The endless staircases of M.C. Escher’s castles don’t demand a soundtrack to be appreciated, but if you bask in Carla Bley’s “Copycat” while absorbing a … Read More “Carla Bley/Andy Sheppard/Steve Swallow: Life Goes On (ECM)”
There are any number of Northern California jazz festivals that have been around longer than the one in Healdsburg, but none save the granddaddy of … Read More “Concert Review: Carla Bley and Ethan Iverson at the Healdsburg Jazz Festival”
The mission statement of the RareNoise label is “to detect and amplify contemporary trends in progressive music.” Since 2008 it has been prolific in the … Read More “Jamie Saft/Steve Swallow/Bobby Previte: You Don’t Know The Life (RareNoise)”
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 … Read More “Steve Kuhn Trio: To and From the Heart (Sunnyside)”
So much of Singular Awakening is so splendid that complaining about its sequencing seems petty. It is necessary, though. The album doesn’t begin as advertised: … Read More “Mike McGinnis: Singular Awakening (Sunnyside)”
Tough as it is to believe Carla Bley is now 80 years old, it’s not hard at all to hear that her questing spirit is … Read More “Carla Bley/Andy Sheppard/Steve Swallow: Andando El Tiempo”
On the surface, Strange Bedfellows seems like an appropriate name for this trio. Keyboardist Jamie Saft and drummer Bobby Previte, both fiercely eclectic yet technically … Read More “Jamie Saft/Steve Swallow/Bobby Previte: The New Standard”
