Reviews
02/08/12 Albums By Michael J. West
Seasons: Live At the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Goat Hill
Seasons is best approached as a DVD release with bonus audio CD, not vice versa. The April 2011 performance features four guitarists (Anthony Wilson, Steve Cardenas, Julian Lage and Chico Pinheiro) on gorgeous, custom acoustic archtop guitars built by luthier...
02/07/12 Albums By Thomas Conrad
Somethin' Special
Tetrachord Records
Pianist Larry Vuckovich makes concept albums, but his concepts are flexible and his illustrations are fresh. Somethin’ Special is mostly about late bop, Blue Note-style. Not a novel idea, but Vuckovich chooses pieces by essential composers that have not...
02/06/12 Concerts By Bill Beuttler
Jason Moran & the Big Bandwagon: Boston, February 2, 2012
A Monk-inspired rumination worth rejoicing over
02/06/12 Albums By Philip Booth
Music of Stevie Wonder and New Compositions: Live in New York 2011, Season 8
SFJAZZ
There are lots of advantages to a musical collective, at least the way such an entity is operated by SFJAZZ, the organization behind multiple inspired jazz initiatives in San Francisco. SFJAZZ Collective has an occasionally shifting lineup, sometimes gaining...
02/05/12 Albums By Sharonne Cohen
Out of This World
Playscape Recordings
Pianist Ted Rosenthal devotes his 13th recording exclusively to staples of the Great American Songbook, with the expressed intention of “presenting (or deranging)” them in a way that will engage listeners. Mission accomplished: Rosenthal’s harmonic and rhythmic...
02/04/12 Albums By Lloyd Sachs
Tribe
ECM Records
Tribe is another lovely, atmospheric ECM album by Enrico Rava, who has enjoyed a strong comeback since returning to the label in 2003 after a long absence. Once again, the trumpeter draws us with consummate control into his comfort zone of slow, languid...
02/03/12 Concerts By Simon White
The Whammies at Killian Hall, Cambridge, Mass., 2-1-12
Celebrating the spirit of the late Steve Lacy
02/03/12 Albums By Bill Milkowski
Ramsey, Taking Another Look
Hidden Beach Recordings
Bill Milkowski reviews the latest from the veteran keyboardist
02/03/12 Albums By Steve Greenlee
Ghosts of the Sun
Sunnyside
Tenor saxophonist Bill McHenry’s music is lovely without being precious, free without being unorganized, sophisticated without being pretentious, thoughtful without being calculating. His latest album, Ghosts of the Sun , appears to be a sequel to his outstanding...
02/02/12 Albums By Bill Beuttler
Samdhi
ACT Music + Vision
Bill Beuttler reviews the saxophonist's latest