For many jazz fans, it’s the greatest holiday recording ever. For others, with its largely instrumental, non-caroling format, perhaps not. But the creative soundtrack work … Read More “Vince Guaraldi Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas (Craft/Concord)”
Drummer Mickey Hart has proven the most interesting of the former Grateful Dead band members since the death of guitarist Jerry Garcia in 1995. He … Read More “Planet Drum: In the Groove (360 Productions)”
Play or Die is a macabre title for this reissue by Tony Williams (1945-1997), the incredible drummer who rose to fame as a teenager with … Read More “Tony Williams: Play or Die (M.I.G.)”
To the uninitiated, the cover photo of DOMi and JD Beck’s debut, NOT TiGHT, might simply reveal two more quirky Gen Z pop artists. Add … Read More “DOMi & JD Beck: NOT TiGHT (Blue Note)”
Brooklyn-born keyboardist/producer Jason Miles has charted an impressive recording career that includes credits with Miles Davis, Luther Vandross, and David Sanborn. And it’s all documented … Read More “Jason Miles: The Extraordinary Journey of Jason Miles (Book Writing Cube)”
Vocalist Tierney Sutton’s Berklee College of Music-honed phrasing and articulation have earned her notoriety and nine Grammy nominations since starting her recording career 25 years … Read More “Tierney Sutton: Paris Sessions 2 (BFM Jazz)”
A cross between Black Sabbath and the Bill Evans Trio with a Spinal Tap timeline, Jazz Sabbath is the brainchild of pianist Adam Wakeman, who’s … Read More “Jazz Sabbath: Jazz Sabbath, Vol. 2 (Blacklake)”
New Orleans-born percussionist Bill Summers emerged within Herbie Hancock’s short-lived, ahead-of-its-time funk/fusion band of the early-to-mid-1970s, appearing on the keyboardist’s albums Head Hunters (1973), Thrust … Read More “Bill Summers: Forward Back: Volume 1 (Ropeadope)”
In the mid-1970s, a young musician playing fretless electric bass started a groundbreaking career in jazz fusion as a session musician, solo recording artist, and … Read More “Overdue Ovation: Percy Jones Is Still Reaching for New Challenges”
Woodstock, N.Y.-launched band Soulive has consistently had R&B roots within its organ-trio veneer since debuting around the turn of the century. Guitarist Eric Krasno’s latest … Read More “Eric Krasno: Always (Provogue)”
If you haven’t heard of the San Francisco-based trio Charged Particles, you’ve likely heard of the iconic artist that the group salutes on its latest … Read More “Charged Particles Aren’t Stopping the Music”
It’s a shame that live albums don’t usually sell as well as their studio counterparts. Otherwise, the double-CD Live at Yoshi’s, recorded in 1996 by singing … Read More “Robben Ford & The Blue Line: Live at Yoshi’s (Repertoire)”
Drummer Johnathan Blake is a rising jazz star with a series of impressive sideman credits and solo recordings. The latest, Homeward Bound, is his Blue … Read More “Johnathan Blake: Homeward Bound (Blue Note)”
No one could have known it at the time, but the seeds for vocalist Kurt Elling’s SuperBlue may have been sown when he guested on … Read More “Kurt Elling: SuperBlue (Edition)”
Improvisation is the essence of jazz and all progressive music. And on August 15, 2020 at ShapeShifter Lab in Brooklyn, four masked men made a … Read More “Percy Jones / Alex Skolnick / Kenny Grohowski / Tim Motzer: PAKT (MoonJune)”
Maybe it’s his humility, or a last name more associated with politics, but electric bassist Tom Kennedy has been underrecognized for decades. Perhaps his sixth … Read More “Tom Kennedy: Stories (Autumn Hill)”
Sixty-one-year-old Dave Weckl’s well-deserved reputation as a jazz/fusion A-Team drummer stems from numerous recordings and tours as a sideman, a long stretch as the late … Read More “Dave Weckl Band: Live in St. Louis at the Chesterfield Jazz Festival 2019 (Autumn Hill)”
Before he started a 1973-83 association with Tower of Power, and a subsequent 26-year run with Santana through 2009, keyboardist Chester Thompson did something that’s … Read More “Chester Thompson: Powerhouse (Black Jazz/Real Gone)”
In the 22 years since the original Garage A Trois trio—saxophonist/keyboardist Skerik, guitarist Charlie Hunter, and drummer Stanton Moore—released its debut Mysteryfunk, its members have … Read More “Garage A Trois: Calm Down Cologne (Royal Potato Family)”
It shouldn’t take long for Manifesto’s series of live recordings by Allan Holdsworth (1946-2017) to eclipse the dozen or so the notoriously meticulous British guitarist … Read More “Allan Holdsworth: Leverkusen ’97 (Manifesto)”
He may not be an actual doctor, and he doesn’t play one on TV, but 78-year-old, turban-topped Hammond organist Dr. Lonnie Smith further proves he’s … Read More “Dr. Lonnie Smith: Breathe (Blue Note)”
One possible sunny jazz underside to the COVID-19 pandemic could be enhanced artistic control, in an era where self-produced recordings were already becoming prevalent. Taking … Read More “Dave Liebman/Randy Brecker/Marc Copland/Drew Gress/Joey Baron: Quint5T (Self-produced)”
Workmanlike jazz drummer Adam Nussbaum’s 40-year career includes stints with high-profile reedmen (Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman) and guitarists (John Scofield, John Abercrombie), but the drummer … Read More “Adam Nussbaum: Lead Belly Reimagined (Sunnyside)”
It’s too bad the name Ten Years After was already taken by guitarist Alvin Lee and his Woodstock-era rock trio, because it would’ve fit Sun … Read More “David Torn/Tim Berne/Ches Smith: Sun of Goldfinger (Congratulations to You) (Screwgun)”
With each passing year and album release, Jason Marsalis proves he’s entered the rare air of fellow drummer/percussionists like Willie Bobo and Alex Acuña, showing … Read More “Jason Marsalis: Live (Basin Street)”
The California-born, Brooklyn-based guitarist Will Bernard turned 60 last year, but you sure wouldn’t know it from looking at him, or listening to him. Indeed, … Read More “Will Bernard: Freelance Subversives (Ropeadope)”
Pianist Eldar Djangirov was born in the Soviet Union in 1987; moved to the United States at 10; and recorded and released his 2001 independent … Read More “Eldar Djangirov: Rhapsodize (Twelve Tone Resonance)”
Few musicians in jazz history have been as revered—and reviled—as Buddy Rich (1917-1987). Two recent remembrances chronicle those extremes. Pelle Berglund’s biography, One of a … Read More “Pelle Berglund: Buddy Rich – One of a Kind: The Making of the World’s Greatest Drummer (Hudson Music)/ Buddy Rich: Just in Time: The Final Recording (Gearbox)”
Keyboardist Scott Kinsey’s fascination with Joe Zawinul (1932-2007) increased after he joined guitarist Scott Henderson’s band Tribal Tech upon graduating from Berklee in 1991. It … Read More “Scott Kinsey: We Speak Luniwaz: The Music of Joe Zawinul (Whirlwind)”
Thirty-three-year-old keyboardist and Louisiana native Jon Batiste has rocketed into public consciousness over the past decade. With a musical education fueled by New Orleans and … Read More “Jon Batiste: Chronology of a Dream: Live at the Village Vanguard (Verve)”
