Ask founder/producer Piero Pata and VP/engineer Josh Connolly about the guiding concept behind Le Coq Records—their Las Vegas-based music label, established in January 2021—and the … Read More “Le Coq Records Turns Heads and Wins Veteran Collaborators”
Sonic Liberation Front teaming with saxophonist/composer Oliver Lake is kind of like David Bowie phoning Donny McCaslin and his fellow jazz downtowners to record Blackstar: … Read More “Sonic Liberation Front: Justice: The Vocal Works of Oliver Lake (High Two)”
The spiritual, organ-grinding predecessor to orchestrator/keyboardist Dexter Wansel’s spaced-out Life on Mars, this 1969 Blue Note release (and 2022 re-release) finds Brother Jack McDuff going … Read More “Brother Jack McDuff: Moon Rappin’ (Blue Note)”
Funny an Irish-based journalist who’s written about James Joyce’s Ulysses, wounded British soldiers, and Nick Cave is the man making the auspicious title claim of … Read More “Philip Watson: Bill Frisell, Beautiful Dreamer: The Guitarist Who Changed the Sound of American Music (Faber)”
Everything about Israeli-born tenor and soprano saxophonist Eli Degibri is a celebration. You can hear that in his sideman gigs with Herbie Hancock and Al … Read More “Eli Degibri Honors His Parents on New Album, Henri and Rachel“
If you’re old enough to remember the 1986 release of Argentine bandoneonist/composer Astor Piazzolla’s noirish Tango: Zero Hour, you’ll recall that its entry onto the world … Read More “Astor Piazzolla: The American Clavé Recordings (Nonesuch)”
When you hear tenor saxophonist Mark Turner’s name in conversation, it seems to be frequently linked to the notions of mindfulness, precision, and fastidiousness. “That … Read More “Mark Turner: A Modern Saxophone Master”
There’s something perfect about speaking with saxophonist/composer Azar Lawrence right after he’s clicked off from virtual Sunday church services. Still dwelling in the Los Angeles … Read More “Overdue Ovation: Azar Lawrence Speaks of Working for Miles, McCoy, Elvin—and God”
The last years of beyond-free saxophonist and composer Albert Ayler were sonically restless and more troubled than previous seasons. While his music jittered through a … Read More “Albert Ayler: Revelations: The Complete ORTF 1970 Fondation Maeght Recordings (Elemental)”
The legend of Lester Koenig—record collector, bon vivant, screenwriter, film producer, friend to Hollywood’s famous—looms larger than a hundred books, let alone a few words … Read More “The Sound of Contemporary Records”
While it’s no surprise that Chicago-to-Brooklyn transplant Joel Ross is a smooth-operating protégé of fellow vibraphonist Stefon Harris, it is shocking how far Ross has … Read More “Joel Ross: The Parable of the Poet (Blue Note)”
Wisconsin-born and proud: For all of the avant-everything complexity Ethan Iverson has applied to his solo projects or the sounds he created in his role … Read More “Ethan Iverson Returns to Basics and Looks Toward the Future on Blue Note Debut”
Javon Jackson has a lengthy history as a leathery-toned and warm tenor-sax man, yet it’s his role as an educator that steered him toward the … Read More “Javon Jackson: The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni (Solid Jackson)”
Paying tribute to Sérgio Mendes with a spirited sound that blends jazz improvisation, Uruguayan candombe, and breezy Airto/Flora-esque pop is never a bad thing. Just … Read More “Brasuka Moves Beyond Sérgio Mendes”
Beginning with 2001’s The Philadelphia Experiment, then moving onto editions inspired by Detroit and Harlem, producer Aaron Luis Levinson and his local casts (?uestlove, Christian … Read More “The Chicago Experiment: The Chicago Experiment (Ropeadope)”
On an unseasonably warm evening in December, just at the opening break of Omicron and yet another shift in everyone’s lives, alto saxophonist/composer Immanuel Wilkins … Read More “Immanuel Wilkins Aims to Communicate the Spirit Within on The 7th Hand“
Memphis’ late great towering pianist Harold Mabern had it all down cold. Whether it was the many shades of bop, the varied hues of the … Read More “Harold Mabern: Mabern Plays Coltrane (Smoke Sessions)”
From his abrasive bunching of chords to his languid, lovely melodic flow, Bola Sete was the most deliciously puzzling of all Brazilian jazz and bossa/samba … Read More “Bola Sete: Samba in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse 1966-1968 (Tompkins Square)”
It’s a hot August mid-morning in Manhattan, and Danny Bennett is zooming along. He’s been moving at top speed pretty much all the time ever … Read More “Danny Bennett on the Final Album and Retirement of Tony Bennett”
Tom Cohen is always good for a richly descriptive album title. From the same guy who named his first leader album Diggin’ In – Digging … Read More “Tom Cohen: My Take (Versa)”
G. Calvin Weston laughs a lot when he talks. Or maybe he just talks a lot when he laughs. If you spend any time around … Read More “G. Calvin Weston Keeps Moving Forward”
Hardly a novice as a leader or sideman, tenor saxophonist, occasional bass clarinetist, and composer Chet Doxas has rarely received his flowers. Viewed through the … Read More “Chet Doxas: You Can’t Take It with You (Whirlwind)”
Why Joey DeFrancesco would need another organist in his band seems beyond reason. After all, he’s been breathing new life into the organ-trio aesthetic for … Read More “Joey DeFrancesco: More Music (Mack Avenue)”
Beloved for his many cool collaborations with Tim Berne, John Zorn, and Marc Ribot, drummer/improviser/composer Ches Smith is best served hot, under his own name—on … Read More “Ches Smith Explores Haitian Vodou Music with We All Break”
Like its author, a memoir of John Lurie’s could zig and zag in a dozen directions. There’s the acting career that brought him to the … Read More “John Lurie: The History of Bones (Random House)”
Since her 2017 debut A Social Call, Jazzmeia Horn—like her fellow Dallas native Erykah Badu—has plumbed the art of vocalizing in a manner suggesting a gold … Read More “Jazzmeia Horn and Her Noble Force: Dear Love (Empress Legacy)”
Georgia Anne Muldrow laughs easily when she speaks. The charm of her laughter does not come from anything silly, although she can be downright funny … Read More “Georgia Anne Muldrow Blazes her Own Trail”
Cleveland-born, Bay Area-based jazz vocalist Ed Reed may not have a thousand recording credits to his name. He has, however, lived a life as long … Read More “Ed & Diane Reed: Double Helix: A Memoir of Addiction, Recovery, and Jazz in Two Voices (ReedsWrite)”
Like his deliciously complicated mix of classical influences, free-jazz innovation, progressive fusion complexity, angular art rock, quiet-storming R&B, and Black consciousness, the zigs and zags … Read More “Overdue Ovation: Todd Cochran Returns to Jazz and Acoustic Piano”
Carrying a chill that could freeze a martini glass and a clipped elegance worthy of Noël Coward in a leather bar, Patricia Barber’s unique voice—and … Read More “Patricia Barber: Clique (Impex)”
