Jeff Tamarkin is the former editor of Goldmine, CMJ, Relix, and Global Rhythm. As a writer he has contributed to the New York Daily News, JazzTimes, Boston Phoenix, Harp, Mojo, Newsday, Billboard, and many other publications. He is the author of the book Got a Revolution: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane and has contributed to The Guinness Companion to Popular Music, All Music Guide, and several other encyclopedias. He has also served as a consultant to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, NARAS, National Geographic Online, and Music Club Records.
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The title Late Bloomin’ Jazzman could be taken as the prolific, award-winning singer/composer’s mini-autobiography or as an homage to late-bloomin’ jazzmen (and women) in general. … Read More “Mark Winkler: Late Bloomin’ Jazzman (Café Pacific)”
No one can accuse Dave Douglas of pandering to mainstream interests. Among his primary inspirations for Secular Psalms is the Ghent Altarpiece (a.k.a. The Adoration … Read More “Dave Douglas: Secular Psalms (Greenleaf)”
Before you even play a note of The Normyn Suites, you know at the very least that it’s going to be an interesting listen. With … Read More “Michael Leonhart Orchestra: The Normyn Suites (Sunnyside)”
For music to have a lasting impact, it must, to quote Walt Whitman, contain multitudes; it should look beyond time and place and never cease … Read More “Various Artists: Black Lives: From Generation to Generation (Jammin’colorS)”
Charnett Moffett, a bassist and composer whose virtuosity on both electric (often fretless) and acoustic instruments was matched by his versatility, died April 11 at … Read More “Charnett Moffett 1967 – 2022”
Recorded in a single day at a New Jersey studio, Steve Slagle’s first all-ballads collection in a four-plus-decade career finds the alto and soprano saxophonist … Read More “Steve Slagle: Ballads: Into the Heart of It (Panorama)”
Like so many in jazz before him, Danish drummer/composer Stefan Pasborg was fed a steady stream of classical music during his formative years, with Igor … Read More “Stefan Pasborg: Ritual Dances (Sunnyside)”
The year-old label Le Coq Records launched with a “Jazz All Stars” compilation that, true to its somewhat generic name, included a formidable assemblage of … Read More “The Jazz All Stars: Le Coq Records Presents the Jazz All Stars Vol. 2 (Le Coq)”
Earl Newman wasn’t much of a jazz fan back in 1963 when he was hired to produce a poster promoting the Monterey Jazz Festival; the … Read More “Earl Newman: The Monterey Jazz Festival Poster Man”
One of the most attractive elements of Romero Lubambo’s guitar work is the dynamic interplay he creates between subtlety and fervor. In a single solo, … Read More “Romero Lubambo & Rafael Piccolotto Chamber Orchestra: Live at Dizzy’s Lincoln Center New York City (Sunnyside)”
When singer Eva Cassidy died of melanoma in November 1996, at age 33, she was barely known outside her home base of Washington, D.C. Those … Read More “Eva Cassidy: Live at Blues Alley—25th Anniversary Edition (Blix Street)”
The guitar playing of Carlos Barbosa-Lima is a textbook example of purity in music: Each note emerging from the Brazilian-born classical/jazz musician’s instrument just seems … Read More “Carlos Barbosa-Lima/Johannes Tonio Kreusch: Manisero (Zoho)”
Larry Carlton’s name should be familiar to anyone who’s paid attention to the credits on album jackets over the past five decades: As a prominent, … Read More “Larry Carlton & Paul Brown: Soul Searchin’ (Shanachie)”
Look at the sources credited on Makaya McCraven’s Deciphering the Message—Hank Mobley, Kenny Dorham, Horace Silver, Art Blakey—and you could be excused for anticipating another … Read More “Makaya McCraven: Deciphering the Message (Blue Note)”
Although solo bass recordings are hardly common, the list is longer than you might think: Players as prestigious as Ron Carter, Miroslav Vitous, and William … Read More “Marc Johnson: Overpass (ECM)”
So many new recordings made during the year 2020 share the same backstory: With pandemic lockdowns firmly in place, musicians cut their parts at home … Read More “Troy Roberts & Tim Jago: Best Buddies (Toy Robot)”
After the initial shock subsided, Jeff Lorber must have chuckled at least a bit when his name was called as the winner of the Best … Read More “Jeff Lorber Fusion: Space-Time (Shanachie)”
Charnett Moffett takes his responsibilities as a leader—and New Love is the 17th album putting him in that position—quite literally. Approaching his fretless electric bass … Read More “Charnett Moffett: New Love (Motéma)”
Sure, why not the Grateful Dead? Jazz artists have long drawn upon the songs of the Beatles and other rockers as sources for fresh interpretation, … Read More “Dave McMurray: Grateful Deadication (Blue Note)”
Rick Laird, the Irish bassist whose work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early 1970s helped to define jazz fusion, died on July 4. No … Read More “Rick Laird 1941–2021”
Jon Hassell, a trumpeter and composer who developed a hybrid he dubbed “Fourth World” music, died on June 26. A statement from the musician’s family … Read More “Trumpeter and Composer Jon Hassell Dies at 84”
Considering all of Dave Holland’s spectacular work over the past five-plus decades—from the bassist’s tenure with Miles Davis through his numerous leader and collaborator releases … Read More “Dave Holland: Another Land (Edition)”
The death of drummer Ralph Peterson Jr. on March 1 robbed jazz of one of its most inventive and prolific—and purely musical—practitioners. Peterson’s highly developed … Read More “Ralph Peterson: Raise Up Off Me (Onyx)”
“Transformation is the highest expression of change,” Ted Nash writes in the liner notes for this suite of pieces he’s composed and arranged. “[It] dictates … Read More “Ted Nash/Glenn Close: Transformation (Tiger Turn)”
In the late 1960s, the San Francisco sound was all the rage. Local rock bands like Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Sly and the Family … Read More “Tower of Power Celebrates 50 Years Together”
You likely listen to a lot of good new music over the course of a year, but how much of it would you characterize as … Read More “Sons of Kemet: Black to the Future (Impulse!)”
The stark image on the front cover—so familiar but still so chilling—depicts the “strange fruit” of a Black man’s body swinging from a branch. Flip … Read More “Adrian Younge: The American Negro (Jazz Is Dead)”
Before he knew what he wanted to do for his debut album, Chris Pattishall was adamant about what he didn’t want to do. “I didn’t … Read More “Chris Pattishall Channels Mary Lou Williams on Debut Album”
Like most other working musicians, vocalist Sachal Vasandani and pianist Romain Collin have spent the past year replacing plans with spontaneous actions, so the New … Read More “Sachal Vasandani Featuring Romain Collin: Midnight Shelter (Edition)”
Recorded at the Philharmonie Berlin on January 24, 2017, during a series honoring duos, this live performance was guitarist Larry Coryell’s last—he passed away less … Read More “Larry Coryell & Philip Catherine: Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic XI: The Last Call (ACT)”
