David Whiteis is a critic, journalist, and author based in Chicago. He is the recipient of the Blues Foundation’s 2001 Keeping the Blues Alive Award for Achievement in Journalism. His books include Southern Soul-Blues (U. of Illinois Press, 2013) and Chicago Blues: Portraits and Stories (U. Of Illinois Press, 2006). He is currently at work completing a book on contemporary Chicago blues and a co-written autobiography of the late soul singer Denise LaSalle.
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The medium-boil funk workout “Nothing Good Ever Goes Away” is the concluding track on this album; it could easily serve as the mission statement. That … Read More “Chicago Soul Jazz Collective: On the Way to Be Free: Chicago Soul Jazz Collective Meets Dee Alexander (JMarq)”
At 95, Chicago-based guitarist George Freeman is among the world’s oldest active jazz musicians. Although he came of musical age in the 1940s and counts … Read More “Overdue Ovation: It’s Happening Now for George Freeman”
In 1962, Dexter Gordon was in fine fettle physically and musically. Clean and sober since his final release from prison on drug charges several years … Read More “Dexter Gordon: Soul Sister (SteepleChase)”
Sometimes you honor tradition, and sometimes, if you’re lucky, you recognize that you’ve become part of it. For their self-titled debut album, released in 2015, … Read More “The Artifacts Trio Represents Deep Chicago Roots”
Oscar Hernández, longtime pianist, arranger, and musical director for Rubén Blades’ orchestra and founder/musical director of the Grammy-winning Spanish Harlem Orchestra, wears his prestige lightly. … Read More “Oscar Hernández & Alma Libre: Visión (Ovation)”
On Southside Sounds, her self-released 2017 debut, pianist Alexis Lombre deftly balanced her instrument’s dual rhythmic and melodic roles. Her percussive, wide-fingered lower-register splays created … Read More “Alexis Lombre Plays and Hears Music Without Borders”
In 2007, Christian McBride put together the first all-acoustic unit he’d led since the late 1990s. That band, which eventually became known as Inside Straight, … Read More “Christian McBride & Inside Straight: Live at the Village Vanguard (Mack Avenue)”
Benjamin “Scatman” Crothers’ career spanned more than six decades, during which he worked as a drummer, guitarist, and vocalist (his musical compatriots over the years … Read More “Scatman Crothers: Groovin’ With … Scatman (Panda)”
This two-disc set was compiled from two different performances, one recorded at Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center in New York, in January of … Read More “Roy Hargrove/Mulgrew Miller: In Harmony (Resonance)”
SoundPrints is tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano and trumpeter Dave Douglas, along with pianist Lawrence Fields, bassist Linda May Han Oh, and drummer Joey Baron. This … Read More “SoundPrints: Other Worlds (Greenleaf)”
Recorded live at Baltimore’s Famous Ballroom in May of 1971, this set captures the redoubtable tenor man with a well-oiled ensemble—trumpeter Danny Moore, pianist Albert … Read More “The George Coleman Quintet: In Baltimore (Reel to Real)”
A feeling of pent-up force pervades “A Great Cloud of Witnesses,” the opening track of saxophonist Gregory Tardy’s latest disc. Pianist Keith Brown, bassist Alexander … Read More “Gregory Tardy: If Time Could Stand Still (WJ3)”
Trumpeter Derrick Gardner is an alumnus of the 1990s-era, Frank Foster-led Count Basie Orchestra—a connection that’s immediately evident in the voicings and blends he has … Read More “Derrick Gardner & the Big dig! Band: Still I Rise (Impact)”
The Black Art Jazz Collective, co-founded in 2012 by saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, and drummer Johnathan Blake, is “dedicated to celebrating African American … Read More “Black Art Jazz Collective: Ascension (HighNote)”
This previously unreleased March 1959 studio session captures the Jazz Messengers in a period of transition. Benny Golson had departed; Wayne Shorter had not yet … Read More “Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers: Just Coolin’ (Blue Note)”
Trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah and percussionist Francisco Mora Catlett, both veterans of the Sun Ra Arkestra, co-lead this session, which features members of Mora Catlett’s AfroHORN … Read More “Diaspora Meets AfroHORN: Jazz: A Music of the Spirit/Out of Sistas’ Place (Ahmed Abdullah/Monique Ngozi Nri)”
The Ghana Jazz Collective (saxophonist Bernard Ayisa, keyboardist Victor Dey, Jr., bassist Bright Osei, and drummer Frank Kissi) are an Accra-based contingent whose weekly sessions … Read More “Benjamin Boone with the Ghana Jazz Collective: Joy (Origin)”
Even when guitarist Tomas Janzon is in full flight, his music is welcoming—he sounds as if he wants to invite us in, rather than intimidate … Read More “Tomas Janzon: 130th & Lenox (Changes)”
This set was recorded at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, California on March 15, 2018, in celebration of the saxophonist/flutist’s 80th birthday. Lloyd’s band … Read More “Charles Lloyd: 8: Kindred Spirits (Live from the Lobero) (Blue Note)”
Neither as “traditional” or as “beyond” as the title might indicate, Tradition and Beyond is nonetheless an affectionate and uplifting tribute to roots, as well … Read More “Ernesto Vega: Tradition and Beyond (Blackwood & Sound)”
The title might just as easily have been Old Freedoms Reimagined. Lee Konitz, who in 1949 as a member of the Lennie Tristano Quintet helped … Read More “Lee Konitz Nonet: Old Songs New (Sunnyside)”
Is it necessary for jazz to be “challenging” or “complex” in order to be considered “good”? Pianist Roberto Fonseca blazes few new trails here, despite … Read More “Roberto Fonseca: Yesun (Mack Avenue)”
Billie Holiday tributes can get pretty lachrymose, but Chicago’s ebullient Dee Alexander is not one to throw a pity party. Here, as is her wont, … Read More “Metropolitan Jazz Octet: It’s Too Hot for Words– Celebrating Billie Holiday (Delmark)”
Dream Shanti is the latest project to evolve under the aegis of woodwind player Jeff Coffin, a former member of Béla Fleck & the Flecktones … Read More “Dream Shanti: Music in Our Dreams (Ear Up)”
Recorded at the 2018 Newport Jazz Festival, this set finds saxophonist James Carter picking up where he left off in Chasin’ the Gypsy, his 2000 … Read More “James Carter Organ Trio: Live from Newport Jazz (Blue Note)”
Sounds of Liberation was a young musical collective based in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood in the early 1970s. Their music, an innovative but accessible blend of … Read More “Sounds of Liberation: Unreleased (Columbia University 1973) (Dogtown)”
OGJB—Oliver Lake, Graham Haynes, Joe Fonda, and Barry Altschul—characterize themselves as a “leaderless” quartet. In that spirit, the compositions featured here serve as sketches to … Read More “The OGJB Quartet: Bamako (TUM)”
“Serious play” may be a cliché by now, but it exemplifies the spirit that dances through this set. Apropos to the title, the emphasis is … Read More “Michael Eaton: Dialogical (Destiny)”
This four-movement suite, which both invokes and honors the 400-year history of African-American people from the arrival of the first slave ships in 1619 to … Read More “Avery Sharpe: 400: An African American Musical Portrait (JKNM)”
The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, formed by percussionist Kahil El’Zabar in the 1970s, is among the most venerable carriers of the legacy of Chicago’s Association for … Read More “Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Be Known (Spiritmuse)”
