Pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn has expanded her instrument’s domain well beyond the familiar sounds native to Hawaii, Nashville, or Bakersfield. She’s influenced by those traditions, … Read More “Susan Alcorn Quintet: Pedernal (Relative Pitch)”
The songs on the second album by Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl feature improvisation, but as compositions they feel a great deal closer to art songs … Read More “Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl: Artlessly Falling (Firehouse 12)”
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)”
For a lot of people, the distinctive style of composer and multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton is obscured either by the geometric diagrams that he uses to … Read More “Thumbscrew: The Anthony Braxton Project (Cuneiform)”
Listening to Bloom reminds me of my first encounters with Ralph Peterson’s Triangular. Both records are drummer-led trio affairs, with an upcoming pianist busting moves that … Read More “Jeff Williams: Bloom (Whirlwind)”
Russ Lossing’s career is centered on writing and playing his own music, but he’s intermittently addressed our ever-growing jazz canon with the kind of insight that … Read More “Russ Lossing: Changes (SteepleChase)”
Bassist Michael Formanek certainly goes the distance on this grand endeavor, on which he fronts Ensemble Kolossus, an 18-piece band that leans heavily toward a … Read More “Michael Formanek Ensemble Kolossus: The Distance”
While alto-sax firebrand Tim Berne hasn’t officially recorded as a leader for ECM, he has been slipping in the side door in provocative ways in … Read More “Michael Formanek: The Rub and Spare Change”
