Jeff Albert

The new Magnetic Ear disc is out. I don’t have copies directly for sale, but you can hear samples and buy them here: Louisiana Music Factory – Live At The Saturn Bar by Magnetic Ear

We had a fun time with the Saturn Bar run last summer, and the disc is a good representation of what the hang was like. I also did a good bit of the technical work on this disc, and I am very proud of it.

From the Open Ears Music Mash Up v.1

(l to r) Nick Sanzenbach, Dave Cappello, Jonathan Freilich, and Jeff

Richard Kamins | See! Hear!: Music from Here and There:

“Albert leads a Quintet featuring Tim Sullivan (alto sax), Robin Boudreaux (tenor sax), Nobu Ozaki (bass) and Dave Capello (drums) through 2 sets of blues-drenched, soul stirring music. Recorded just last week (November 7th) ast the opening concert of the Open Ears Music Series at the Blue Nile in the Crescent City, the 2 sets have separate personalities. Set 1 strikes this listener as a bluesy excursion into Ornette Coleman country. Capello’s drums really push, at times sounding like as big-band player driving the ensemble and other times when he suggest the tempo and colors with his cymbals. Most of the music flows naturally, with plenty of dynamic shading, solo time, and occasional Ellington-like ensemble harmonies. The ‘front line’ often has ‘conversations’ but never steps on each other’s musical toes.
Set 2 has more of the same interplay, with a little more ‘fire’ from the saxophonists and harder rhythms. Albert is generous with solo space so one hears plenty of Sullivan’s keening alto and Boudreaux’s rich yet gruff tenor sounds. Albert’s sound hints at ‘gutbucket’ soul, at the funky tones of Albert Mangelsdorf and Ray Anderson, and the smoother stylings of Ellington trombonist Lawrence Brown, often in the space of a single solo. He’s his own man and the music reflects his ‘universal’ taste. “

Here is a pic that Justin took of the quintet at the first Open Ears concert.

l to r: Robin Boudreaux, Tim Sullivan, and Jeff (Nobu Ozaki and Dave Cappello were heard but not seen from this angle)