Ariel Pocock: Touchstone

What are the touchstones of jazz? Harmonic acuity? Internalization of swing aesthetics and advanced rhythmic language(s)? The ability to quickly parse a composition in real time? An understanding of the historical framework of the music? The ability to create and speak one's own mind using any numbe... [ read more ]

AndrA(C)a Wood: Kaleidoscope

m: AndrA(C)a Wood presents her second album as a leader with, Kaleidoscope. Devotees and newcomers alike should feel equally welcome when listening to Kaleidoscope. Wood has done an excellent job of compiling a twelve song program that is accessible in the deep history of jazz along with h... [ read more ]

Grateful Dead: Dick's Pick's Volume Three: Pembroke Pines, Florida 5/22/77

Given what's ensued--beyond the scope of the band itself-in the wake of the Grateful Dead's very first archive series, 'Dick's Picks,' it's hard to believe but well to remember this ongoing project had comparatively modest, humble beginnings. An offhanded conversation between bassist Phil Lesh and u... [ read more ]

Maria Schneider on "The Thompson Fields"

m: Maria Schneider is one of the most influential artists on the international jazz scene. Her open minded approach has led her to become a referent as a composer without being tagged to a specific genre. In the jazz panorama, she receives recognition for her impeccable, beautiful and mea...

Ben Monder: Amorphae

Veteran guitarist m: Ben Monder is at his most experimental and atmospheric in this collection of largely improvised performances, his sixth album as a leader, and his first for ECM. The genesis of the album came from Monder's 2010 duet sessions with m: Paul Motian, sadly abbre... [ read more ]

Matthew Muneses: Threshold

The fast-paced "Speech Perception" offers a dramatic and modal introduction to this album. Tenor sax and trumpet play vibrant solos all underpinned by the rhythm section and solid piano chords, redolent of m: McCoy Tyner. The mood changes with "Simple Times" which presents an ensemble op... [ read more ]

De Beren Gieren: One Mirrors Many

Still looking to breathe life into the venerable piano trio format, Belgian threesome De Beren Gieren (The Bears Shriek would be one translation) present their fourth album following The Detour Fish (Clean Feed, 2014), A Raveling (De Beren Records, 2013) and Wirklich Welt So (El Negocito, 2012). Lea... [ read more ]