Sunday Music Muse Day - Jake Hertzog, John Stein

This Sunday Music Muse day find me encountering a typical Rochester morning. Up at 7:30 am to light snow, followed by heavy blowing snow result in near whiteout conditions. Ten minutes later bright sunshine, and still cold as the North Pole. You got to love it. Nothing better to do than to do a little house cleaning and listen to some new tunes.  I did just that with two guitarist who were new to me. I previewed them at the record shop and decided to give them a try.  First up, Jake Hertzog Throwback, it's in the vain of the post Pat Metheny new generation of jazz guitarists, like Gilad Hekselman and Matthew Stevens.  An online search describes him as "a critically-acclaimed guitarist, composer and educator whose music transcends genres ranging from jazz and jazz/rock to contemporary classical."  Throwback is solid outing, with able assist by Randy Brecker (Grammy Award winner with Brecker Bros. and countless others) on trumpet and flugelhorn.  The liner notes are by Bill Milkowski, who. I think, is friends with some of my musician friends.  Hertzog has six CDs out, so I'll have to keep an eye out for them.

Next up is and another shot in the dark for me is John Stein Color Tones. Again, the cover art and packaging caught my eye and I'm always on the hunt for new guitarists.  I quick online search reveals he is a "Internationally renowned jazz guitarist... born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri USA ...His talent for and love of music ultimately earned him a faculty position at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he is a Professor in the Harmony Department.  John Stein is an experienced teacher, clinician, recording artist, and author. John has performed as a leader or a sideman with some of the world’s finest jazz acts, and his compositions and performances cover the spectrum of jazz styles."  He has 14 releases to his credit, still I've never come across him before.  Color Tones is very enjoyable, easy swinging set of all original tunes, except for one.  I'll definitely pick up more of his other CDs, in fact there was another one at the record shop I'll pick up next time.

John Stein's cover art  make me miss the LP sized graphics, worth framing and hanging on a wall. Still the music the thing to enjoy.