A review of the vocalist’s fourth album.…Read More

The musical bond between trumpeter Ralph Alessi and saxophonist Ravi Coltrane is arguably developing into a rapport on par with the highest echelon of trumpet/tenor combinations. Not merely a strong frontline, they’re a unit that creates something greater than the sum of its parts. That power can be heard in “Iram Issela.” After Coltrane’s solo…Read More

It’s not a stretch to declare Atlantis Quartet the best small jazz ensemble based in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. The four members have been together since 2006 while individually amassing the requisite set of merit badges, including grants, work in a bevy of other bands and side projects, and first-call status when a jazz luminary needs…Read More

The 70-year-old Argentinean pianist and composer Carlos Franzetti delights in mixing things up. Over four-plus decades he’s recorded symphonic (most recently, 2017’s Luminosa and 2018’s Buenos Aires Noir) and solo projects; composed film music and conducted, arranged and orchestrated others’ works (Paquito D’Rivera, Steve Kuhn, Ruben Blades); slipped seamlessly between jazz, tango, and classical music;…Read More

Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of jazz fans: those who love the vibes and those who don’t. Those of us in the first category revere Milt Jackson and believe that the vibraphone, in the right hands, can conjure emotional mystery like no other instrument. Those in the second category apparently think it sounds like…Read More

The Kelly Green Trio opens its debut album, Volume One, with an almost 10-minute rendition of the Jerome Kern/Johnny Mercer chestnut “I’m Old-Fashioned” that establishes the opposite premise of the lyric. Subtly reharmonizing the standard, the ensemble sounds anything but out of date, streamlining Kern’s already compressed melody without detracting from the beauty of his…Read More

Long ago, Friedrich Nietzsche laid out the evolution of the human spirit with a useful metaphor: the concept of three metamorphoses, in which the camel, lion, and child come to represent the phases of development or arrival. Now saxophonist Johnny Griffith has adapted that concept for his own musical purposes. Each movement of this album’s…Read More

Keyboardist Alan Pasqua, 66, rose to prominence in the mid-1970s as part of drummer Tony Williams’ Lifetime, one of several visionary ensembles led by alumni of Miles Davis’ bands. The only reason the Fender Rhodes specialist didn’t achieve wider name recognition was probably that he came along a few years after Davis graduated the Mount…Read More

We don’t necessarily need a reminder about pianist Steve Kuhn’s eminence in the trio domain; his work in that realm has been well-documented and greatly respected. It is, however, always a pleasure to receive a gift such as this. To and From the Heart capitalizes on the creative rapport that Kuhn has developed with bassist…Read More

Even by the standards set by pianist, composer, bandleader, and social activist Arturo O’Farrill, Fandango at the Wall, a double-CD with the 18-piece Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, qualifies as personal. A New York City resident, the 58-year-old O’Farrill was born in Mexico City, and he’s been openly critical of President Trump’s attempts to build a…Read More