Nikolett Pankovits: Magia

Vocalist m: Nikolett Pankovits was born in Hungary, but she found her musical direction in New York City melding Hungarian songs with Latin American rhythms. She has a lovely warm voice, with almost no vibrato. Magia (the Spanish and Hungarian word for magic) is an eclectic mix of tradit... [ read more ]

Glen Phillips: Swallowed by the New

It's not wholly fair to say Glen Phillips' is the sound of Toad the We Sprocket (with whom he still works when not going solo). But it was usually his insinuating voice and engaging way with words that shaped the group's sound and those virtues are readily apparent on this exotic sounding record Swa... [ read more ]

Allison Miller: Allison Miller and Honey Ear Trio: Lean; Swivel

Alison Miller may well be the renaissance woman of modern jazz. High-profile mainstream gigs like appearing with the band on Late Night with Seth Myers hardly hint at the diverse complexity of her collaborations and work under own name, most conspicuously including the band Boom Tic Boom. She parses... [ read more ]

Bill Cunliffe: A Day In the Life

Grammy award-winning arranger and pianist m: Bill Cunliffe has been on the cutting edge of large ensemble arranging and jazz trio performance for the past few decades. An avid composer, performer, film scorer, educator and author of several jazz piano books (and online workshops), Cunliff...

Carol Robbins: Taylor Street

In the context of jazz, the harp is a rare instrument indeed and there are proportionately few players in the field. Two exponents of this rare art are m: Alice Coltrane and the British harpist David Snell whose library composition "International Flight" is a jazz harp classic. A third is... [ read more ]

Jasmine Lovell-Smith's Towering Poppies: Yellow Red Blue

Soprano saxophonist/composer m: Jasmine Lovell-Smith released her excellent debut CD, Fortune Songs in 2012, two years after her move from her native New Zealand to New York. Four years later--after studies with Anthony Braxton and a move to Morelia, Mexico--she offers a follow-up effort... [ read more ]

Michiel Stekelenburg 5: Layers

Dutch guitarist/composer m: Michiel Stekelenburg expands his group to a quintet for his second album as a leader. Joined by saxophonist m: Efraim Trujillo, pianist m: Jeroen Van Vliet, bassist m: Guus Bakker, and drummer m: Pascal Vermeer h... [ read more ]