Prasanna: All Terrain Guitar

As a solo artist, Prasanna (Raga Metal Conversations, Raga Bop Trio) doesn't record that often, but when he does, it's usually an impressive musical statement, incited by his ferocious licks and unique convergence of Indian Carnatic music with a Western muse. For example, check out his previous outi... [ read more ]

Fidel Morales: OmA-o

There is a saying, that Cuba and Puerto Rico are two wings from the same dove. This could not be more evident than in the musical collaborations and cultural exchanges which have historically united both islands, and their people. m: Fidel Morales is a native Cuban who since 2006 has sec... [ read more ]

Bounce Trio: Contrasts

At the heart of things, the Bounce Trio's Contrasts is a set of good time organ jazz, coming out of the tradition of m: Jimmy Smith, m: Jack McDuff, m: Dr. Lonnie Smith, three organists who emerged in the 50s and 60s, riding a highly engaging urban soul jazz wave. Bu... [ read more ]

John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia: Paco and John - Live at Montreux 1987

It's truly a shame that, all too often, artists with diverse careers become pigeon-holed, defined by the primary genre in which they first achieved notoriety. Take guitarist John McLaughlin, for instance. Ask most jazz fans about him and what will first come out of most of their mouths will include... [ read more ]

Black Art Jazz Collective: Black Art Jazz Collective - Presented By The Side Door Jazz Club

The Black Art Jazz Collective was founded in 2013 by saxophonist m: Wayne Escoffery, trumpeter m: Jeremy Pelt and drummer m: Johnathan Blake, with bassist m: Dwayne Burno added shortly thereafter, and further expanded by trombonist {{m: James Burton = 7... [ read more ]

Marina Albero: The Sweetness of the Edge

Marina Albero burst onto the Seattle jazz scene in April of 2014, playing a brilliant set on vibraphone in a duo with flamenco jazz master, pianist m: Chano Dominguez. That evening we were not only introduced to her music, but to our new neighbor, as she was moving her family to Seattle...

Dave Stryker: Eight Track II

Sequels are a tricky business, often playing to expectations and hewing close to the formula(s) that helped spawn them in the first place. For many, for those very reasons, they're automatically viewed as a slam dunk, aiding in the creation and extension of a franchise entertainment experience for g... [ read more ]

Kevin Brady: Ensam

The trans-Atlantic trio of drummer/composer Kevin Brady, m: Bill Carrothers and m: Dave Redmond first came together in 2006, since when it has toured more frequently than it's recorded. Ensam (LRP Music, 2016), the group's third outing, following Common Ground (The Livingroom... [ read more ]

Jimmy O'Connell Sixtet: Arrhythmia

Trombonist Jimmy O'Connell has been slowly and steadily climbing the ladder of jazz success since leaving his Detroit home and arriving in New York in 2009. Over the course of his seven years in the Big Apple, O'Connell has had the opportunity to work with leading lights like trumpeter {{m: Randy Br... [ read more ]

Steven Kirby: Illuminations

Illuminations--guitarist Steven Kirby's third album, following Point Of Balance (Challenge Records, 1998) and North Lights (Challenge Records, 2003)--is both true to previous form and highly expansive. Kirby uses elements of the sonic palette(s) that helped to color his earlier work, referencing the... [ read more ]

Take Five with Jennifer Bellor

About Jennifer Bellor: Las Vegas-based composer Jennifer Bellor blends contemporary jazz, classical, and popular styles. Her works have been performed by Washington National Opera, Seattle Women's Jazz Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Washington National Opera, Eastman New Jazz Ensemble, UNL...

Ron Carter: Always at the Center of the Action

Great jazz bassists can always be identified by the fact that you really listen to them! A good jazz bassist keeps good time and gets the chords right, but a great bassist, going as far back as m: Jimmy Blanton, m: Scott LaFaro, m: Charlie Haden, or {{m: Jimmy Garris...

: Piano and More: Rich Halley 5, Casey Golden Trio, Jeff Denson Quartet, Fred Hersch Trio, Peter Erskine Trio, and Sirius Quartet

An assortment of striking jazz/improvisation recordings. Three of them are piano trios--each with their own unique character--but two of them have no piano, or any other harmonic instrument. Rich Halley 5 The Outlier e: Pine Eagle Records 2016 Tenor saxophonist m: Rich Halley... [ read more ]

Take Five with Javier Perez Sandoval of Carrera Quinta

Meet Javier Perez Sandoval: Javier Perez Sandoval's Carrera Quinta is a Colombian sextet established in 2006 by composers Javier and Francy Montalvo. The band blends contemporary jazz with traditional Colombian music from the Andean region, creating an unique, intense and powerful sound. After recor...

Michael Gamble: And the Rhythm Serenaders

Nothing deep or inscrutable here, simply good, clean, appetizing swing served with gusto by bassist m: Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders. While the size and makeup of the group varies from track to track, there's no doubt that everyone on the premises is in the proper frame of min... [ read more ]

Blameful Isles: Strange But Not Entirely Unattractive

Essentially a one-man-band based in Sweden, Blameful Isles is one of many artists who are actively rediscovering and re-processing the sounds of the early jazz-rock movement of the 1970s. Overall, the ongoing re-vitalization of jazz-rock and fusion has been a really good thing. For audiences of a ce... [ read more ]

Warren Wolf: Convergence

The paucity of jazz vibraphonists may be due in part to the complexity of mastering an instrument that's like a hybrid of drums, percussion and piano. Notwithstanding, one of the instrument's brightest stars is 36 year old jny: Baltimore native Warren Wolf, a rising virtuoso whose form and techn... [ read more ]

Take Five With Brandon Goodwin of B's Bees

About Brandon Goodwin: Montreal group B's Bees is a hard swinging jazz outfit known for writing compelling original music and playing high energy interpretations of the music of past masters such as The Jazz Messengers, m: Thelonious Monk and m: Charlie Haden. Comprised of five...

Take Five With Patrick Zimmerli

About Patrick Zimmerli New York-and Paris-based composer/saxophonist Patrick Zimmerli writes a sophisticated yet approachable hybrid of contemporary classical and jazz music. Recent collaborators include m: Joshua Redman, m: Brad Mehldau, Brooklyn Rider String Quartet, {{m: Br...

Dave Liebman and Michael Kaplan: How Does the Brain Make All that Jazz?

With recent advances in neuroscience, the relationship between music and the brain has become the subject of new research and generated a great deal of public interest. Best sellers like Oliver Sacks' Musicophilia (Knopf, 2007) and Daniel Levitin's This Is Your Brain On Music (Dutton Penguin, 2006)...

Quinsin Nachoff: Flux

Saxophonist m: Quinsin Nachoff sounds right at home on Mythology Records--saxophonist/producer/provocateur m: David Binney's label. Everything on Mythology has a intensity and modernity, a brashness and in-your-face confidence of delivery, whether it's Binney as the leader, or... [ read more ]

Refraction: Inerrant Space

Refraction is an Australian piano trio led by drummer m: Chris Broomhead, who also composed most of the music. He is joined by pianist m: Brenton Foster (who contributes two tunes) and double bassist Jordan Tarento. Inerrant Space definitely does not sound like a "drummer's a... [ read more ]

Jim Ridl: Opening Doors in the Big Apple

Something fresh and vital is in the air when a truly creative musician is about to release a new album. Jim Ridl's Door in a Field: Volume II: Songs of the Green River, an independent release, is full of surprises and rich in musical ideas. The album is set to be released in early Fall, and the musi...

Afro Bop Alliance Big Band: Revelation

Revelation is the sixth recording by drummer m: Joe McCarthy's sixteen-year-old Afro Bop Alliance (the last three by the big band after three by smaller incarnations), the first that has come this way for review. As McCarthy's stalwart ensemble is based in the Washington, D.C. area, the... [ read more ]

Michael Shrieve's Spellbinder: Michael Shrieve's Spellbinder

Drummer Michael Shrieve's Spellbinder is not your garden variety group. It's a beast of band that slams, seduces, grooves, jams, and rocks in high gear. Should we expect anything less from the rhythmic motor behind Santana? While Shrieve is best known as the driving force behind that legendary outfi... [ read more ]

Yoni Kretzmer: Five

NYC-based Israeli saxophonist m: Yoni Kretzmer has pulled together a dynamite cast for the debut of his quintet. Kretzmer's thoughtfully arranged compositions engender classic small group free jazz by what comes across as a little big band. It's the sort of session you might have found o... [ read more ]

Take Five With Edgars Cirulis

About Edgars Cirulis: Edgars Cirulis is an up and coming pianist and composer from Latvia. This year he released his first album Ainavisti - with a group he created and is leading since 2014. Edgars is currently studying at Jazepa Vitola Latvian Music Academy, doing his second year of bachelor studi...

Chicago Jazz Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble: Havana Blue

With diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba warming, the chances for musical reciprocity have escalated apace. As one who has long admired the music of our neighboring island the the south, Chicago-based trumpeter / composer m: Orbert Davis was quick to seize the initiative, spend... [ read more ]

Faiz Lamouri: Wonders

One of the many pleasures of listening to jazz is heard in the mystical connection between a musician and their instrument exampled in saxophonist FaA z Lamouri's debut Wonders. The Moroccan born/French saxophonist plays with songbird quality--sumptuous tone and darting flight paths which speak of h... [ read more ]

Will Calhoun: Celebrating Elvin Jones

Properly paying tribute to a figure like the late m: Elvin Jones is about more than aping a style of drumming and referencing songs; it's about acknowledging a specific life force, how it fueled the music, and how it lives on in those who Jones influenced on the bandstand, in the studio... [ read more ]

Dominique PifarA(C)ly Quartet: TracA(C) Provisoire

French violinist m: Dominique PifarA(C)ly--last heard solo on Time Before And Time After (ECM, 2015)--leads a quartet into that uncharted territory between improvisation and composition. The quartet was founded in the spring of 2014, but the players had many associations before that. Pifar... [ read more ]

: Latin Jazz Roundup: Mike Freeman ZonaVibe; Terceto Kali; Will Jarvis; Livio Almeida; Sergio Pereira

A wide variety of recent Latin jazz releases. Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and flamenco influences are all represented. Mike Freeman ZonaVibe Blue Tjade e: VOF Recordings 2015 Vibraphonist m: Mike Freeman leads his ZonaVibe group through an exciting program of Latin jazz originals o... [ read more ]

Dinosaur: Together, As One

Dinosaur is a new British jazz "supergroup" of sorts, featuring up and coming virtuoso trumpeter Laura Jurd and keyboardist extraordinaire Elliot Galvin. It's no surprise that Jurd received the United Kingdom's Parliamentary Jazz Award for 'Instrumentalist of the Year' in 2015. Galvin released his s... [ read more ]

Steve Turre: Colors for the Masters

When it comes to the contemporary trombone artists, there are two schools of exploration. m: Steve Turre is an advocate of the more melodic school of which elder champions include Curtis Fuller and J.J. Johnson. The more ebullient and bop-inflected side of things has its greatest propone... [ read more ]

Peter Kuhn: Three New Releases from Peter Kuhn

Clarinetist m: Peter Kuhn came up in the 1970s. In those days, one could count the number of modern jazz clarinet specialists on one hand: m: John Carter, m: Perry Robinson, m: Theo Jorgensmann, m: Alvin Batiste and--if you include the bass cl... [ read more ]

Andy Fusco: U.S. Jazz From Denmark: Six Recent SteepleChase Releases

The opportunity to listen to six recently released discs on the venerable SteepleChase label (and the SteepleChase LookOut branch) is a little like reading an anthology of short stories by distinguished authors from a particular year or period. You get a hearty helping of vital, mature voices, most... [ read more ]

Jeremy Monteiro: Jeremy Monteiro and Eugene Pao: To Paris With Love, A Tribute to the Genius of Michel Legrand / Jeremy Monteiro and Jazz Brazileiro: Brazilian Dreams

m: Jeremy Monteiro, Singapore's aptly titled King of Swing, is celebrating forty years as a professional jazz pianist and composer in 2016. These two releases span the last twelve months and find Monteiro in two quite distinct settings. The first recording, To Paris with Love: A Tribute... [ read more ]

Anthony Branker and Imagine: Beauty Within

The "Rising Star" status isn't confined to fresh music school graduates. Dr. m: Anthony Branker, Educator--who, for twenty-seven years, was engaged in a big way with Princeton University's jazz program--has achieved a recent "rising star" tag as a composer. This after releasing seven top... [ read more ]