Reviews

Seasons: Live At the Metropolitan Museum of Art Anthony Wilson

02/08/12    Albums    By Michael J. West

Anthony Wilson
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...

Somethin' Special Larry Vuckovich

02/07/12    Albums    By Thomas Conrad

Larry Vuckovich
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...

Jason Moran & the Big Bandwagon: Boston, February 2, 2012

02/06/12    Concerts    By Bill Beuttler

Jason Moran & the Big Bandwagon: Boston, February 2, 2012

A Monk-inspired rumination worth rejoicing over

Music of Stevie Wonder and New Compositions: Live in New York 2011, Season 8 SFJAZZ Collective

02/06/12    Albums    By Philip Booth

SFJAZZ Collective
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...

Out of This World Ted Rosenthal Trio

02/05/12    Albums    By Sharonne Cohen

Ted Rosenthal Trio
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...

Tribe Enrico Rava Quintet

02/04/12    Albums    By Lloyd Sachs

Enrico Rava Quintet
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

Ramsey, Taking Another Look Ramsey Lewis

02/03/12    Albums    By Bill Milkowski

Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey, Taking Another Look
Hidden Beach Recordings

Bill Milkowski reviews the latest from the veteran keyboardist

Ghosts of the Sun Bill McHenry

02/03/12    Albums    By Steve Greenlee

Bill McHenry
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...

Samdhi Rudresh Mahanthappa

02/02/12    Albums    By Bill Beuttler

Rudresh Mahanthappa
Samdhi
ACT Music + Vision

Bill Beuttler reviews the saxophonist's latest