REVIEW: The Linda Sessions.

FROM THE UNBRIDLED PEN....


Hello from the other side....

It's been a while, yes....

I'd stepped away from blogging, well, just because life became something like this....

(Now, it's beyond me why folks cannot place their shopping carts in the designated shopping cart spots in the parking lot correctly so that they don't roll away and plow into someone's SUV, but that's really another rant for another day.) 

And also I had nothing to say at the time. I've come back to it now through a bit of Twitter and frequent posts to FB. It's been fun giving my opinions on topics that sting me (like stray shopping carts) or tickle me or make me think more about the world we're all pissed off about. So, let's try this again...

Here's my review of the latest release from Albany County composer, producer and arranger Randy Simon who in his spare time reminds us to recycle, refurbish and reuse.

The Linda Sessions – Randy Simon Jazz Project 

(Randy Simon Jazz Project)

After years of absorbing Jazz as a listener and piano student, it was a revelation for physicist and businessman Randy Simon to spread his musical ideas onto sheets of paper instead of onto a keyboard. Taking advantage of the talent in his own backyard, Simon called upon New York’s Capital Region’s finest to record his compositions beginning in 2008 (alas, the very first recording is no longer available.) The Randy Simon Jazz Project became the conduit for his ideas. For The Linda Sessions (Randy Simon Jazz Project, 2016), he recruited pianist Rob Lindquist, bassist John Menegon, drummer Danny Whelchel, saxophonist Kevin Barcomb, trumpeter and flugelhorn player Dylan Canterbury and guitarist Chuck D’Aloia.  

The Linda Sessions follow Nyhavn Live from 2013. Several of Simon’s compositions on the two- cd set have their own story of places he’s visited. “Poipu Walk” (a beach along Kauai), “7 Mile Beach” (on Grand Cayman Island), “Moorea Lagoon” (in French Polynesia) and “Santa Cruz” (an island in the Galapagos) are tinged with Latin rhythms and inflections. “Just Deal with It” was originally titled “On the Line” and “grew out of playing around with rock power chords and related concepts that I had not explored”, says Simon.  It quickly ticks off with flair and brio with Jazz fusion-fueled solos by Canterbury, Barcomb, Lindquist and D’Aloia. Characteristic of a dream, “Dreamscape” (written as a “plaintive, Erik Satie-styled piece”) opens with petal-soft solos by Lindquist and Canterbury before it opens up to a mid-tempo bebop swing. Another mid-tempo tune is “Metropolis”, given bounce and fluidity by Whelchel.

For those who lament that America’s Classical music has fallen off the tracks, forming unholy alliances with contemporary Pop-oriented genres, need to expand their listening range.  There are countless artists and arrangers who strive and excel in straight-ahead Jazz and improvisational music, Randy Simon being among them. And though Simon gives much praise to the musicians and technicians who’ve brought his original melodies to life, he deserves the greatest praise for keeping this music moving forward. And by the way, Simon’s name may ring a bell: he’s the host of the segment Earthwise heard daily on WAMC Northeast Public Radio. 

The Linda Sessions was recorded at The Linda, the performance space of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, NY.

Release date: March 28, 2016

For more information: randysimonjazz.com

Contact: http://www.randysimonjazz.com/contact.html