Aug 12, 2025 10:24 AM
Vocalist Sheila Jordan Dies at 96
Sheila Jordan, a vocalist who was celebrated for her scatting and lyric-improvising abilities, died Aug. 11 at her home…
Pianist Sam Barsh, best-known for his work as a sideman for Avishai Cohen, Zach Brock and the Coffee Achievers, released I Forgot What You Taught Me on Feb. 12 on Razdaz Recordz, the five-year-old label founded by bassist Avishai Cohen and his manager, Ray Jefford.
The album features Barsh on piano, keyboards and melodica, Tim Collins on vibes, Ari Folman-Cohen on bass and Jaimeo Brown on drums. The CD’s 13 selections were all composed by Barsh, with the exception of “George Dub,” which was written by the entire band.
“I have a lot of musical interests, and many of them get fulfilled by the sideman gigs that I do, so I wanted my band to showcase me in my own element,” Barsh said. “I decided on all the members of the band because I had played sessions with all of them where we just started playing without calling any tunes or charts and the vibe was so strong. These cats can lose themselves and understand the nuances of consistent groove and ambient playing as well as soloing.”
I Forgot What You Taught Me is the first of three releases that Razdaz will release in the coming months. On March 25, guitarist and oudist Amos Hoffman will release Evolution, his debut for the label, and on May 6 Cohen will follow up his 2007 live recording, As Is …. Live At The Blue Note with Gently Disturbed.
More info: razdazrecordz.com
Jordan was a dyed-in-the-wool bebopper whose formative musical experiences were with Charlie Parker.
Aug 12, 2025 10:24 AM
Sheila Jordan, a vocalist who was celebrated for her scatting and lyric-improvising abilities, died Aug. 11 at her home…
“I don’t guess I’m going to excite you; I know I’m going to excite you,” Palmieri said in an August 1994 DownBeat feature.
Aug 12, 2025 10:33 AM
Famed Latin jazz composer, bandleader and pianist Eddie Palmieri passed away in his New Jersey home on Aug. 6. He was…
“What I got from Percy was the dignity of playing the bass,” Buster Williams said of Percy Heath.
Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
Don and Maureen Sickler serve as the keepers of engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s flame at Van Gelder Studio, perhaps the most famous recording studio in jazz history.
Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
The Free Slave, Cosmos Nucleus and Sunset To Dawn: three classic Muse albums being reissued this fall by Timer Traveler Recordings.
Aug 26, 2025 1:32 PM
Record producer and “Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman has launched his next endeavor, the archival label Time Traveler…