicians, including the resounding pianist Gonzalez, drummers Shinnosuke Takahashi and Kyle Pool, Eric Wheeler on bass and Keyon Harrold on trumpet. Together, their music is filled with hope and dedication, reciprocity and passion. With every recording, Wyatt flourishes, in terms of artistry and intensity, power and finesse. Look to the Sky is the man’s—and his band’s— finest and fullest record yet.

Dave Zinno Unisphere River of January (Chartbound) The songs are lavish jazz adventures, rich with texture, ripe with melodicism, and simply joyful audio journeys. The band is spectacular: Unisphere includes the talents of sax man Mike Tucker (Arturo Sandoval), drummer Rafael Barata (Milton Nascimento, Marc Johnson), Leo Genovese (Joe Lovano, Esperanza Spaulding), and Crescent City trumpeter Benny Bloom. Zinno leads them the way a hopeless romantic treats a first love: gently, understanding and worshipful. He glorifies his accompanists and allows them to go on at length, indulging their considerable talents and making River of January a wall of glorious of sound. This isn’t to say that it’s stodgy. Zinno infuses the work with progress. The band takes the vibe of traditional jazz and reverses the paradigm, so the songs, while familiar, certainly don’t remain the same. There are many highlights here, and while it wouldn’t be a waste of space to speak about them individually, it would be easier to say that these tunes all include rushes of adrenaline, sweetness of melody and serious elements of style. River of January is a work of forward thinking tradition and one that has much substance within it to discover.

WCSound releases on 12/18 JazzWeek Radio Chart: #17 Eric Wyatt “Look to the Sky,” #38 Alma Micic “That Old Feeling,” Chartbound Dave Zinno Unisphere “River of January,” Chartbound Lewis Porter/Phil Scarff Group “Three Minutes to Four,”

WCSound releases on 12/18 JazzWeek Radio Chart: #17 Eric Wyatt “Look to the Sky,” #38 Alma Micic “That Old Feeling,” Chartbound Dave Zinno Unisphere “River of January,” Chartbound Lewis Porter/Phil Scarff Group “Three Minutes to Four,”

Whaling city Sound artists are dominating the charts this week:

Eric WyattLook to the Sky” at #17

Alma MicicThat Old Feeling” at #38

Dave ZinnoRiver of January” Chartbound

Lewis Porter/ Phil Scarff GroupThree Minutes to Four” Chartbound

 

 

 

 

KZSU 90.1 reviews Eric Wyatt’s Look to the Sky “There isn’t a dull track in this set”

KZSU 90.1 reviews Eric Wyatt’s Look to the Sky “There isn’t a dull track in this set”

Tom McCarter
Reviewed 2017-11-24 
Reviewed: 2017-11-24
Genre: Jazz
FCCs: none
Review: straight ahead cooking contemporary bop. A few nods to the past. There isn’t a dull track in the set. Lessons learned & extrapolated on.
If You Like: Pharoah Sanders, John Coltrane, Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock
Track Review (favorites denoted by*):
*1/ E-Brother (4:13) – piano starts> uptempo jam> rocking sax solo> trupet solo> jam> quick stop
2/ Look To The Sky-Sister Carol (8:31) – piano starts> uptempo jam> sax solo> piano solo> trumpet solo> soaring uptempo jam slows to fade
*3/ My Favorite Things (2:38) – piano starts> uptempo jam & song> sonic sax solo> swinging piano solo> song> long slow fade
*4/ Jolley Charlie (7:06) – drums start> fast tempo jam> sizzling sax solo> sax/drum duet> piano solo>
5/ A Psalm For Phennie (8:22) – piano starts> slow tempo jam swings to midtempo> sax solo> trumpet solo> piano solo> slow fade
*6/ One Finger Snap (4:32) – sax starts. fast tempo jam> spirited trumpet solo> lightning fast piano solo> sax solo> drum solo> fast jam> quick stop
7/ Afro Blue (8:01) – piano starts> midtempo swings into uptempo jam> sax solo> piano solo> uptempo jam> fade
*8/ Starting Point (6:51) – piano starts> uptempo jam> sax solo> swinging piano solo> bass solo> jam> crescendo end
9/ Tenderly(5:41) – piano starts> slow tempo jam> sax solo> fad

 

To see the original review, click here

To buy Look to the Sky, click here

To get in the spirit of giving, Whaling City Sound gives away signed cds from the JazzWeek chart for the Holidays

To get in the spirit of giving, Whaling City Sound gives away signed cds from the JazzWeek chart for the Holidays

As a way to say Happy Holidays to all of it’s supportive fans, Whaling City Sound is doing 3 different giveaways to ramp up the Holiday season. This means 3 chances to win a free autographed album from some of Whaling City Sound’s top artists.

On Facebook, the giveaway can be shared for a chance to win an autographed copy of Dave Zinno’s new album, River of January. If you want to better your chances of a free signed album this holiday, Whaling City Sound is also doing a giveaway on Twitter. The contest can be re-tweeted to be entered for a chance to win Eric Wyatt’s new Album, Look to the Sky, signed and sent by Eric Wyatt. Finally, Whaling City sound is doing a 3rd giveaway on Instagram, this time to win a copy of Alma Micic’s album, That Old Feeling, signed by Micic herself. All you need to do is like the picture and leave a comment. The contest runs now up until December 17th, a random winner for each contest will be selected the next day. Enter all 3 to maximize a free signed Holiday Album!

Click here to see the Facebook Giveaway

Click here to see the Twitter Giveaway

Click here to see the Instagram Giveaway

 

 

 

 

 

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