Every week our staff of CD Reviewers bring you the best in Independent CD releases. Making a Scene is considered the number 1 resource for the independent musician and the fans that love them.
Hassan Ibn Ali Reaching For the Stars: Trios/Duos/ Solos Omnivore This writer’s two previous reviews of the legendary pianist Hassan Ibn Ali appeared in another outlet so it’s probably best to provide some background information. Reaching For the Stars: Trios/Duos/ Solos is the third collection released by Omnivore Records, another look into the previously unheard […]
John Chin Sun of Music: Live From The Lockdown Self-released Pianist John Chin leads a trio of bassist Sean Conly and drummer Jaimeo Brown in a live performance without an audience from Smalls in NYC during the height of the pandemic. Fortunately, the tape machines were rolling. The trio has played together for decades but […]
Lafayette Gilchrist Undaunted Morphius The Baltimore-based, D.C.-born pianist and composer Lafayette Gilchrist leads a sextet through five of his compositions on Undaunted that course through a potpourri of styles from, barrelhouse blues, stride, post hard bop, hip-hop, R&B, and his foundational go-go, the musical style of Washington D.C. His angular style makes him a descendant […]
Chien Chien Lu Built In System (Live from New York) Giant Steps Art Vibraphonist Chien Chien Lu leads her top shelf quartet of trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, bassist Richie Goods, and drummer Alan Mednard in this vibrant live recording, Built In System (Live from New York) from Hunter College in January of 2023. Lu composed all […]
Marcel Smith From My Soul Little Village Singer-songwriter Marcel Smith’s From My Soul follows up his Little Village release Everybody Needs Love, covered in 2020 by Richard Ludmerer on these pages. His review has considerable biographical information, so we’ll forge ahead with the essence of what’s at hand this time out. First, Smith co-wrote five […]
Wayne Nicholson Gin House Grindstone Singer-songwriter, producer and frontman Wayne Nicholson is the blues voice of Canada’s East Coast. He has fronted Horse and the Oakley Band and is out with his seventh solo effort, Gin House, recorded on his home turf in Nova Scotia. This writer covered his 2020 effort with John Campbelljohn on […]
Lisa Biales At Christmas Big Song Music Christmas music can unite, lift emotions, and relieve anything like a salve for the soul. At Christmas succeeds at it all. If we could all just ring some jingle bells together, right now. At Christmas, by Ohio native Lisa Biales (pronounced be-Alice), contains brand-new assorted-in-style treats, including “Christmas […]
Joe Santa Maria Echo Deep Orenda Joe Santa Maria is a L.A.- based versatile multi-reedist, comfortable playing behind rock groups, laying down post-bop lines, or playing in experimental formats. Echo Deep, a project that has consumed him for ten years, is his ‘sonic biography,” a daring, totally unique foray into many different cultures and locales. […]
Mathis Picard Heat of the Moment La Reserve Last year on these pages we introduced you to the French-Malagasy pianist and composer Mathis Picard and his solo rendering Live at the Museum. Now he returns with an album, as the title indicates, focused on climate change, Picard’s quest for healing the planet. Heat of the […]
Joey Alexander Continuance Mack Avenue Our jazz readers will notice that just this week in our review of Sean Mason’s debut, the opening paragraph shed light on a ‘renaissance’ of gifted young pianists. Mentioned in that group is the youngest one of all, 20-year-old Joey Alexander, the once child prodigy who last year issued his […]
Noah Zacharin Points of Light Self-released Noah Zacharin is a Canadian singer-songwriter and fingerstyle guitarist who delivers his ninth album with Points of Light. Although this is mostly a quiet, acoustic based folk album, there are elements of blues and rock as this adept guitarist exhibits few boundaries. At times he is completely mesmerizing in […]
Myra Melford’s Fire and Water Quintet Hear the Light Singing Rogue Art Pianist and composer Myra Melford reunites a super group of all female improvising players with a different drummer to build the next chapter in her Fire and Water Quintet, building on 2022’s widely acclaimed For the Love of Fire and Water with five new […]
Alex Louloudis & Zack Clarke What We Are ears & eyes In the spirit of exposing independent artists, we bring you the third release from jazz and free jazz drummer and composer Alex Louloudis and pianist Zack Clarke, What We Are. This is the second Louloudis duo outing as he teamed with saxophonist Rafael Statin […]
Jeff Sanford’s Cartoon Jazz Orchestra Playland at the Beach Little Village Playland at the Beach by Jeff Sanford’s Cartoon Jazz Orchestra is certainly an odd entry for the Little Village label. Heck, it is an odd entry for album review/background piece, period. Yet, it was this line in the promotional materials that piqued this writer’s […]
Sean Mason Southern Suite Blue Engine This writer had one of those weird “what world are they in? moments recently encountering an article questioning why the piano is losing favor. Admittedly, while not going very far into the article and chalking it up as one of the pop-oriented articles that often hits the phone, it […]
Kerri Powers Love Is Why Wildflower Child New England singer-songwriter Kerri Powers returns with her first album since 2018 with Love Is Why, songs written during the pandemic and steeped in loss and grieving when Powers was processing the loss of her father, with whom she was very close. So, the writing process was cathartic […]
Randy Lee Riviere Blues Sky New Wilderness Blues Sky represents a shift for singer-songwriter Randy Lee Riviere, teaming again with the acclaimed producer Kevin McKendree who produced, engineered, and mixed the album. The last time we visited Riviere he and McKendree delivered a western tinged Americana effort, 2021’s Wyoming. Before that, under the moniker Mad […]
Emma Wilson Memphis Calling Emma Wilson was the “Emerging Blues Artist of The Year” at the UK Blues Awards in 2022. As a result Wilson returned to Memphis to record this new album. Emmy Award winning Producer Scott Bomar brought in legendary Memphian musicians including organist Charles Hodges, bassist Leroy Hodges, and Booker T. and […]
Jeremy Udden Wishing Flower Sunnyside Alto saxophonist and composer Jeremy Udden unveils a new, “old” instrument on, Wishing Flower, the Lyricon, a wind synthesizer which is a precursor to the EWI. Playing with his collaborators over the past 15-20 years, Udden leads a quartet of guitarist Ben Monder, acoustic bassist Jorge Roeder, and drummer Ziv […]
The Angelica Sanchez Nonet Nighttime Creatures Pyroclastic Nighttime Creatures is the debut of rising pianist and composer Angelica Sanchez’s nonet, culled from the ranks of some of the leading lights in the creative music scene. Somehow, we failed to cover her widely hailed 2022 trio album Sparkle Beings with Michael Formanek and Billy Hart, so […]
Vincent Hsu Music for the River Jazz Suite: The Spirit of Love River & Mississippi River Truth Revolution Bassist and composer Vincent Hsu’s stunning and surprising Music for the River Jazz Suite: The Spirit of Love River & Mississippi River finds common ground between two seemingly disparate great rivers: Love River of Hsu’s hometown of Kaohsiung, Taiwan […]
Anton O’Donnell Tomber Sur PRW Need to Know Trust that this, though the artist may be and certainly the title is unfamiliar, is a terrific singer-songwriter album. Now for the explanations: 1) Anton O’Donnell is a Scottish musician who somehow connected with longtime producer Brian Brinkerhoff who helmed this album with 18 musicians participating spread […]
Donald Vega As I Travel Imagery/Tiger Turn Acclaimed pianist and composer Donald Vega may best be known as the pianist in Ron Carter’s Golden Striker Trio, but this is the fourth time he has stepped out as a leader with his own project. As I Travel is an autobiographical suite of compositions that traces Vega’s emigration to […]
Chest Fever Music from Big Pink Blind Owl Let’s get the prerequisite qualifier down first; this writer has made an exception and is covering a cover band. It’s only happened three times before, and for the same reason – love and respect for the music of The Band. Two of these were with Jim Weider-led […]
Shuteen Erdenebaatar Rising Sun Motéma Music Rising Sun is the debut album by Munich-based pianist and composer Shuteen Erdenebaatar now available on all platforms. At just 25, this nascent star from Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, is leading three world class ensembles and has accumulated an impressive array of important prizes for young musicians on the European jazz scene […]
Andrea Veneziani The Lighthouse Self-released Bassist and composer, the Italian-born Andrea Veneziani delivers his second album as a leader, The Lighthouse, featuring a quartet of cornetist Kirk Knuffke, who is clearly and deservedly making the rounds these days, guitarist Charlie Sigler, and drummer Allan Mednard for the bassist’s eight originals. There is an eleven-year gap […]
Sue Foley LIVE in Austin Vizztone Lable Group Sue Foley has become a perennial Blues Music Award winner having won The Blues Music Female Artist of The Year award, also known as the Koko Taylor Award in 2020, 2022, and 2023. This live recording is a career retrospective. Although her most recent albums are “The […]
Robert Rex Waller Jr. See the Big Man Cry Have Harmony, Will Travel See the Big Man Cry is the second album from I See Hawks in L.A. frontman Robert Rex Waller Jr., who collaborated with Carla Olson to record this wide-ranging effort. The two have long sung together in shows around L.A. and each […]
Chris Botti Vol. 1 Blue Note If you were expecting trumpeter Chris Botti to change his game with his new signing to Blue Note, then your expectations will only slightly be met. If, on the other hand, you adore his mellow, pristine tone and flawless execution, you can be assured that it all remains intact […]
Constantine Alexander Firetet Self-released Firetet is the debut for Chicago-based trumpeter/composer/educator Constantine Alexander who leads his own quintet through seven blazing originals. Although this is the first for the Greek American, he keeps a very busy slate in the Windy City, playing with Roy McGrath’s Menjunje, Marques Carroll’s Trumpet Summit, and the Chicago Blackhawks. His […]
Hays Street Hart Bridges Smoke Sessions Hays Street Hart sallies forth in their second outing as the piano trio of Kevin Hays, bassist Ben Street, and NEA Jazz Master drummer Billy Hart with Bridges following up their 2021 All Things Are. The latter effort was livestreamed, perhaps not even intended to be an album. Yet, […]
Art Hirahara Echo Canyon Posi-Tone The stalwart rhythm section of pianist Art Hirahara, bassist Boris Kozlov, and drummer Rudy Royston who grace so many of the Posi-Tone label releases, have this one, Echo Canyon, to themselves. Leader Hirahara indicated that this, his ninth album for the label, was not a planned session but rather a […]
Nathan Graham Steps Saint of Second Chances Pravda Welcome singer-songwriter, Chicago’s Nathan Graham to the fold. His circuitous route has taken him from a youth absorbed in such commercial acts as Prince and Earth, Wind, and Fire to many a night supporting various blues acts at Buddy Guy’s Legends or Kingston Mines in his hometown. […]
Jennifer Wharton’s Bonegasm Grit & Grace Sunnyside The inside album photo reveals one female amongst seven males, symbolic in a sense of the odds that a female faces in the music world, particularly on the trombone. Yet, Jennifer Wharton is the leader of this ensemble, Bonegasm, and she plays bass trombone to boot. Grit & […]
Larkin Poe An Acoustic Companion Tricki-Woo Records When sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell lead the roots and blues rockers Larkin Poe, they inject their Southern Gothic-bred songs with high octane-addictive, modern pop gas. But around the time of the pandemic, the sisters flooded social media with videos of themselves as an acoustic duo in […]
Billy Mohler Ultraviolet Contagious Music Ultraviolet is leader, bassist, and Grammy-winner Billy Mohler’s follow-up to his 2022 Anatomy, also covered on these pages. As delineated then, Mohler has worked as a sideman, producer, and songwriter for Dolly Parton. Macy Gray. Lady Gaga, Mavis Staples, Jimmy Chamberlin Complex, and others. This is the third outing for his […]
Mendoza Hoff Revels Echolocation AUM Fidelity Imagine the sound of the iconic MC5 and four of today’s aggressive avant-garde musicians and that, as well as anything, may define the sonics of the quartet dubbed Mendoza-Hoff-Revels. They are the ferocious guitarist Ava Mendoza, who broke out on William Parker’s 2021 Mayan Space Station, covered on these […]
John Scofield Uncle John’s Band ECM As the esteemed jazz guitarist that John Scofield is, his repertoire is often wide ranging, encompassing country, folk, rock, and funk. He’s never really left the genres he grew up with behind. As Scofield’s long coveted title suggests, this new double LP, which takes its name from the Grateful […]
Caroline Davis’ Alula Captivity Ropeadope Avant alto saxophonist, composer and activist Caroline Davis and her band Alula issue through Ropeadope Davis’ first social justice album, Captivity. Davis’ electronics infused compositions speak to the lives of eight heroes who kept hope alive through incarceration. Joining Davis are turntablist Val Jeanty, bassist Chris Tordini and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, as well as special guests Qasim […]
Ron Blake Mistaken Identity 7tēn33 Productions Saxophonist and composer Ron Blake releases his first album as a leader in fifteen years with Mistaken Identity, a tight quartet recording featuring his longtime friend, the guitarist Bobby Broom along with bassists Nat Reeves or Reuben Rogers and drummer Kobie Watkins. As you may recall we covered Broom’s […]
Jocelyn Gould Sonic Bouquet Self-released Rather than continue to advance her quickly growing career with a batch of originals, Canadian guitarist and composer, 2021 JUNO Award winner Jocelyn Gould opts for some comfort by including standards and deferring to her colleague and mentor, guitarist Randy Napoleon, who has three of the nine tunes here while […]
Tom Paxton and John McCutcheon Together Appalseed This collaboration between two giants of folk music, Tom Paxton and John McCutcheon, seems predestined but still may not have happened if it weren’t for the intervention of the pandemic. Though a series of conversation via ZOOM, the reminiscing and sports talk soon turned to songwriting, resulting in […]
Emmet Cohen Featuring Houston Person Master Legacy Series Vol. 5 Bandstand Presents To see pianist Emmet Cohen collaborating with a legendary elder jazz statesman is nothing new. If you are at all tuned to social media, you’ll see tons of YouTube clips (bet you can find this one too) of Cohen with his guests at […]
Quinsin Nachoff Stars and Constellations Adyharopa We’re taking a bit of a calculated risk with this one, realizing that writing about classical music on these pages will turn most readers away. Yet, we did cover composer and saxophonist Quinsin Nachoff’s 2020 Pivotal Arc on these same pages, so why not inform you about Stars and […]
Michelle Lordi Two Moons Imani Two Moons is vocalist and songwriter Michelle Lordi’s fifth album as a leader, and the second with bassist Matthew Parish serving as a co-producer as he did on her 2019 Break Up the Sound. Just as that album featured a A-list cast (guitarist Tim Motzer, saxophonist Donny McCaslin, and drummer […]
Darrell Grant’s MJ New Our Mr. Jackson Lair Hill For whatever reasons, today we seldom hear about one of the longest running groups in jazz, the Modern Jazz Quartet, dubbed MJQ. Led by pianist John Lewis with vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Connie Kay, (who replaced Kenny Clarke), they were formed in […]
Steve Gellman All You Need Self-released Multiple award-winning Maryland singer-songwriter Steve Gellman has released his thirteenth album, All You Need. The album carries the ambience of an authentic folk singer backed by an impressive casts including members of The Seldom Scene, guitarist Nina Gerber, Chao Tian (a special star on this album), Grammy winners Cathy […]
Joe Bonamassa Blues Deluxe Vol. 2 J&R Adventures Joe Bonamassa cannot possibly have an off switch, only one that adjusts the mode. If he’s not out promoting an album onstage somewhere in the world, he’s likely in a studio working on the next one. Blues Deluxe Vol. 2 marks his 51st in 23 years, considering […]
Dave Keller It’s Time To Shine Montpelier, Vermont’s Dave Keller has been schooled by the very best. He studied acoustic blues with guitarist Paul Rishell, and soul blues with guitarist Robert Ward. After releasing the Dave Keller Band debut in 1998 he began to be mentored by Mighty Sam McClain who lived in nearby New […]
Ray Bonneville On the Blind Side Stonefly Juno Award winner and multiple Juno nominee, the Quebec-born, well-traveled and currently Austin-based blues and roots artist Ray Bonneville returns with his tenth solo album, On the Blind Side. This is Bonneville’s post-pandemic release, and understandably may be even more introspective than some previous efforts, leaning a bit […]
