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Album Review: Sasha's Bloc - "Heart on Fire" (8/10)

51k9VzilBxL._A homage to jazz age sultriness, swagger
 and swing, but with brilliant originals rather
 than tired retreads of standards, this glorious, multi-faceted, polycultural collective—
burning up jazz clubs in L.A. since 2012–is
 the lush brainchild of Russian-born bassist
 and composer/lyricist Alex Gershman. With
 Jane Monheit and Take 6’s Alvin Chea complementing the core “nonet,” Sasha’s Bloc’s sophomore spin winks slyly at Sinatra and Ellington while hitting cabarets, blues clubs and Dixieland-drenched streets of New Orleans during a spontaneous musical travelogue. – Jonathan Widran