Author: Francois

Floriaan Wempe The Light Of Day (2026)

- Francois Leave a comment

NEW RELEASE – FLORIAAN WEMPE

Lowland post-bopper branches out on the sunny side of the street.  

Personnel

Floriaan Wempe (tenor saxophone, alto saxophone), Rodolfo Ferreira Neves (trumpet), Rob van Bavel (piano), Steven Zwanink (bass), Willie Jones III (drums)

Recorded

in 2025

Released

in 2026

Track listing

The Observer / Acquiescence / Quest / Angel Roy / Love Me / October 10 / What To Do / The Glow Of Promise / Gonna Be Alright

It’s always a treat to hear a tenor saxophonist and composer shamelessly and fearlessly living the lessons of giants like Wayne Shorter, Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, Clifford Jordan, Herbie Hancock, Cedar Walton, Michael Brecker. The treat here is Floriaan Wempe, who is inspired without succumbing to epigonism. Wempe is a mainstay on the Dutch scene and has collaborated intensively with Philip Harper, Willie Jones III and Roy Hargrove, among others, with three albums including The Light Of Day on his résume.

Typically “The Hague”, coming from a solid bop and hard bop tradition, you would have, if you’re a bit of an observer, seen a tall, slender, blond-haired chap milling about anxiously and enthusiastically in the halls of the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague or Rotterdam, where living legends and top-tier contemporary heroes unite, likely with his alto sax friend Tom van der Zaal, only to see him partake in a jam a little while later.

So, that’s the kind of guy, Long Tall Wempe and The Light Of Day, a high-quality record full of spirited, hip melodies, you’re actually almost finding yourself in Rudy van Gelder’s studio in the mid-1960s, The Lion’s on the phone, The Wolff’s taking pictures, the other day it’s Bob Thiele tending business, jazz in elegant monochrome.

Certainly a record of today, though. A new chapter in Wempe’s career, with a new band, his stab at lyric writing, and fresh ways of composing. Wempe: “Nowadays, I tend to look more at the essence of a natural melody and space for interpretation. We had a lot of fun with my pieces and I hope that they will linger in the head of the listener and maybe inspire other musicians as well.” 

The mid-tempo What Do To stands out, Wempe with his eye on the prize, building a well-structured story with ever-growing energy, edging his bright, big tone with some pieces of sandpaper. Kinetic stuff! October 10 is equally swinging and sophisticated, marked by a sort of Horace Silver-stop-time-feeling, kickstarted rather brilliantly by the wonderful pianist Rob van Bavel, followed by pithy unisono bop lines by the horns.

Modal-tinged Quest, with lovely harmonic twists, is without a doubt one of the hard-swingenest tunes of this year. In a more subdued vein, the pastoral Acquiescence thrives on the pairing of alto sax and piano.

His is a positively exciting group, completed by trumpeter Rodolfo Ferreira Neves, bassist Steven Zwanink and Jones III on drums. Then there’s guest vocalist Fay Claassen, Holland’s finest, appearing on three tunes including Angel Roy, a touching homage to Roy Hargrove, and the ballad Love Me, where her sublime intensity meets with Neves’s soulful trumpet.

Welcome additions to a top-rate contemporary post-bop album.

Check out The Light Of Day on Floriaan’s website here: http://floriaanwempe.com/

Here’s What To Do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwny4hJNbSw

Here’s The Observer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQrNZieEVOM&list=RDCQrNZieEVOM&start_radio=1

Push it real good

- Francois Leave a comment

SUGGESTIVE SEXY & SEXIST –

Sex sells, if you push push it hard enough. 

Suggestion sold, whether it was in movies, music or fiction. I’ve got plenty of vintage, lurid pulp books with covers depicting women in various poses in various ever-so-slightly see-through negligés. I’ve got plenty of vintage records with illustrations of beautiful women that were supposed to lure soul jazz lovers into buying the finished product in the record shops. Shamelessly sexist covers are rare but there are a few examples which if they were created in the postmodern world could by artist’s intent pass as cultural commentary and/or would raise a fuzz, but back then, were clear-cut marketing tools.

Were men the only buyers of records? History of (black) culture proves that this is surely not completely the case, so imagine a couple or a family walking into a record store or a barber shop or a supermarket and browsing through a bin. Wow, this looks really cool, young Charlie ponders while pulling his father’s trousers legs. What’s with the lock, dad?

O'Donel Levy - Everything I Do
Harold Ousley - Sweet Double Hipness
Brother Jack McDuff - Sophisticated Funk

Mr. McGriff’s label seriously got down to business. Kenny Clark/Francy Boland’s office took the arty route.

Jimmy McGriff - Groove Grease
Jimmy McGriff - Soul Sugar
Kenny Clarke : Francy Boland Big Band - All Smiles

Female buyers were either totally neglected or scared off like mice in the kitchen. I couldn’t resist to show a perennial favorite (joke) among jazz collectors, Herbie pushing the limits of the bearable. And what about avantgardist Albert Ayler? Sassy goatee, man! Yuk. You won’t find Wild Bill Davis in any controversial or ludicrous pose. Nor find any of his labels exploitative. No hesitation to accuse Coral of bad and scary taste, though. If this is supposed to be lust you might as well throw it to the dogs.

Herbie Mann - Push Push
Albert Ayler - New Grass
Wild Bill Davis - Lover

Find at your local record store or erotic shop

Charles Kynard Where It’s At! (Pacific Jazz 1963)

- Francois Leave a comment

Charles Kynard’s gospel and blues-drenched first album as a leader didn’t cut a bad figure. 

Personnel

Charles Kynard (organ), Clifford Scott (tenor saxophone), Howard Roberts (guitar),  Ray Crawford (guitar A1), Milt Turner (drums), Leroy Henderson (drums A1)

Recorded

in 1963 at Pacific Jazz Studios, Los Angeles

Released

as Pacific Jazz 72 in 1963

Track listing

Side A: I’ll Fly Away / Amazing Grace / Motherless Child / The Lord Will Make A Way Somehow / I Want To Be Ready / Side B: Smooth Sailing / I Wonder / Blue Greens And Beans / Sports Lament / Where It’s At

I always thought that Elliott, the boy from E.T., and Elliott Smith, the greatest songwriter since Lennon & McCartney, were the only ones that had and extra ‘t’ behind their name. Positively off-beat.

Apparently not. It was Smith’s own choosing, but E.T.’s Elliott Taylor (definitely) and Charles Elliott Kynard (likely) had had no say in the matter.

Kynard, born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1933, may not have been the greatest organist since pioneer Jimmy Smith, but no mistaking was a top-rate B3 burner.

Kynard is known for a feature on Tom Waits’s Blue Valentines in 1978. That was a good ending to a career – he sadly passed away in 1979 – in jazz music which started in the early 1950’s in Kansas City. Apparently – liner notes reveal – Kynard was an excellent Oscar Peterson-styled pianist who switched to organ by fault when a club manager requested he’d play the house organ.

As a teenager, Kynard had regularly snuck in the Metropolitan Baptist Church to play the church organ. In 1957, Kynard already formed organ combos, notably with tenor saxophonist Tex Johnson. By the way, his father Ben Kynard was alto and baritone saxophonist and arranger in Lionel Hampton’s band, not to mention composer of perennial favorite Red Top.

Kynard’s stint on Prestige from 1968-71 sealed his reputation as a groove maestro, a greasy and funky coupling with, among others, Grant Green, Houston Person and Bernard Purdie. Consequently, he recorded a couple of albums for Mainstream.

His debut as a leader in 1963, Where It’s At – recorded shortly after his appearance on Sonny Stitt’s My Mother’s Eyes – doesn’t disappoint. A curious  but soulful effort, dividing sides into gospel and blues. Evidently, soul jazz organ made the bar and club audience in the 1950s and 1960s think about church, that’s part of the reason of why it stuck, and gospel was already in the bones of Wild Bill Davis and Jimmy Smith, so it wasn’t essential to seduce the record buying audience with straightforward gospel music, the message was already sent to it subliminally.

But Kynard likely thought it couldn’t hurt to remind people of their heritage, which of course, should only meet with consent. Actually, he was doing better than Gene Ammons, the biggest soul jazz star besides Jimmy Smith, whose gospel record Preachin’ is a mediocre effort in a string of great and groovy records on Prestige in the 1960’s.

Side A is Kynard’s sermon and he’s attending to the Army of The Lord with two warhorses, Amazing Grace and Motherless Child, while surprising it with lesser-known repertoire, I Want To Be Ready, The Lord Will Make A Way Somehow and, I’ll Fly Away. His band is good, couldn’t been otherwise with saxophonist Clifford Scott, guitarist Howard Roberts and drummer Milt Turner (from the Ray Charles band) in tow, working up a strong gospel beat and a lot of heat. Though it’s I’ll Fly Away featuring guitarist Ray Crawford and drummer Leroy Henderson, plus Ronnell Bright on piano, a roaring ditty, that takes the cake.

Kynard uses side B to sing the blues. Though his sound is still a bit (too) old-fashioned, full register and all, his playing is tasteful, not to mention including superb bass playing, and he contributes swinging solos on Arnett Cobb’s Smooth Sailing and the sprightly blues line Blue Greens And Beans. Clifford Scott, a welcome old-school big-toned addition on any soul jazz record, fires up the hearth of Cecil Gant’s slow blues I Wonder, which also thrives on the saucy licks of guitarist Howard Roberts. Climax Where It’s At is a Jimmy McGriff-style r&b cooker.

Either behind the pulpit or in the juke joint, Kynard proved to be a debutant with plenty Hammond organ chops.

Listen to Where It’s At on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g95RuK-_FNU&list=RDg95RuK-_FNU&start_radio=1

Sungtaek Choo Philly Standards (2026)

- Francois Leave a comment

NEW RELEASE – SUNGTAEK CHOO

South-Korean young gun and Philly-bred pros go to your head.  

Personnel

Sungtaek Choo (piano), Mike Boone (bass), Anwar Marshall (drums)

Recorded

in 2025

Released

in 2026

Track listing

Passion Dance / Just In Time / Blues On The Corner / Chance

“I’m doing well in New York and am very happy to be here,” says South-Korean pianist Sungtaek Choo, who came to the other side of the pond via Amsterdam conservatory. “It really feels like the best place for jazz. There were musicians I used to listen to and longed to play with someday and now I somehow find myself sharing the stage with them. It’s been a dream come true. I’m just trying to keep growing and build a reputation as a reliable sideman.”

Sungtaek’s first EP is called Philly Standards, not NYC Standard Time or some such, which makes perfect sense. New York is crowded with musicians from Philadelphia, not least bassist Mike Boone and drummer Anwar Marshall, Choo’s collaborators on this and harbingers of the Philly groove and vivid interaction.

The inclusion of (Philly’s) McCoy Tyner classics Passion Dance and Blues On The Corner seems like big shoes to fill, but Choo is doing it with verve, a big piano sound, strong and colorful left hand, lines that dart in and out of the waves like dolphins, the waves eventually spilling over the rocks.

For all its vitality, it’s Choo’s deliberate sense of balance – his sparse way of getting into the passionate dance story in particular – that is striking. His is a strong-willed trio, with Boone super-solid and Marshall filling in spaces zealously.

Firmly stated harmonies gel with the elegant turbulence of his melodic patterns. Doesn’t every jazz musician long to be a Mondriaan, yet is mysteriously drawn to a curl here, a spot of blood-red there?

Completed by Just In Time and Kenny Kirkland’s challenging Chance, it becomes clear that recording debutant Sungtaek Choo is making his mark in convincing fashion.

Listen on certain questionable streaming platforms and on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4AVg9bz7us&list=RDB4AVg9bz7us&start_radio=1

Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre (Verve 1959)

- Francois Leave a comment

The finest early album of the down-homiest picker among modern jazz guitarists.  

Personnel

Herb Ellis (guitar), Jimmy Giuffre (tenor saxophone, arranger), Richie Kamuca (tenor saxophone), Art Pepper, Bud Shank (alto saxophone), Jim Hall (rhythm guitar), Lou Levy (piano), Joe Mondragon (bass), Stan Levey (drums)

Recorded

on March 26, 1959 at Radio Recorders Studio in Los Angeles

Released

as MV-G 831 in 1959

Track listing

Side A: Goose Grease / When Your Lover Has Gone / Remember / Patricio / Side B: A Country Boy / You Know / My Old Flame / People Will Say We’re In Love

Incredible LP. One that makes you jump and shout and way wow wow wow and hmm this is something else.

He wasn’t much on my mind, Herb Ellis, back in the days. I was obsessed by crackerjack guitarists like Grant Green, Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino. Also, I was put off by the first Ellis record that I bought, Nothing But The Blues. Too much cliché patterns for my sake.

Of course, his work with Oscar Peterson couldn’t be neglected. Rhythm guitarist beyond peer. The Freddie Green of modern mainstream jazz. (Later on, I learned that Ellis – who started out with the Casa Loma Orchestra and Jimmy Dorsey, got famous with O.P.’s trio, worked in the L.A. studios for years, returned on Concord with dozens of records – was also part of the mostly forgotten trio Soft Winds with pianist/vocalist Lou Carter and violinist Johnny Frigo, ahead of their time with a chamber music-ish format that combined Nat King Cole with MJQ and foreshadowed The Hi-Lo’s. Versatile cat, Herb Ellis.

Then came, after the excellent debut Ellis In Wonderland and Nothing But The Blues, wow wow wow and booom: Meets Jimmy Giuffre.

Why does it affect me so strongly?

Is there anybody as down-home among modern jazz guitarists as Herb Ellis? Take a listen to Ellis/Giuffre’s Goose Grease, sassy opening cut, the most hill-billy-ish tune on the album, or A Country Boy, Herb’s bluesy winner. Ellis comes from Lester Young and Charlie Parker, but earthy is his middle name and I love that so much: slurs, bends, all those little connecting licks you’ve heard somewhere else… T-Bone Walker, Lefty Frizell, Jimmy Bryant. Dirty boots walking through the mud in the Appalachian mountains. Scent of magnolia fields. Fresh apple pie. Back porch bliss!

Besides, the development of his solos is textbook stuff, creative pattern after pattern building up tension to smoothly resolved finales.

It’s the combination with Jimmy Giuffre’s arrangements that does another trick. The music runs smoothly and with gusto like Kris Kristofferson’s convoy. Comforting warm blend of saxes, no brass. Deceptively simple, nifty and effective underscoring of Ellis’s lines. Check out the bittersweet mood that is conveyed by the sax section during When Your Lover Has Gone‘s finale. Or the subtle shift of tempo at the end of Remember. Everything about the fast-paced People Will Say We’re In Love is meaningful and connected.

(Can’t say enough of Jimmy Giuffre, super-creative guy whose stature among jazz fans continues to grow as time goes by).

And how’s that for a band? Giuffre and Richie Kamuca on tenor, Art Pepper and Bud Shank on alto, Jim Hall on rhythm guitar, Lou Levy on piano, Joe Mondragon on bass and Stan Levey on drums. West Coast-based modernists par excellence.

Truly irresistible stuff. Finally really felt what Herb Ellis was about!

Listen to the full album on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI9AoqfKibI&list=RDgI9AoqfKibI&start_radio=1

The New York Second Café Madrid (NYS 2026)

- Francois Leave a comment

NEW RELEASE – THE NEW YORK SECOND

Pairing of piano and vibraphone works out beautifully for The New York Second, though the band is more dynamic live than on this studio date.  

Personnel

Harald Walkate (piano), Rob Waring (vibraphone), Lorenzo Buffa (bass), Max Sergeant (drums)

Recorded

in 2025

Released

as NYS in 2026

Track listing

One Sunday / As The Crow Flies / Algerian Boardwalk / Skylines / Café Madrid / West By Northwest Boulevard / The Lost Christmas / So Long / And Then It’s Gone / Now It’s Just You And Me / Grow Your Quiet Fortune

Melancholy and carefully crafted tension and release pervades the repertoire of pianist Harald Walkate, whose band The New York Second released acclaimed concept albums like Music At Night (writer Aldous Huxley) and Room For Other People (photographer Vivian Maier).

Café Madrid is its sixth album, featuring permanent sidekicks Lorenzo Buffa on bass and drummer Max Sergeant on drums, as well as, on repeat since Music At Night, American-Norwegian vibraphonist Rob Waring.

Moody pieces instilled with sparingly dosed pop song movements and Debussy/Satie-ish motives and patterns, that’s Walkate’s thing and he’s doing it very well. Most convincingly in performance with the help of a strong rhythm section, as I’ve witnessed not long ago, probably because the Café Madrid repertoire alternated with other Walkate songs. Nothing wrong with cool and collected, but the Café Madrid album stretches it to its limit, going for the 70-minute mark. Kill your darlings.

Highlights include the lazy Latin groove of One Sunday, the hefty vamp and canny harmonic twist of Grow Your Own Fortune and the ephemeral And Then It’s Gone, inspired by a philosophical remark by Eric Dolphy on the fleeting nature of music.

Carving his own path as a mood maker, Walkate teaches a valid lesson: make use of what you’re good at, discard all pretense. In the pianist’s case, why bother striving to play like fellow brilliant countrymen Rob van Bavel or Peter Beets? He’s attentive to the needs of Waring, the prime soloist here with a snappy ringing sound and tasteful, impressionist style.

Both revel in the pleasure of So Long, Walkate’s sublime ‘effort to write a Real Book ballad’. A-typical tune of a simpatico cinematic jazz record.

Buy via Harald’s website here: https://haraldwalkate.com/shop/

Joan Fort Hangin’ In (45 Jazz 2026)

- Francois Leave a comment

NEW RELEASE – JOAN FORT

Spanish guitarist in a New York state of mind.  

Personnel

Joan Fort (guitar), Grant Stewart (tenor saxophone), Daniel Cohen (tenor saxophone #2), Michael Weiss (piano), David Wong (bass), Aaron Kimmel (drums)

Recorded

on December 7, 2024 at Bunker Studio in New York

Released

as 45 Jazz 003 in 2026

Track listing

Javastraat / A Day At The King’s County / 5 In 1 Flat / Miradouro Da Pederneira / Up, Over & Out / Hangin’ In / TJI / She / Philly Twist

Go figure. You’re a promising guitarist and out there in The Big Apple for a while. The New York heavyweights, toughest cats on the global block, seem to like what you’re doing, so why not invite some of those guys to play on your record?

Spanish Joan Fort, fresh from the Amsterdam scene and part of the sassy hard/post bop outfit The Dam Jawn, took care of this business. A full day in the studio, original compositions, a couple of covers and off to the races. Bravo!

Good preparation and spontaneous blowing is all you need, and Hangin’ In, neo-traditionalism at its best, down to the rootsy title and cover, has got it down pat. Punchy and fat guitar tone, resonant band sound, a killer line-up including tenor great Grant Stewart.

Plenty enjoyment. The beautiful long line of Javastraat, re-imagined late 50’s Prestige thang, somewhat a Jimmy Raney-ish melody, starting with a snatch of Coltrane, so nothing to complain! Typical of this band to boot, a very deep pocket courtesy of Michael Weiss, David Wong and Aaron Kimmel, express train relentlessly rolling on the track.

The gypsy-ish intro of A Day At The King’s County. All the guys setting fire to Hank Mobley’s Up, Over & Out. The fast-paced sizzling bop of 5 In 1 Flat. Miradouro Da Pederneira‘s mellow canvas for Fort’s canny use of space and wide intervals, reflecting soft sun rays on your face.

Not to mention his quartet version of George Shearing’s She, featuring Fort’s most successful storytelling and mingling of patterns, voicing and octaves off this album.

Fort’s hangin’ in, true to his work’s leitmotif, being a jazz musician, a nomad, tackling challenges in Amsterdam, Philly, NYC, on the road, growing as a human being. Growth is what you’re looking for and Fort certainly meets demands, a step forward with a record that gains weight downtown.

Listen on streaming platforms or go to your local store: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znOb2H8FCGQ&list=OLAK5uy_k3J-7Lm-EwCk1zz36olDoyMlfb7DV_kvY&index=2