Jordan Young: Jazz Jukebox

The predominance of the jukebox in social situations is essentially a thing of the past. But how much has really changed? Those once-ubiquitous machines that brought musical happiness to the good people in corner bars and diners throughout the land may have vanished, but the concept they put forward... [ read more ]

Nick Brignola: Big Horn, Strong Words

This article first appeared in Coda Magazine in 1978. With the possible exception of torture, there has never been an art form more maligned than jazz. So, it is inevitable that every once in a while there is an exceptional musician who finds that the financial rewards of being a jazz musician are t...

Frank Kimbrough: Solstice

Gravitas and weightlessness may seem like odd compeers, but both are ill at ease with one another and beautifully in league in the music of pianist Frank Kimbrough. On Solstice--the latest of many fine trio dates in Kimbrough's discography, and his first release on the Pirouet imprint--Kimbrough doe... [ read more ]

Nils Petter MolvA|r: Buoyancy

More than thirty years ago, Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter MolvA|r had left his mark as an exceptional improviser with his ECM Records debut on Masquarelo's Bande A Part (1985). Those beginnings--in the company of Nordic jazz legends--led MolvA|r to an ongoing process of nurturing his musical sens... [ read more ]

Wolfgang Muthspiel: Rising Grace

Austrian guitarist m: Wolfgang Muthspiel made a big splash early in his career, playing with vibraphonist m: Gary Burton and recording for PolyGram Records (including 1990's The Promise, produced by Burton). Since founding his own label Material Records in 2000 he has had a som... [ read more ]

Take Five With Zachary Serleth

About Zachary Serleth Primarily a bassist and banjo player, Zach Serleth has developed a deep love of vintage music that is reflected in his current band, Tongue in Cheek. The group's 2016 album, Mobtown Strutters Ball, pays tribute to the jny: New Orleans jazz tradition, covering tunes written...

Jim Rattigana€(TM)s Pavillon: Strong Tea

First recorded in 2010 and released in 2012 this reissue marks Jim Rattigan's Pavillon 2016/17 tour of the UK. For anyone unfamiliar with Rattigan's work, in addition to several albums released under his own name, he has performed with many leading figures in the jazz world including Michael Brecker... [ read more ]

Clay Giberson: Pastures

Pianist m: Clay Giberson has a fifteen year resume of fine recordings on Seattle's Origin Records label. The discs are, for the most part, solo and trio outings, with the trio sets appearing under his own name or that of his long-standing Upper Left Trio. Some examples: Spaceton's Approac... [ read more ]

Skyjack: Skyjack

Don't let the name fool you here. There's no hostile takeover at twenty-thousand feet, no violent occupation of a specific vehicle, and no saboteur to wreak havoc on this voyage. Skyjack is a cooperative venture that's about the art of creation and community, not the co-opting of a certain airspace... [ read more ]

Donder: Still

A tiny brick chapel in the gloom of dusk, double doors flung open revealing a bright interior of the edifice in the foreground of dark, dense foliage, on the cover of Still, the debut CD release of the Belgium-based piano trio, Donder. The imagery portrays to perfection the music of the group. Refle... [ read more ]

Marco Sanguinetti: CA^3mo Desaparecer Completamente

The first time that m: Brad Mehldau covered Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" on Largo (Warner Bros, 2002), the idea of jazz interpretations of alternative rock songs was a bit more of a novelty even if a concept that Mehldau had long embraced. That said, taking on a double-disc set dedicate... [ read more ]

Jarrett Cherner Trio: Expanding Heart

Forget about "the art of the trio." It's undoubtedly a topic worth discussing when you look at this album, and one that automatically comes up when you look at any piano-centric threesome, but it's a phrase that's been overused. Instead, let's talk about the heart of the trio--how it beats, what it... [ read more ]

The Core Trio featuring Matthew Shipp: The Core Trio Live, featuring Matthew Shipp

What we have here is no-nonsense free improvisation where the track titles are chronologically functional but the music has a mind of its own. This is the Core Trio, who in direct opposition to that kind of pragmatic naming convention, have consistently performed and recorded as a small combo with a... [ read more ]

Ravi Shankar: In Hollywood, 1971

A real treat for fans of legendary sitarist m: Ravi Shankar, this is not only a live recording of a rare morning concert, but also an "at home" performance Shankar did for some special friends at his residence on Highland Avenue in Hollywood, California. He spoke about his distress over t... [ read more ]

Craig Hartley: Books On Tape, Vol. 2 - Standard Edition

Pianist Craig Hartley's debut--Books On Tape, Vol. 1 (Self Produced, 2013)--focused on autobiographically-based originals, with only a single cover in the mix. Now, for the sequel, Hartley flips the script. Books On Tape, Vol. II-Standard Edition is all about the covers, with only one Hartley-penned... [ read more ]

Chefa Alonso and Tony Marsh: Goodbye Red Rose (2008/9)

An air of nostalgia and remembrance pervades this album, starting with its title and cover photograph which portrays the duo of Spanish-born soprano saxophonist Chefa Alonso and Lancaster-born drummer m: Tony Marsh on stage at The Red Rose in Finsbury Park, north London, on 20th January... [ read more ]

Honey Ear Trio: Swivel

The opening track of m: Allison Miller's new Honey Ear Trio recording, "Arby," had me singing the lyrics to "Heavy Metal Drummer," the 2002 Wilco hit song ..."She fell in love with the drummer/Another and another/She fell in love/I miss the innocence I've known/Playing KISS covers, beaut... [ read more ]

Jacob Anderskov: Two Sides of Stunt: Jacob Anderskov and Jacob Christoffersen

Stunt Records is the most prominent jazz label in Denmark, and for a long time they have released high quality jazz, but other genres have also caught the attention of label heads, SA ren Friis and Peter Littauer. However, there is a decidedly mainstream appeal to many of their releases and the voic... [ read more ]

Paul Kelly: Paul Kelly: Seven Sonnets and A Song and Death's Dateless Night

Paul Kelly is one of our most brilliant songwriters in large part because he is so courageous in taking an unconventional approach to his creative endeavors. In the last few years alone, since his last recording of original material under his own name, Spring And Fall (Dramatico, 2012) he's undertak... [ read more ]

Michael Aadal Group: Pomona

Proof that great Americana music can come from unexpected places--Norway, in this case. Pomona Avenue in Fullerton, California was the original location of the famed Fender factory. Guitarist m: Michael Aadal used only solid body guitars on this album--a Stratocaster and a Telecaster, th... [ read more ]

Stephan Crump: Stephan Crump's Rhombal

Often times, a jazz performance without a chordal instrument, a guitar or piano, is considered to be flying without a net. Exciting, but often without aim. It routinely relies on just one powerful figure to command the proceedings. That is, unless the ensemble is configured under egalitarian princip... [ read more ]

The Richard Sorce Project: Closer Than Before

Lush Brazilian-flavored Latin jazz from composer/pianist/arranger m: Richard Sorce and his nine-piece group consisting of a five-piece rhythm section, a three-piece horn section and vocalists (augmented by occasional horn and string sections). An accomplished musician and academic, Sorce... [ read more ]

Artiom Krikunov / Ruslan Tustanovskiy: Untitled

In 1983, guitarist m: Joe Pass and tenor saxophone legend m: Zoot Sims went into a studio and recorded the impressive album Blues for Two. Among those who were most impressed was another guitarist, Artiom Krikunov, who was inspired to pay homage to Messrs. Pass and Sims by rec... [ read more ]

ELEW (Eric Lewis): And to the Republic

Appearances on television (America's Got Talent) and information conferences (TED Talks) have labeled pianist Eric Lewis (aka ELEW) as the next crossover artist who boldly shunned the establishment combining pop and rock music with improvisation. Yet underneath that flamboyant stage persona is the h... [ read more ]

Andrew Downing: Otterville

Canada's Downing clan hails from the Ontario tobacco belt town, Otterville. m: Andrew Downing--bassist/cellist/composer--home-ported in Toronto now, celebrates the familial stomping grounds with a two CD set laid down by a sextet, plus guests, of an unusual instrumentation. It's an immer... [ read more ]

Wadada Leo Smith: America's National Parks

The U.S. National Park Service celebrates its centennial in 2016 (it was created in 1916 when Congress passed the Organic Act). There are many celebrations planned, but few are likely to match the power and individuality of m: Wadada Leo Smith's epic six-part suite. Over the two discs (a... [ read more ]

Gwendolyn Dease: Beguiled

While this fourth album from marimbist Gwendolyn Dease is rightly seeing release on the classical arm of Origin Records, it wouldn't have been completely out of place if it had landed on the jazz side of that imprint. Dease bypasses contemporary marimba fare and late twentieth century favorites from... [ read more ]

Yes: Yes: Tales from Topographic Oceans (Definitive Edition)

It was the album that, based on challenges during the five months it took to record, should really never have come to pass. It was the album that broke a three studio album/one live recording winning streak of increasing critical acclaim. It was the album, when at least for some critics, suggested t... [ read more ]

Michael Blanco: Spirit Forward

Spirit Forward carries several connotations in its name and sound. First there's the overt reference to bartender terminology and the way it connects to the music presented by the feisty and flexible foursome of bassist Michael Blanco, saxophonist m: John Ellis, pianist {{m: Kevin Hays... [ read more ]

Tom Harrison: Unfolding In Tempo

London-based alto saxophonist Tom Harrison leads a tight and imaginative band on Unfolding In Tempo, a live album of "reflections on the Ellington/Strayhorn Canon." After three years intense study of Ellington and Strayhorn, Harrison has selected a mix of tunes that display the breadth of that canon... [ read more ]

Steve Lawson: Steve Lawson: A Crack Where the Light Gets In / The Way Home

British bassist m: Steve Lawson likes to tag his music as "the soundtrack to the day you wish you'd had." That's not to say that it's bright and cheerful all the time (though that's nice when it happens); rather it's colorful and evocative enough to make each respective kind of day a lit... [ read more ]

Rale Micic: Night Music

On Night Music, his fourth album as leader of his own group, m: Rale Micic (pronounced Rah-lay Mee-cheech), a Serbian-born guitarist who has lived and gigged in New York City for more than fifteen years, pays tribute to the music of the Hungarian classical composer Bela Bartok who, as it... [ read more ]

Haakon Graf/Erik Smith/ Per Mathisen: Sunrain

"Sunrain" is a common Scandinavian weather phenomenon: after weeks of rain, there are often clouds with showers pouring down as the sun peers through the other side. Keyboardist/composer m: Haakon Graf considers it "a metaphor for the fabric of life, a place between a smile and a tear, li... [ read more ]

Delfeayo Marsalis: In Jazz We Trust: On The Politically Inspired Work Of Delfeayo Marsalis and Ted Nash

The current state of American politics--a veritable cesspool that makes reality television seem sane by comparison--leaves little to feel good about. Moral compasses are skewed, elected officials bicker like fractious toddlers, and candidates ranging from the lunatic sybarite variety to the bumptiou... [ read more ]

Thollem McDonas: Meeting At The Parting Place

Coming at improvisational music from the classical realm, pianist m: Thollem McDonas remains resolutely outside of the main stream of the jazz world. Primarily inspired by, as he puts it in his liner notes to Meeting at the Parting Place, ..."European concert music from the Renaissance t... [ read more ]

Fabio Torres -- FA bio Torres: The Making of Modern Brazilian Jazz

When such a vast style as Latin Jazz is explored by musicians of various nationalities, when rhythmic elements are combined, when a portion of good taste and brilliance is added to this mixture, the result could not be different: The Making of Modern Brazilian Jazz. Fabio Torres is a great example o...