Chuck Berg

This wonderfully exuberant session is a reminder of the kind of music that used to set jazz clubs rockin’ back in the 1960s. Yes, there’s … Read More “Lew Del Gatto: Katewalk”

Nighttime, with its allusions to romantic couplings (“You and the Night and the Music”) and romantic breakups (“The Night We Called It a Day”) to … Read More “Harold Danko: Nightscapes”

Larry Goldings is one of jazzdom’s truly distinctive organists. Yes, in bluesy tracks like “Mixed Message” there are echoes of the soulful surges of rhythm-n-blues … Read More “Larry Goldings Trio: As One”

This warmly wrought session is a case study in conversational modern jazz. Like the classic neo-bop groups of the 1950s-’60s helmed by Art Blakey, pianist … Read More “Dado Moroni: Out of the Night”

Hal Galper has staying power. Having helped fuel the flights of Chet Baker, Cannonball Adderley and Phil Woods, the Boston-area pianist has been out in … Read More “Hal Galper: Let’s Call This That”

What a great date. Bold yet restrained, and ranging from the exotically brassy “Punjab” to the contemplative “Serenity,” it provides a fresh look at the … Read More “Jim Snidero: The Music of Joe Henderson”

Ted Curson’s incandescent flame burns bright in this impassioned salute to bebop, the music that inspired the trumpeter to want to play jazz. The underrated … Read More “Ted Curson: Sugar ‘n’ Spice”

Charlie Haden’s Quartet West is a wonder. A throwback to a more romantic era, at least as far as popular movies and music are concerned, … Read More “Charlie Haden Quartet West: The Art of the Song”

Big bands, though enjoying a vogue thanks to the neo-swing revival, survive because they’re unique forums challenging both arrangers and players. For the former, the … Read More “NDR Big Band: Bravissimo II”

In the late 1940s, alto saxophonist Al Belletto had to leave his native New Orleans in order to pursue the siren song of bop. At … Read More “Al Belleto Big Jazz Band: Jazznocracy”

Is there a movie lurking here? Consider this. In the mid-1950s Adam Makowicz was a classical pianist living in Poland. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, … Read More “Adam Makowicz: A Tribute to Art Tatum”

Though best known for his gaudy late night gig fronting the studio band for The Arsenio Hall Show, pianist Michael Wolff is also a gifted … Read More “Alex Foster/Michael Wolff: Pool of Dreams”

Bob Wilber has been an indefatigable champion of the New Orleans and Big Band traditions through associations with Sidney Bechet, Bobby Hackett, Benny Goodman, the … Read More “Bob Wilber Big Band: Bufadora Blow-Up”

This 1996 date marks the onset of yet another edition of the Basie band, this one under the alert ear of conductor/trombonist Grover Mitchell. Though … Read More “Count Basie Orchestra: Live at MCG”

Dexter Gordon (1923-1990) was a giant. Playing as a teenager with Lionel Hampton in 1940, and then with Louis Armstrong, Billy Eckstine, Dizzy Gillespie, Tadd … Read More “Dexter Gordon: The Complete Blue Note Sixties Sessions”

Pianist Andy LaVerne and guitarist Abercrombie have been performing duos since their student days in Boston during the late 1960s. Here, we catch the latest … Read More “Andy Laverne and John Abercrombie: Where We Were”

Hank Marr, professor of jazz studies at Ohio State University, puts the lie to the adage that those who can, play, and that those who … Read More “Hank Marr: Groovin’ It”