Alex “Apolo” Ayala Bámbula Truth Revolution Bámbula is the debut album from New York-based bassist and composer Alex “Apolo” Ayala. It celebrates his Afro-Puerto Rican culture, comments on his identity, and pays tribute to his late mother and grandmother. Over the course of seven original compositions and one interpretation, Ayala blends Afro-Caribbean styles with jazz traditions in a […]
The Adam Larson Trio With Love, From Chicago Outside in Music Talk about stripped-down. Saxophonist Adam Larson’s trio outing With Love, From Chicago has a black and white photograph for the cover art and no liner notes or details on the inside jacket. More glaringly, in terms of music, there is no chordal instrument either. […]
Micah Graves Pawns Self-released There’s a buzz in Philly, a city that has boasted more than its fair share of legendary jazz artists, about the emerging pianist/composer/educator, 24-year-old Micah Graves, and his already prolific output. He has caught the attention of NPR and when one considers his development, we have a musician that clearly bears […]
Emile Parisien Sextet Louise ACT Music & Vision French soprano saxophonist Emile Parisien forms American-European sextet for Louise, marking a decade with the Munich-based label, ACT Music & Vision. New listeners to Parisien will quickly sense a distinctive soprano saxophone tone, one that is softer and that often reads like a string instrument such as […]
The Jazz All Stars Volume 2 Le Coq The straight-ahead jazz label Le Coq enters its second year, reprising their introductory salvo of 2021, Volume 1, featuring an aggregation of premiere jazz musicians, with The Jazz All Stars, Volume 2. Most of the inaugural roster is aboard including both pianist/composer/arrangers Bill Cunliffe and John Beasley […]
John Hébert Sounds of Love Sunnyside Bassist John Hébert who keeps progressive company with the likes of Fred Hersch, Mary Halvorson, Uri Caine and bands led by Andrew Hill and Paul Bley earlier in his career, has long been fascinated with the music of Charles Mingus to the extent that he has modeled Sounds of […]
Oscar Hernandez & Alma Libre Visión Ovation Visión is the third release and the second on his own label, Ovation, for Multi-GRAMMY® Winning pianist, composer and bandleader Oscar Hernández, a giant of Latin jazz, most known as the leader of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra (SHO). Here, he leads his quintet, Alma Libre – a Los […]
Dave Wilson Stretching Supreme Self-released Dave Wilson’s Stretching Supreme is a follow-up of sorts to his 2019 release One Night At Chris’, a Philadelphia jazz institution that is the site for this tribute to John Coltrane. We did cover that release on these pages. Yes, one may be asking – do we need another tribute […]
Tony Malaby The Cave of Winds Pyroclastic The title, Cave of Winds, sounds like a rock formation but draws its name from an interesting place where saxophonist/composer Tony Malaby and his trio played in 2020 during the lockdown months. Beginning in July of that year, Malaby began hosting improvisational jamming sessions featuring bassist John Hébert […]
Taru Alexander Echoes of the Masters Sunnyside Drummer Taru Alexander was blessed with the jazz genes from his father, saxophonist Roland Alexander, and an extended family of professional musicians while growing up in Brooklyn, NY. As the title, Echoes of the Masters, suggests, the drummer pays tribute, in one of the most sacred traditions of […]
Roswell Rudd & Duck Baker Live Dot Time This is one that broke late in 2021 that we’d be remiss to overlook. It is not often that one finds duets between trombone and fingerstyle guitar to begin with and considering that the trombonist is the late legendary Roswell Rudd along with the renowned finger stylist […]
Dave Young Mantra Modica Music This is the third review you may be reading this week about a Canadian artist, in this case, the seemingly ageless bassist and composer Dave Young, 81 years young (not a play on words, it just turned out that way). If you are unfamiliar with him, consider that he has […]
Asaf Yuria Exorcisms Jojo Israeli saxophonist Asaf Yuria’s Exorcisms is an old school album, or mostly a vintage hard bop excursion. One can tell Yuria grew up on the great Blue Note era of the 1960s with artists such as Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Lee Morgan, and early John Coltrane. Consider the conventional […]
Cory Weeds With String – What Is There To Say? Cellar Music Group We’ve heard so many produced projects recently from Cory Weeds that we’ve almost forgotten that he’s quite an artist in his own right. In fact, Weeds would likely let you know that he is a saxophonist first, and an entrepreneur in his […]
Matt Patershuk An Honest Effort Black Hen There must be something in those canola fields of Alberta that makes good songwriters. Matt Patershuk is the third singer-songwriter this writer has covered in just the past two months. Those who read reviews know that this writer is especially fond of Black Hen Records, and virtually anything […]
Martin Wind My Astorian Queen Laika We’re brought to this new release, My Astorian Queen by German native, New York-based bassist and composer Martin Wind partly through coincidence. Having just reviewed on these pages, the terrific vocal album While You Were Gone from Paul Jost, on which Wind plays impressively on four tracks as a […]
Mareike Wiening Future Memories Greenleaf Music Certain jazz labels such as Greenleaf Music, Pyroclastic, and Outside in Music are just a few that one can count on for creative jazz presentations today. Greenleaf, the subject at hand, is an independent music company owned, operated and curated by trumpeter and composer Dave Douglas. The label is […]
Joe Fiedler Fuzzy and Blue “Open Sesame” Multiphonics Music Who would have thought we’d encounter the music of the long-running television show Sesame Street through a progressive jazz outfit? Well, this is not the first but the second time for trombonist Joe Fiedler who released Open Sesame in 2019 and is the EMMY-nominated music director […]
Eberhard Weber Once Upon a Time Live in Avignon ECM Bassist Eberhard Weber has been recording since the mid-1970s back in the dark ages when this writer was just beginning his now-retired radio career. Perhaps that’s why we are taking up for the first time a review of a solo bass album. You may not […]
Dylan Jack Quartet Period Pieces Creative Nation Music Period Pieces is the follow-up to this quartet’s 2020 Tale of the Twelve-Foot Man which we covered on these pages. Although we don’t see “Dylan Jack Quartet” on the cover, we see the same four names – guitarist Eric Hofbauer, drummer Dylan Jack, bassist Anthony Leva and trumpeter Jerry […]
Dino Govoni Hiding in Plain Sight Whaling City Sound Hiding in Plain Sight is a terrific title when considering that tenor saxophonist and composer Dino Govoni hasn’t issued a recording in nearly a decade yet has remained continually active as an educator, a long-time faculty member at Berklee School of Music. This is his third […]
Dave Meder Unamuno Songs and Other Stories Outside in Music Undoubtably you are wondering just what are Unamuno songs? This album has quite a concept behind it. Pianist and composer Dave Meder is using the writings of Spanish Civil War-era philosopher Miguel de Unamuno as a historical analogy to recent sociopolitical unrest here in the States. Meder […]
Sylvie Courvoisier and Mary Halvorson Searching for the Disappeared Hour Pyroclastic Pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and guitarist Mary Halvorson are two of the most forward-thinking musicians on their respective instruments. While a duo recording of two chordal instruments may seem bound for clashing rather than harmonizing, one can point to classics such as Bill Evans and […]
Paul Jost Quartet While We Were Gone – Live at Soapbox Gallery Self-released Paul Jost’s While We Were Gone may well be the top jazz vocal album of 2021. Yes, we said the same about Roseanna Vitro’s Sing a Song of Bird, but let’s just consider that one a collaborative vocal effort. Jost delivers a […]
Jeremy Monteiro & Alberto Marsico Jazz-Blues Brothers Jazz Note Back in April of this year, we brought you the elite trio of pianist Jeremy Monteiro aka Singapore’s King of Swing, bassist Jay Anderson, and drummer Lewis Nash Live at No Black Tie. That session introduced this writer and you readers to the swinging, bluesy piano […]
Jane Ira Bloom and Allison Miller Tues Days Outline/Supaphine In 2017 in one of the first jazz reviews (see Wild Lines) this writer contributed to these pages, we praised soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom with these words – “If you love the pure sound of the soprano without the screeching and honking and free from […]
Hayes Carll You Get It All DualTone Hayes Carll has built his career mostly on singer-songwriter roots-rock records but he claims that You Get It All is a country singer-songwriter record. He turns to his wife, Allison Moorer, and her favorite producer, guitar great Kenny Greenberg as co-producers of this, his eighth album. The many […]
Alex Brown The Dark Fire Sessions Self-released Pianist and composer Alex Brown is relatively new on the scene and The Dark Fire Sessions marks only his second release as a bandleader. Having seen Brown perform in virtual performances such as Sean Jones’ Dizzy Spellz at the 2021 Detroit Jazz Festival and at Baltimore’s Keystone Korner […]
Benjamin Schnake Ensemble The Joy of Playing Self-released The Benjamin Schnake Ensemble presents an enticing meshing of jazz and South American music. Schnake, a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger was born in Chile and studied both classical and popular music growing up. He is skilled at the charango (Andean small guitar), pan flutes, and quena (Andean […]
Kazemde George I Insist Greenleaf Music I Insist is the debut as a leader for Brooklyn-based tenor saxophonist, composer, and educator Kazemde George. The title is to both signify an emphatic statement and a nod to Max Roach’s landmark 1960 protest album We Insist! Freedom Now Suite. George has previously released a series of electronic […]
The Delerium Trees STORMS ON THE MOON The Delerium Trees have just released their great album “Tales from the Western Isles” and the next one is already at the start! And this time a double album which of course means double enjoyment! “Storms On The Moon”, sixteen songs, sixteen times unearthly good music and selected […]
Adonis Rose and The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra feat. Cyrille Aimée Petite Fleur Storyville The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) under the direction of drummer Adonis Rose issues its second release, cementing the city’s French connection on a 10-song collaboration, Petite Fleur, with French vocalist, turned Crescent City resident Cyrille Aimée. It was she who […]
Kurt Elling SuperBlue Edition Recently this writer is pondering if there are any limits to Kurt Elling’s talent. We witnessed a two-hour radio play, Big Blind, at the virtual Detroit Jazz Festival held in the beginning of September. His 2020 project Secrets Are the Best Stories, with pianist Danilo Perez won a Grammy. Now we […]
Mary LaRose Out Here little (i) Music Seldom has there been a more appropriate title for an album but it’s fascinating for fans of Eric Dolphy and the edgy music that he made in the early sixties. Vocalist Mary LaRose dedicates Out Here, a play on ‘out there,’ entirely to the music of Dolphy, using […]
Q’d Up Going Places Tantara This is for all the folks, and there are many, who say that there’s no jazz in Salt Lake City, let alone Utah, despite the name of its NBA team. This quintet, Q’d Up, is here to negate that statement. The founder is multi-instrumentalist Ray Smith who started a band […]
Mark Zaleski Band Our Time – Reimagining Dave Brubeck Origin Our Time is far edgier than one might guess, considering that the Mark Zaleski Band is reimagining the music of Dave Brubeck. Mark Zaleski is featured here on alto and soprano saxophone alongside tenor saxophonist Jon Bean, pianist Glenn Zaleski, guitarist Mark Cocheo, bassist Danny Weller, and drummer Oscar Suchanek. […]
Joe Farnsworth City of Sounds Smoke Sessions Drummer and composer Joe Farnsworth has done a great job of branding himself with ‘swing.’ His 2020 album and accompanying emblazoned merchandise are entitled “Time to Swing.” So, it’s that time again as Farnsworth reenlists pianist, NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron, and renowned bassist Peter Washington for another […]
Miki Yamanaka Stairway to the Stars Outside in Music This is our second entry for Miki Yamanaka, who’s stunning 2020 Human Dust Suite we covered on these same pages. She returns with a more intimate recording, Stairway to the Stars, her third album, this time with a drumless trio featuring returning bassist Orlando le Fleming […]
Chet Doxas You Can’t Take It With You Whirlwind Tenor saxophonist Chet Doxas leads a drumless trio featuring bassist Thomas Morgan and pianist Ethan Iverson for You Can’t Take It With You, his twelfth album as leader or co-leader. Doxas plays in another esteemed band, Riverside, with his brother Jim and Dave Douglas and while […]
Eric Wyatt A Song of Hope Whaling City Sound Saxophonist and composer Eric Wyatt bursts out firing on A Song of Hope, his follow-up to 2019’s The Golden Rule, which was a tribute to his self-described godfather, Sonny Rollins. Here, with mostly different bandmates, he moves in a more eclectic direction, honoring Rollins at times, […]
Raymundo Sodré Dengo Ropeadope Listening to the uplifting music of Raymundo Sodré for the first time evoked two references. His Brazilian music hails from the Nordeste (Northeast) and resembles the juju music from Nigeria. Casual listeners may in fact think that it is African music. Also, Charlie Musselwhite once explained to me in an interview […]
MARRANDRO Dark Light Emotions When two musicians meet who could hardly be more different … The result is something that can justifiably be called incredible … the new album by the duo MARRANDRO. Who is this duo? MARRANDRO is on the one hand the songwriter Andrea Hager who has an unmistakable tendency towards the mystical […]
Roseanna Vitro Sing a Song of Bird Featuring Sheila Jordan, Bob Dorough, Marion Cowings, Gary Bartz, Mark Gross Skyline Sing a Song a Bird is a collaboration of four vocal and two saxophone giants as they celebrate the music of the iconic Charlie Parker. The main mover here is Grammy nominee vocalist Roseanna Vitro who […]
Marc Cary Life Lessons Sessionheads United Keyboardist Marc Cary is veteran who built his reputation backing such giants as Abbey Lincoln, Betty Carter, Roy Hargrove, Jackie McLean, and Randy Weston. Yet, with now 18 albums as a leader, this trio debut Life Lessons, with bassist Dan Chmielinski and drummer Diego Joaquin Ramirez reveals a very […]
The Delerium Trees “Tales From The Western Isles” Today I would like to invite you to discover the new album by The Delerium Trees. I’ve already written a few reviews of this band and I’m always thrilled, but I have to say that “Tales From The Western Isles” is something very special. After the debut […]
Pat Metheny Side-Eye – NYC (V1-IV) Modern Recordings No ‘jazz’ musician except Chick Corea has amassed more Grammy awards than Pat Metheny but the use of quote marks around jazz indicates that both for Corea and Metheny, some of these awards were due to projects in other genres besides jazz. Our greatest artists are both […]
Aakash Mittal Nocturne Self-released This unique project, Nocturne, from alto saxophonist and composer Aakash Mittal and his Awaz trio transports you to the nighttime streets of Kolkata, (formerly Calcutta), India. The instrumentation is unusual to say the least as Mittal fronts the trio of guitarist Miles Okazaki and percussionist Rajna Swaminathan (playing mridangam and Kanjira). […]
Dave Zinno & Unisphere Fetish Whaling City Sound Bassist and composer Dave Zinno issues his third album, Fetish, with his group Unisphere. Zinno calls it the culmination of a year without live music and thus, it’s a huge, in some cases, unbridled release of energy for he and his band members – Mike Tucker (tenor […]
Andy Farber and his Orchestra Early Blue Evening ArtistShare Saxophonist, arranger, composer and bandleader Andy Farber issues his fourth album as a leader and second big band effort with Early Blue Evening. His is a 17-piece band that digs back to the original big bands and infuses those sounds with a more contemporary language. The […]
Lisa Hilton Transparent Sky Ruby Slippers Productions Composer/pianist/producer, Lisa Hilton is back less than a year later with her follow-up to her 2020 More Than Another Day, again featuring her longstanding bandmates: Rudy Royston on drums, and Luques Curtis on bass. Considering that this writer has covered Hilton twice previously for two different outlets, perhaps an introduction is appropriate for […]
