New Records

So I've picked up some new stuff over the past couple of weeks. I haven't gotten a chance to digest the stuff yet, but I plan to on the plane this weekend.

Ray Lamontagne is a singer/songwriter who was recommended to me by my buddy Phil (the guitarist with Rachael Yamagata, they opened for him this summer). Trouble is his first CD and what I've heard of it is really good. He has a roughness to his voice that I really dig. So far all of the songs have the same vibe though.

I am a longtime fan of Lonnie Plaxico's. His record Emerge is one of my favorites and was an inspiration when I was writing the music for my record. This new one, Live at the Jazz Standard features a young band and arrangements of some jazz tunes that I'm anxious to hear.

KanYEWest-Late Registration. While I kind of dug his comments about Bush even though they were a little off-target and ill-timed, that is not the reason I bought this record. Producer and musical savant John Brion produced a lot of the tracks, he's so creative I can't wait to check out what he did.

Drew Gress is one of the most creative and solid bassists in New York right now in my opinion. I believe this is his first record, 7 Black Butterflies. I can't wait to hear what his compositional style is like compared to his contemporaries Scott Colley and Reid Anderson.