Abdullah Ibrahim converted to Islam nearly five years before these solo-piano recordings were captured in Toronto on Feb. 18, 1973. But Ibrahim had just come … Read More “Abdullah Ibrahim: Ancient Africa (Sackville/Delmark)”
Pianist Marc Copland is the most ECM-friendly musician without a record under his own name on that label. Via his frequent and longstanding engagement with … Read More “Marc Copland: Better by Far (InnerVoice)”
The title of bassist Gerald Cannon’s first disc since 2004 takes note of the fact that none of the 11 songs—five of them Cannon originals—feature … Read More “Gerald Cannon: Combinations (Woodneck)”
Kinship is an affable assortment of buoyant bop and international folk music traditions. As with leader Uri Gurvich’s two previous discs (both on Tzadik), the … Read More “Uri Gurvich: Kinship (Jazz Family)”
Theo Hill is a dynamically percussive pianist, so it’s not surprising that the musicians who have inspired him have been primarily drummers and likeminded keyboardists. … Read More “Theo Hill: Promethean (Posi-Tone)”
More than two hours of molten, visceral, spontaneous improvisation from David S. Ware is contained on Live in New York, 2010, the third posthumous volume … Read More “David S. Ware Trio: Live in New York, 2010 (AUM Fidelity)”
It’s inevitably tempting to link Cross My Palm With Silver to the first album from Israeli trumpeter Avishai Cohen for ECM, last year’s Into the … Read More “Avishai Cohen: Cross My Palm With Silver (ECM)”
Clarinetist Anat Cohen continues her fertile embrace of Brazilian music on this pair of simultaneously released records. As with Alegria Da Casa, her 2015 debut … Read More “Anat Cohen – Two New Albums on Anzic”
The most adventurous song on High Voltage is the only one 83-year-old Latin-jazz percussion-titan Ray Mantilla composed for the project. Entitled “Lane Change,” it leads … Read More “Ray Mantilla: High Voltage (Savant)”
Saxophonist-composer Michaël Attias has studied and played with two masters of structure and space, Anthony Braxton and Paul Motian. To the extent he is a … Read More “Michaël Attias Quartet: Nerve Dance (Clean Feed)”
Recorded live in Chicago and performed in 2015, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary celebration of the AACM, Mandorla Awakening II is a resplendent reminder … Read More “Nicole Mitchell: Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds (FPE)”
When Tim Berne played Philadelphia in 2009, the opening act was Matt Mitchell, a then-obscure pianist who blew Berne away by performing an entire set … Read More “Matt Mitchell: Førage (Screwgun)”
John Raymond’s Foreign Territory was one of the most impressive records of 2015, for its articulation of creativity within the bounds of tradition. Where that … Read More “John Raymond & Real Feels: Real Feels; Live, Vol. 1 (Shifting Paradigm)”
Short Stories is burnished by generosity and gratitude. Covering more than two hours of music over two discs and 15 songs, it chronicles a chapter … Read More “Tony Moreno Quintet: Short Stories (Mayimba)”
The piano-less trio is tailor-made for Rudy Royston. The combustible combinations the drummer derives from his kit contain enough rhythmic refreshment, textural variation and ensemble … Read More “Rudy Royston Trio: Rise of Orion (Greenleaf)”
On the “videos” section of Anna Webber’s personal website, there is a YouTube clip of “Rectangles 2,” the brief lead track on Binary. The video … Read More “Anna Webber’s Simple Trio: Binary (Skirl)”
Típico is a welcome showcase for Miguel Zenón’s longstanding, yeoman quartet. Venezuelan pianist Luis Perdomo and Austrian bassist Hans Glawischnig have been onboard since the … Read More “Miguel Zenón: Típico (Miel)”
Dialectrical was recorded a month before Elliott Sharp’s 65th birthday and pays homage to no fewer than four of his recently deceased musical heroes. But … Read More “Elliott Sharp Aggregat: Dialectrical”
When it was recorded in October 2015, Dream Deferred was drummer-bandleader Ralph Peterson’s way of addressing the spate of police shootings of unarmed black men … Read More “Ralph Peterson’s Aggregate Prime: Dream Deferred”
Out and About is a stylistic hopscotch in which guitarist-composer Will Bernard flexes the talents of his four cohorts, in ensemble interplay ranging from duo … Read More “Will Bernard: Out and About”
Houston keeps churning out stellar jazz artists. One of the latest, and brightest, is bassist Marcos Varela, who is talented enough to have been mentored … Read More “Marcos Varela: San Ygnacio”
That Mary Halvorson has been able to build this octet with such painstaking, formfitting continuity over the past eight years is a testament to her … Read More “Mary Halvorson Octet: Away With You”
What Was Said is imbued with the pristine austerity and profound contemplation of a vintage ECM record. While the iconic German label has broadened its … Read More “Tord Gustavsen: What Was Said”
From 2007 to 2011, trumpeter Tom Harrell delivered a magnificently consistent torrent of all-original material for his stable working quintet: four albums and 36 songs … Read More “Tom Harrell: Something Gold, Something Blue”
Strength & Power shows how opting for brute force in a totally improvised context can yield the sort of explosively coherent free jazz that transcends … Read More “Roswell Rudd/Jamie Saft/Trevor Dunn/Balazs Pandi: Strength & Power”
Ben Wendel’s mother sang opera professionally for nearly 25 years. The saxophonist has toured with Snoop Dogg, is a huge fan of electronica and is … Read More “Ben Wendel: What We Bring”
The departure of founding Weather Report bassist Miroslav Vitous, after just three years in the early ’70s, is not widely lamented, since it eventually led … Read More “Miroslav Vitous: Music of Weather Report”
The Jason Roebke Octet is the gathering of a tribe, a robust contingent of Chicago-based bandleaders who came to prominence mostly during the aughts and … Read More “Jason Roebke Octet: Cinema Spiral”
The Venezuelan pianist Luis Perdomo is more than just a Latin-jazz titan (although much of his work with Miguel Zenón, and the Criss Cross label … Read More “Luis Perdomo: Montage”
If nothing else, Zhenya Strigalev deserves credit for bringing together electric bassist Tim Lefebvre and drummer Eric Harland, a distinctively resourceful and forceful rhythm section … Read More “Zhenya Strigalev: Never Group”
