Scott Jeppesen: Wonders

Ancient history and current times collide on the sophomore release from California-based tenor saxophonist Scott Jeppesen: with Wonders, he offers up an intelligent, semi-programmatic look at the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World as seen through a modern jazz lens. Jeppesen, a once-upon-a-time prot... [ read more ]

Ken Vandermark Resonance Ensemble: Double Arc

For the most part, we only follow the trajectory of an artist's career many years after his work has been completed. Looking back at the career of m: Miles Davis, you can now play connect-the-dots from bebop to m: Gil Evans to modal jazz to electric Miles. Certainly, back in th... [ read more ]

Five Play: Live at the Deer Head Inn

I haven't been to the Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania in years. But if I make it there, I hope to time my visit to coincide with m: Five Play at thee: Deer Head Inn, which bills itself as the "oldest continuously running jazz club in the country." Long may it prosper, for t... [ read more ]

Didier Verna: Roots and Leaves

Don't judge a book a book by its cover or a recording by its first track. "Old Times" is certainly that, a paean to the swinging age of the Quintet of the Hot Club of France and guitarist m: Didier Verna displays his considerable talent with a nimble solo, as do each of the other members... [ read more ]

CA(C)sar Cardoso: Bottom Shelf

"AlA(C)m" starts unceremoniously, almost mid-tune, tenor sax and guitar evoking a sultry m: Stan Getz mood. The labyrinthine structure of the title track adds to its appeal and benefits from strong playing with a feisty guitar solo. m: CA(C)sar Cardoso's soprano on "A'nica" evince... [ read more ]

Dave Douglas Quintet: Brazen Heart

Leading a quintet whose debut recording, Be Still (Greenleaf Music, 2012) was an elegiac song cycle dedicated to his late mother, m: Dave Douglas' Brazen Heart, sadly, finds the trumpeter / composer in mourning once again. Damon Douglas, Dave's brother, passed away in June 2015. Yet, the... [ read more ]

Double Basse: This Is Not Art

Although the group moniker might suggest two bull fiddles, in fact it describes the French pairing of bassist m: Benjamin Duboc and contrabass clarinetist m: Jean-Luc Petit. No strangers to each other (Petit appears on the bassist's leadership debut under his own name on Prim... [ read more ]