Put this CD in the jazz bin! It includes tunes written by Duke Ellington, Hoagy Carmichael, Sammy Cahn, and Louis Jordan, as well as songs by Steve Winwood of Blind Faith, Jack White of the White Stripes, and Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zepplin. All are given inspired jazz interpretations by pianist Mike Ewbank, bassist/vocalist Tommy Dean and percussionist Colin Agnew. From the traditional to the contemporary, this album creates a musical mosaic that is easy to listen to and full of surprises. "Blues Say Goodbye" is the creation of pianist Mike Ewbank and bassist/vocalist Tommy Dean with Colin Agnew on drums and is a faithful reflection of their live performances. The piano work is agile and inspired. The vocal performances range from subtle to over the top. The drums and bass consistently propel things as they should. You will be blind-sided by the song selection:
The first track starts with a jazzy unison bass and vocal scat ala "Slam" Stewart, which introduces a low down and dirty version of The White Stripes' rock anthem, "Seven Nation Army." After two verses Ewbank's fiery piano solo abruptly starts with a lick akin to a fire alarm bell ringing out a warning before settling into a swinging stroll. Dean takes the song out with a multi-toned falsetto scat that toys with the gritty vocal overtones of his voice over an extended instrumental vamp.
Before you've even had a chance to contemplate what you just heard, you encounter a light and airy piano introduction to Hoagy Carmicael's classic, "Georgia On My Mind." This trio takes it back to its Great American Songbook origins with a feel that invites a bit of Vaudeville "soft shoe" dancing. Everything about this performance is light and easy, disguising the tremendous technique required to convincingly play stride piano. Whoa! Is that a Ray Charles piano quote introducing the piano solo? You can tell these artists could do this one in their sleep, though there is nothing sleepy about their performance.
The drummer's ending brush flourish on "Georgia" becomes the intro to an energetic Latin feeling "It Was A Very Good Year." Mike Ewbank shines on this piece. His solo is an excellent display of the effective use of space and repetition as he states his musical premise, takes a breath, and says it again with a variation that soon launches into melodious musical excursion that goes into a jagged rhythmic transition as the verse form repeats. He makes it all work with style and grace.
Just as soon as you think you might have this little album pegged, the trio reveals rolling cascades of piano over a tatoo of brushes pushing a descending bass line. If you're a fan of early Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood it sounds familiar, but you won't know why until Dean's soulful voice proclaims, "Come down off your throne and leave your body alone... " and you find yourself in a beautiful swirl of sound and lyric as these musical chameleons make this poignant rock classic their own.
So you reach the title track and it starts with a jaunty unison bass and piano left-hand over a slightly swinging brush figure and an understated back beat. Ewbank sprinkles bouncy chord accents between the bass ostinato then opens some room for a plaintive vocal that tells an old story of estranged lovers. In the lyric the blues are personified as an insistent old drunk badgering the singer with tales of sadness and woe. The only cure is the return of the lost lover because the blues knows that three is a crowd.
Karen Greene provides musical magic on Led Zepplin's "Going To California" with tasty soprano saxophone responses to Mike Ewbank's beautiful piano excursions.
~ CD Universe
Featuring acclaimed NY Trumpeter Tatum Greenblatt, cited by Wynton Marsalis as "one of his favorite young trumpet players," the Verve Jazz Ensemble projects a wide array of richly developed voices on this compelling compilation of music. From reinterpreted Bebop standards (Lady Bird, Boplicity, and Jordu), to a dynamic big band reduction (Big Swing Face, originally made famous by Buddy Rich), to two distinct treatments of well-loved jazz classics (Henry Mancini's The Days of Wine and Roses, and Oscar Hammerstein's Softly as in a Morning Sunrise), listeners will immediately hear a deeply integrated group that delivers its musical art with great style and passion.
"The Reckoning" is a uniquely varied body of work, consisting of a mixture of original compositions and arrangements of infrequently recorded tunes in the jazz repertoire. As has become the standard for my prior recordings, stylistic variety is ever-present within this collection of songs. While seeking to create music that is inviting to a wide variety of listeners, my hard bop roots are front and center in the flavor and spirit of the album. The original compositions on the album strongly reflect the influence of this period of jazz history on my musicianship, consisting of tunes that are substantive yet relatable to many. 
THE SURE CO. - 5IVE
DEXTER STORY - SEASONS
OTTO - MOON 1111
As of the summer of 2002, Dan Haerle retired from full-time teaching. He was a faculty member in the Jazz Studies Division of the College of Music at the University of North Texas for 25 years (Regents Professor for the last 10 years). He taught Jazz Piano, Jazz Fundamentals, Advanced Jazz Improvisation, Jazz MIDI, Graduate Jazz Improvisation, Rhythm Section Master Class and he supervised the jazz chamber music program. He directed the Jazz Strings and a keyboard ensemble called The Zebras. He taught the courses in basic MIDI theory, sequencing and jazz notation. 
Voyage features Smooth Jazz Chart-topping trumpeter Rick Braun and internationally renowned multi-instrumentalist Mino Cinelu on percussion (Miles Davis, Weather Report, Herbie Hancock, Sting). We think this album is a landmark on the smooth jazz scene. It is energetic with full sounding arrangements and captivating percussion grooves. No band other than Groove55 can swing the funk as well as this. 
The Hammer Klavier Trio is jazz as it lives and breathes today. Three bright musicians use acoustic and electric instruments in a fun and unfussy concoction of classical jazz and contemporary rhythms that feels right for this moment. Their quirky and earnest melodies, sharp rhythms and hipster attitudes acknowledge with appreciation jazz's recent and older past, but are inspired not fettered by it. In fact, it frees them. So HKT keyboardist Boris Netsvetaev adds an edgy touch of electronics on "Hysterioso," his variant of Thelonius Monk's "Mysterioso," for no other reason than because it brings a smile, and the groove cut by bassist Philipp Steen and drummer Kai Bussenius is in step with how people move.