CD Reviews

Jonathan Suazo Ricano Ropeadope Getting directly to the point, although Ricano is the debut for the Puerto Rican saxophonist and composer Jonathan Suazo, it rivals last year’s Best Latin Jazz Grammy-nominated Música De Las Américas by fellow Puerto Rican Miguel Zenón. It’s that impressive.  Suazo has both Puerto Rican and Dominican roots and fuses these Afro forms […]

Allan Harris Live at Blue Llama Love Production Renowned vocalist and guitarist Allan Harris follows up his outstanding 2021 studio release Kate’s Soulfood with his first live album in thirteen years, Live at Blue Llama.  The club is a relatively new, state-of-the art-venue in Ann Arbor, MI.  The live set, which includes a mix of covers and originals […]

Gerry Gibbs Thrasher People Family Whaling City Sound Just to set your expectations, drummer, keyboardist, and composer Gerry Gibbs is the son of the esteemed composer Terry Gibbs, who issued The Terry Gibbs Songbook at age 96, one that we covered here. In 2021 Gerry issued a trio recording, with his Thrasher Trio(s), the Grammy […]

Alan Ferber Nonet Up High, Down Low Sunnyside Although readers of these pages have seen trombonist Alan Ferber as a sideman on several projects that we’ve covered, this is your introduction to Ferber as a bandleader and composer, leading his nonet, as he’s done for over twenty years. The members are leading voices on their […]

Mehmet Ali Sanlikol & What’s Next Turkish Hipster – Tales from Swing to Psychedelic DÜNYA Often this writer has heard musicians stating that each album should be different in some way from the previous. Few take this to heart more than composer and multi-instrumentalist and cultural scholar Mehmet Ali Sanlikol. Across his seven albums he […]

Matt Von Roderick Celestial Heart BFD Trumpeter/vocalist/composer Matt Von Roderick continues to push the envelope.  Case in point in his own words – “Half of CELESTIAL HEART is composed of unique arrangements of standards from the American Songbook, while the other half of the album is comprised of completely free, creative improvisation and spontaneous composition. The mixture […]

Leo Genovese, Demian Cabaud & Marcos Cavaleiro Estrellero  Sunnyside  Argentinean pianist Leo Genovese (Esperanza Spalding, Leni Stern) met his fellow countryman, bassist Demian Cabaud, while they both attended Berklee in Boston. Their twenty-year friendship has never diminished, even as Cabaud settled in Porto, Portugal. It was in Portugal, that the duo met drummer Marcos Cavaleiro, […]

Sofia Goodman Secrets of the Shore Joyous Secrets of the Shore may seem like an odd title for the Nashville based composer-drummer Sofia Goodman and her eponymous Group. This is their second album, and they move away from the funk-fusion that marked their debut, 2018’s Myriad of Flowers, into a mostly introspective post-bop mode. As […]

Greg Joseph Drop the Rock Sunnyside In what at times seems like our never-ending quest to bring you every possible variation of the classic jazz organ trio, we now present the trio of drummer/composer Greg Joseph, organist Larry Goldings, and guitarist Steve Cardenas in Joseph’s debut role as bandleader for Drop the Rock. The hand-picked […]

Melvin Smith Perseverance MISMAWO Music Perseverance is the seventh album by the saxophonist and composer Melvin Smith. The album is split evenly between an acoustic saxophone led quartet and a saxophone led organ trio. The tracks alternate as such with Smith doubling on soprano and tenor. With his gospel background, he merges spiritual material with […]

Sammy Figueroa Busco tu Recuerdo (Searching For a Memory) Ashé Records Searching For A Memory (Busco Tu Recuerdo) is a project that took massive amounts of courage for GRAMMY-nominated percussionist Sammy Figueroa to even consider, let alone complete. Figueroa’s first album in nearly a decade is dedicated to the memory and music of his father, the […]

Greg Joseph Drop the Rock Sunnyside In what at times seems like our never-ending quest to bring you every possible variation of the classic jazz organ trio, we now present the trio of drummer/composer Greg Joseph, organist Larry Goldings, and guitarist Steve Cardenas in Joseph’s debut role as bandleader for Drop the Rock. The hand-picked […]

Russ Lossing Alternate Side Parking Music Aqua Piazza Alternate Side Parking Music marks the debut of pianist/composer/improviser Russ Lossing’s new quartet, King Vulture with reedist Adam Kolker, bassist Matt Pavolta, and drummer Dayeon Seok. Even more importantly, this is a brilliant album that will have you smiling and probably even laughing as Lossing’s compositions often […]

Nicole Zuraitis How Love Begins Outside in Music Jazz singer-songwriter and vocal/instrumentalist, the Grammy-nominated Nicole Zuraitis, teams with bassist and co-producer Christian McBride on How Love Begins, a seldomly expressed and at times irreverent but realistic dissertation on the ebbs and flows of modern love. Besides the multi-talented Zuraitis and McBride, the supporting cast includes Gilad Hekselman on guitar, Maya Kronfeld on […]

Douyé The Golden Sèkèrè Rhombus Nigerian-born, L.A.-based jazz vocalist Douyé puts a completely refreshing spin on the Great American Songbook on The Golden Sèkèrè, her fifth album named after the beaded Nigerian percussion instrument. Blending her African heritage with these well-known songs introduces a unique soundscape that in essence makes these familiar songs sound new.  Having sourced a bounty of songs from […]

Wayne Smith Jr. Be Still Blue Collar Drummer, composer, and educator Wayne Smith Jr. is a vital member of the Sun Ra Arkestra, stepping out here as a leader for one of the more calming albums we’ve heard recently.  Leading a quintet that includes trombonist Brent White, alto saxophonist Matthew Clayton, guitarist Ian Macaulay, and […]

Sunnyside While it might be a bit unusual reviewing two albums in the same space, we have two solo piano efforts from two different artists that are on the same label, both essentially interpreting standards. Understand this is not an effort to compare the two or necessarily draw distinctions between the two but their different […]

Patrick Cornelius Book of Secrets Posi-Tone Multi-reedist and composer Patrick Cornelius didn’t intend to originally make Book of Secrets using his arsenal of alto and soprano saxophones, alto flute, and clarinet, thinking that he’d just play the soprano saxophone. Producer Marc Free suggested the variety and the results have yielded arguably the most well-thought out […]

Terry Gibbs Legacy Band The Terry Gibbs Songbook Whaling City Sound The vibraphonist and composer Terry Gibbs thought he was done with music at age 92 but the muse struck, and he gathered several lyric writers (Steve Allen, Michael Dees, Jerry Gladstone, Arthur Hamilton, and Bobby Troup. and a dream band to play 15 of […]

Daniel Hersog Open Spaces (Folk Songs Reimagined) Cellar Music When Cory Weeds and his Vancouver-based Cellar Music is issuing an artist, it behooves this writer to take notice. Conductor, arranger, trumpeter, and composer Daniel Hersog is releasing his second album, Open Spaces (Folk Songs Reimagined) and the idea of taking familiar songs and transforming them […]

Senri Oe Class of ‘88 PND/Sony Masterworks Every so often a story comes along that’s worth sharing, almost aside from the music itself. Contrary to the usual path of a jazz musician crossing into the pop world to achieve commercial success, here we have the former Japanese pop star Senri Oe going in the opposite […]

Nanny Assis Rovanio: The Music of Nanny Assis In + Out Multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer Nanny Assis delivers just his second album as a leader but the first with mostly his own compositions. Demonstrating his love for collaboration, Assis invites twenty guests, including renowned bassist Ron Carter, trumpeter Randy Brecker, guitarist Chico Pinheiro, pianist Fred […]

Noah Haidu Standards Sunnyside The iconic trio of Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, and Jack DeJohnette, known as the Standards Trio, established the template 40 years ago with their first of 21 albums on standards. Rising star Noah Haidu has now carried that legacy forward with an esteemed trio of his own featuring bassists Buster Williams and Peter […]

Dred Scott The Pacific Jazz Group Ropeadope Pianist Dred Scott just took a gigantic left turn, but we shouldn’t be at all surprised given the vast ground the maverick pianist has covered with 11 albums as a leader, over 50 as a sideman, and performances with Anthony Braxton, Cecil McBee, Andrew Cyrille, Joe Morello, Charlie […]

Yosef Gutman Levitt Soul Song Soul Song Yes, you read that correctly as Yosef Gutman Levitt’s Soul Song is the name of the inaugural album on a label of the same name he just founded.  The South African born bassist who wowed us with the sound of his five-string acoustic bass guitar on Upside Down […]