Josh Levinson is reviewed by This is Books Music

THIS IS BOOKS MUSIC
by:  John Book

REVIEW: Josh Levinson Sextet’s “Chauncey Street”

Upon the first ten seconds of hearing the title track of Chauncey Street (self-released), you know you’re going to be up for a rip-roaring time. The Josh Levinson Sextet play their music as if they were meant to do so, and while I know a lot of people tend to take that saying without care, it is true for Levinson and the rest of the guys. The title track may bring people to the streets of New Orleans, while “Wired” may take listeners to Miami or perhaps in Americas more South. “Heat” gets funky and shows a bit of what Levinton left (and had taken with him) after The Whle Damn Family, and I feel that’s what makes this album works: it sounds like family, where everything gels like saliva on a cackalack. The tribute to Avishai Cohen in “Avishai” is beautiful and may hopefully bring people to the namesake who may have never approached his music before.

The musicians here (Levinson on trumpet and flugelhorn, plus Brian Fishler on drums, Peter Brendler on bass, Kenny Shanker on tenor and soprano saxophones, Noah Bluess on trombone, Jeb Patton on piano, along with pianist Mike Eckroth who sits in on “180 Degrees”) are just superb, and with this album recorded and engineered by Peter Karl at his Brooklyn studio and the final recording mastered by Fred Kevorkian, you’re hearing album that honors its influences but also hopes to become an influence for all who choose to hear this. Highly recommended.