Christine Fawson: It Could Happen To You
Both as a singer and instrumentalist California-born Christine Fawson offers here a very fresh look at some well-worn songbook material. She studied at the Berklee School of Music, where she ultimately became professor of brass, ear training, harmony and voice. The great Phil Wilson, who played trombone with Woody Herman in the 60s, became her mentor. (Who can forget his outstanding performances on It’s A Lonesome Old Town and the remake of Bijou with the Herman band?)
As a trumpeter Fawson has listened to Lee Morgan, Clifford Brown and Miles Davis among others, and Frank Sinatra’s sound was “captivating” along with Harry Connick Jr who became her “biggest modern influence” as a singer. A thoroughly well-rounded musician, she has worked with the Syncopation Vocal Jazz Ensemble and Sherrie Maricle’s DIVA Orchestra.
It Could Happen To You is an ideal vehicle for her rich contralto voice, which evinces perfect diction and intonation. A nice touch here is the contrafact arranged by Brad Hatfield, who plays piano with the Boston Pops. It features the leader in a cup mute accompanied by Dave Zinno doubling the line with her. The Latin It’s All Right With Me finds her getting very close to Lee Morgan’s distinctive harmon sound. She arranged My Heart Stood Still and it reminds me of the hip writing that Roy Kral used to provide for Jackie Cain. With her infallible ear she proves here to be an accomplished scat-singer. Like Someone In Love is dressed up as a tango which works really well. You Don’t Know What Love Is is taken a little faster than usual and it features Fawson’s glorious open sound. She creates an intimate late-night mood on the lovely You’ve Changed which includes the rarely heard verse. All highly recommended.
Discography
It Could Happen To You; It’s All Right With Me; Lazybones; What’ll I Do; My Heart Stood Still; Like Someone In Love; You Don’t Know What Love is; You’ve Changed; I Was Doing All Right; Oh, Lady Be Good; Every Time We Say Goodbye (50.45)
Fawson (v, t); Tim Ray (p); Dave Zinno (b); Casey Scheuerell (d). Westwood, Massachusetts, 13 & 14 November 2025.
Independent
Ron Rieder: Compositions In Blue And Other Hues
This is tenor-man Ron Rieder’s third date as a leader. Both his 2023 Latin Jazz Sessions and 2025 Día Precioso! were critically acclaimed in Contemporary Fusion Reviews although somehow Tom Lord’s reliable Jazz Discography has managed to miss them. Rieder is a prolific composer because all the titles on those albums are his and all 11 tracks here are originals too. He produced but does not play on this release, which features a top-notch Boston-based quintet who are all masters of straight-ahead hard bop blowing.
Mike Tucker, who has worked extensively with Arturo Sandoval, is an associate professor at Berklee College of Music. Barnstormers such as Dizzy Spell, Coco’s Dilemma and Java Mania demonstrate his formidable technique but the ballad I Sing For You reveals another side to his musicality. He has it all to himself on what is the longest track, climaxing with the most delicate of codas, recalling the lyricism and warm tenor sound of Hank Mobley. Yaure Muniz, another Berklee graduate, has his moments too especially on Be Bim Bop and the cute Peach Blossom Blues. The Ukrainian-born, classically trained pianist Maxim Lubarsky is centre-stage on the idiosyncratic Interlude: Amingus Amonkus. It finds him almost stealing the show on a 12-bar sequence with a four-bar tag. It has a Thelonious Monk-like quality but without the dissonance, and his stride playing here is an added bonus.
Discography
Dizzy Spell; I Sing For You; Broadway Boogie; Rainy Day; The Butterfly Waltz; Interlude: Amingus Amonkus; Be Bim Bop; Peach Blossom Blues; Cruising With The Top Down; Coco’s Dilemma; Java Mania (51.39)
Yaure Muniz (t); Mike Tucker (ts); Maxim Lubarsky (p); John Lockwood (b); Mark Walker (d). Acton, Massachusetts, 29 & 30 December 2024.
Meson Records NO1 CD
Buena Vista All Stars: Una Noche En La Habana
I still have happy memories of seeing the Buena Vista Social Club group in Havana, Cuba many years ago. Their joy in music-making was infectious as they performed traditional Afro-Cuban classics for a SRO-only club audience that could not get enough of them. Ry Cooder and Juan de Marcos Gonzalez were instrumental in forming the ensemble in 1996, drawing together almost forgotten Cuban legends who had long since retired. Many of them had begun performing back in the 40s, which is why they became known affectionally as the Super Grandfathers. Their first album sold over a million copies and singer Ibrahim Ferrer (born 1927) played a large part in the success of the release. Ry Cooder called him the Cuban Nat King Cole.
The men and women of the Buena Vista All Stars include many of the original Social Club personnel, including laúd player Barbarito Torres and trumpeter Manuel Machado. They maintain the vibrant tradition of foot-tapping boleros, rumbas, montunos, cha chas and mambos with their musical director Demetrio Muñiz, who performed a similar role with the Social Club. After completing a highly successful world tour, the All Stars recorded four titles in Madrid for this CD and the album is supplemented with material from their concerts in Berlin and Mumbai. La Musica Cubana has been released as a single and it features pianist Sergio Fernández Pedroza on an inspired Latin vamp. The ever-popular Besame Mucho was introduced to North American audiences by Jimmy Dorsey in 1943. Tom Lord lists over 500 recordings by artists including Frank Rosolino, Art Pepper and Jaki Byard. Barbarito Torres provides a suitably dramatic reading here. Chan Chan has an atmospheric chant-like quality, sometimes spoken, sometimes sung. One of many highlights is Manuel Machado, who is quite outstanding on his own Machado’s Blues.
Discography
La Musica Cubana; Bemba Colora; Guantanamera; Bésame Mucho; Chan Chan; Lágrimas Negras; Clocks; Que Manera de Quererte; Machado’s Blues (45.50)
Selected personnel: Manuel Machado, Juan Luis De La Torre (t); Julián Garvayo Pérez-Requeijo (tb); Sergio Fernández Pedroza (p); Salvador López (b); Ramón González Orta (pc); Barbarito Torres, Ángel Aguiar Muñoz (v). Madrid, Berlin, Mumbai, 2025.
Gianni Music Group 192305
