Emi Makabe: Anniversary (Greenleaf)
In Japanese folk music, it’s common to find women singing while accompanying themselves on the shamisen (a fretless, three-stringed lute). In jazz, not so much, … Read More “Emi Makabe: Anniversary (Greenleaf)”
J.D. Considine
J.D. Considine has been writing about jazz and other forms of music since 1977. His work has appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Musician, Spin, Vibe, Blender, Revolver, and Guitar World. He was music critic at the Baltimore Sun for 13 years, and jazz critic at the Globe and Mail for nine. He has lived in Toronto since 2001.
J.D. Considine on social media
Steph Richards: Supersense (Northern Spy)
As she made plain on her 2018 debut Fullmoon, Canadian-born, New York-based Steph Richards is a virtuoso of otherworldly trumpet sound. So when Supersense, her … Read More “Steph Richards: Supersense (Northern Spy)”
Junk Magic: Compass Confusion (Pyroclastic)
Making electronic music is very different from live improvisation—so much so that few musicians have even tried to bring the two together. On one side, … Read More “Junk Magic: Compass Confusion (Pyroclastic)”
Quinsin Nachoff: Pivotal Arc (Whirlwind)
Is it right to consider an album a success when you don’t get enough of the main artist? That’s the question some listeners will have … Read More “Quinsin Nachoff: Pivotal Arc (Whirlwind)”
Michael Formanek Quartet: Pre-Apocalyptic (Out of Your Head)
Recorded live “somewhere” in 2014, Pre-Apocalyptic is the third and most impassioned album by bassist Michael Formanek’s quartet. The release itself is almost offhand, part … Read More “Michael Formanek Quartet: Pre-Apocalyptic (Out of Your Head)”
Joe Fiedler’s Big Sackbut: Live in Graz (Multiphonics)
The name “Joe Fiedler’s Big Sackbut” is both joke and genius. The “butt” of the humor should be obvious to anyone over age seven, while … Read More “Joe Fiedler’s Big Sackbut: Live in Graz (Multiphonics)”
Lucien Ban/Mat Maneri/John Surman: Transylvanian Folk Songs (Sunnyside)
For many in North America, Transylvania is less a land on the map than an imagining of Hollywood, a spooky place of crumbling castles and … Read More “Lucien Ban/Mat Maneri/John Surman: Transylvanian Folk Songs (Sunnyside)”
Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra: Four Questions (Zoho)
Star turns can be awfully distracting at times. Take, for example, “Four Questions,” the title track of the sixth album Arturo O’Farrill has made with … Read More “Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra: Four Questions (Zoho)”
Gilfema: Three (Sounderscore)
On the surface, Three seems an utterly prosaic title. As students at Berklee, guitarist Lionel Loueke, bassist Massimo Biolcati and drummer Ferenc Nemeth formed a … Read More “Gilfema: Three (Sounderscore)”
Liberty Ellman: Last Desert (Pi)
For the first 28 seconds of Last Desert, all we hear is Liberty Ellman’s guitar, stating the principal theme to “The Sip” as bassist Stephan Crump … Read More “Liberty Ellman: Last Desert (Pi)”
Audrey Ochoa: Frankenhorn (Chronograph)
However much the trombone palette has grown elsewhere, in jazz it’s as if we never left the Tommy Dorsey era, in which the lead tone … Read More “Audrey Ochoa: Frankenhorn (Chronograph)”
Shuffle Demons: Crazy Time (Stubby)
“Cat Walk,” the first track on Crazy Time, opens with a four-chord minor-key progression over a pedal bass, driven by an insistent shuffle beat. It’s … Read More “Shuffle Demons: Crazy Time (Stubby)”
Nils Landgren & Jan Lundgren: Kristallen (ACT)
Just as he has two roles musically, as a trombonist and singer, Nils Landgren has two sides stylistically: the upbeat and the sedate. Kristallen, his … Read More “Nils Landgren & Jan Lundgren: Kristallen (ACT)”
Mareike Wiening: Metropolis Paradise (Greenleaf)
When a drummer composes something called “Free Time,” many jazz listeners will leap to the conclusion that it’s unmetered chaos, the sort of sonic hurly-burly … Read More “Mareike Wiening: Metropolis Paradise (Greenleaf)”
Leo Sherman: Tonewheel (Outside In)
Leo Sherman has the qualities many bandleaders look for in a bass player. He’s technically adept; he keeps solid time; he can be depended on … Read More “Leo Sherman: Tonewheel (Outside In)”
Florian Hoefner Trio: First Spring (Alma)
Musicians are also usually music fans, with favorite songs and private enthusiasms that don’t always obviously connect to the music they make. Much of what’s … Read More “Florian Hoefner Trio: First Spring (Alma)”
Eri Yamamoto Trio & Choral Chameleon: Goshu Ondo Suite (AUM Fidelity)
Although traditional folk songs have been a favorite source for classical composers from Brahms to Bartók, they don’t have a corresponding place in the jazz … Read More “Eri Yamamoto Trio & Choral Chameleon: Goshu Ondo Suite (AUM Fidelity)”
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T.K. Blue: The Rhythms Continue (JAJA)
To say that Randy Weston was underappreciated is not the same as saying he wasn’t appreciated; instead, it’s to acknowledge that the honors he received, … Read More “T.K. Blue: The Rhythms Continue (JAJA)”
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Olli Hirvonen: Displace (Ropeadope)
Although jazz guitar players have been amplified since the days of Charlie Christian, for the most part they’ve been fairly cautious about how they used … Read More “Olli Hirvonen: Displace (Ropeadope)”
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Adam Rudolph: The Matrix Reloaded
If you look inside the CD package of Ragmala, the Go: Organic Orchestra’s collaboration with Brooklyn Raga Massive, you’ll find a Carnatic music proverb: “Shruthir … Read More “Adam Rudolph: The Matrix Reloaded”
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Dave Holland/Zakir Hussain/Chris Potter: Good Hope (Edition)
Two years ago, tabla master Zakir Hussain assembled a sextet he called Crosscurrents, which brought together Indian and Western musicians to explore the jazz content … Read More “Dave Holland/Zakir Hussain/Chris Potter: Good Hope (Edition)”
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Ben Wolfe: Fatherhood (Resident Arts)
Strings are the connectors on bassist Ben Wolfe’s Fatherhood. Not heartstrings, mind, but violins, viola, and cello. Wolfe’s father Dan was a violinist, and the … Read More “Ben Wolfe: Fatherhood (Resident Arts)”
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Diego Rivera: Connections (Posi-Tone)
In a strange way, the best thing about Diego Rivera’s third album, Connections, is the extent to which we don’t hear him. Not that there’s … Read More “Diego Rivera: Connections (Posi-Tone)”
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Jonathon Crompton: Intuit (New Lab)
“Intuit,” the title tune from Australian expat Jonathon Crompton’s debut, opens auspiciously, with Crompton’s alto squeaking the shreds of a melody between squealing harmonics, as … Read More “Jonathon Crompton: Intuit (New Lab)”
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Curtis Nowosad: Curtis Nowosad (Sessionheads United)
On his third album, drummer Curtis Nowosad celebrates his move from Winnipeg, Manitoba to New York, N.Y. by updating his sound. Where his first two … Read More “Curtis Nowosad: Curtis Nowosad (Sessionheads United)”
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Eric Hofbauer: Book of Water (Creative Nation)
As album concepts go, guitarist Eric Hofbauer’s Five Agents project is pretty solid. Taking inspiration from Wu Xing, an ancient Daoist precept that sees the … Read More “Eric Hofbauer: Book of Water (Creative Nation)”
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Lisa Maxwell Big Band: Shiny! (Uncle Marvin Music)
If Lisa Maxwell’s name means nothing to you, perhaps Lew Soloff’s might. The veteran trumpeter had long championed Maxwell’s work as an arranger, and urged … Read More “Lisa Maxwell Big Band: Shiny! (Uncle Marvin Music)”
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Terraza Big Band: One Day Wonder (Outside In)
Terraza is a bit of an anomaly, a writers’ band that doesn’t bear the name of either of its chief composers. Instead, the group takes … Read More “Terraza Big Band: One Day Wonder (Outside In)”
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Ryan Keberle & Catharsis: The Hope I Hold (Greenleaf)
Is it really protest music if the dominant emotion within the songs is hope? That’s one of the questions raised by the sometimes reflective, sometimes … Read More “Ryan Keberle & Catharsis: The Hope I Hold (Greenleaf)”
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Yoko Miwa Trio: Keep Talkin’ (Ocean Blue Tear)
The hard thing about Yoko Miwa is that she makes it sound so easy. It isn’t just that the Boston-based pianist, a longtime instructor at … Read More “Yoko Miwa Trio: Keep Talkin’ (Ocean Blue Tear)”
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