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How do you make a comeback to a music scene that has gone through so many radical changes since your departure? The answer, as Christopher Hollyday has discovered, involves a combination of focus, perseverance, and the will to keep moving forward. In 1993, after releasing four well-regarded albums for the RCA/Novus label and touring the world for more than 200 nights a year, Novus closed for business. At age 23, the saxophonist went back to school, got married, moved to San Diego and taught school for 25 years. He started performing again in 2013 and recorded his first album in 26 years in 2018. “Dialogue” is the eagerly-awaited second chapter of Hollyday’s comeback.
Guitarist and composer Albare was born in Morocco and grew up in Israel and France. Although he studied at the musical conservatory in his hometown in Israel for two years starting at age 8, he was mostly self-taught. These days, as Albare has lost his central vision faculties due to a genetic illness, his playing is completely by ear. In 1972, he discovered the sound of Tom Jobim while watching Marcel Camus’ cult film, “Orpheus Negro.” The haunting melodies and unique compositions left a profound impression on the young guitarist and inspired Albare to study and play the melodic style for which he is now known. For his 12th album as a leader, “Albare Plays Jobim.”
Also this week, reedman Eric Alexander is backed by three of his favorite colleagues and the lush sounds of a string orchestra, bringing his lyrical side to the fore on “Eric Alexander with Strings”;
guitarist and New York native Frank Kohl, who is now a fixture on the Seattle jazz scene, unveils his fifth disc as a leader, “The Crossing”;
and pianist Aaron Diehl’s new CD, “The Vagabond,” is thoroughly a jazz recording with clear references made to his background and simultaneous career as a classical performer.