Rick Parker/Li Daiguo: Free World Music

Multi-instrumentalists Rick Parker, of Brooklyn, and China's Li Daiguo are practitioners of psychoacoustic science in an experimental duo format. Understanding the interaction of wave dissemination, physical experience and endless scientific studies is hardly necessary; as listeners we still hear, i... [ read more ]

Elisabeth Lohninger: Eleven Promises

New York-based Elisabeth Lohninger and Walter Fischbacher have evolved into a solid power-center in the city's jazz community. They operated Lofish Recording Studios until 2015, when gentrification forced them to close door. The pair have been prolific with recordings, including: Beneath the Surface... [ read more ]

Peter BrA tzmann/Full Blast: Risc

The Full Blast trio of saxophonist m: Peter BrA tzmann, Marino Pliakas, and Michael WertmA1/4ller get an injection of fervency with the electronics of Gerd Rische. As if they needed any more ferocity. Risc is the fifth official release by the trio, and follows the ambitious Sketches And Bal... [ read more ]

Carla Bley: Shoe Leather, Mystery and Moxie

With the passing of time. That's roughly how the title of Carla Bley's second trio album for ECM translates. Bley turned eighty a few months before the release of Andando el Tiempo but the passing years, if anything, have sharpened her composer's claws and whetted her playing appetite, judging by th...

Chris Cain: King of the Blues

Presumably, the title of singer / guitarist m: Chris Cain's new CD, King of the Blues, refers not to Cain himself but to one of his idols, the legendary bluesman m: B.B. King, who passed away in May 2015. Cain, who was born and raised in San Jose, CA, attended his first B.B. Ki... [ read more ]

DamiA^3n Reid: On Drum Artistry, The Robert Glasper Trio, and Beyond

International drummer DamiA^3n Reid has crafted a style that is inimitable without sacrificing the ardor of modern jazz and its traditional stylistic approaches to drumming. Listening to Reid is like a history lesson on the drum--he can play everything with artful dexterity from Be-Bop to Hip Hop. Ad...

: Guitars Galore: Major Vistas, Joe Policastro Trio, Dan Arcamone, Charlie Ballantine, Sound Underground, Kay-Ta Matsuno

A brief overview of several notable 2016 contemporary jazz releases featuring guitarists. Major Vistas Minor Anthems Self Produced 2016 A fresh approach to the jazz trio, and the debut release from Madison, Wisconsin's Major Vistas. Keyboardist Mike Weiser says he thinks of it as a modern "organ" tr... [ read more ]