making a Scene

Carlos Henriquez A Nuyorican’s Tale Tiger Turn To begin, this writer has just a wee bit of egg on his face for the first part of this sentence in the review of Carlos Henriquez’s The South Bronx Story that read as follows – “This project will never reach {West Side Story’s”} lofty stature but is more […]

Maddie Vogler While We Have Time Origin While We Have Time is the debut for alto saxophonist, composer, and educator Chicago-based Maggie Vogler.  Vogler hails from Cuban heritage and a few of those strains are heard in this uplifting set of original tunes. Vogler performs with a Chicago-based quintet/sextet featuring her mentor and now label […]

Itamar Borochov Arba Greenleaf Music Arba, which in Hebrew means ‘four,” marks the number of albums issued by New York-based trumpeter, composer, and vocalist Itamar Borochov.  Perhaps just as importantly it marks his debut for Dave Douglas’ Greenleaf Music. There are a couple of other firsts as well as Borochov sings here and almost exclusively […]

Geof Bradfield, Richard D. Johnson, John Tate and Samuel Jewell Our Heroes AFAR Music In democratic fashion, the names of all four quartet members appear, yet the leader here is label owner and pianist Richard D. Johnson, who has helmed a series of themed collaborative projects. This one, Our Heroes, pays tribute to important jazz […]

Mike Boone Enjoying the View Self-released In the spirit of an independent release, the backbone of this magazine, we present bassist/composer/vocalist Mike Boone, a vital contributor to the Philadelphia jazz community since the early ‘80s.  Enjoying the View is Boone’s eighth release as a leader, and it defies many of the so-called conventions.  It does […]

Hilario Duran and His Latin Jazz Big Band Cry Me a River Alma The Cuban Canadian composer and pianist Hilario Duran delivers his first big band project in 17 years with Cry Me a River. He leads a 19-piece ensemble and features special guests Paquito D’ Rivera, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, and the Toronto-based duo […]

Jim Campilongo & Steve Cardenas New Year Sunnyside Jim Campilongo and Steve Cardenas are two longtime friends and guitarists, who, although playing as a tandem for twenty years, had never had the opportunity to record together until now. That makes it a momentous celebratory occasion, worthy of the album title, New Year. Readers of these […]

Jason Moran – Marcus Gilmore – BlankFor.ms Refract Red Hook Over the past decade, Jason Moran, whether leading his own ensembles or trios; or paired with Archie Shepp or Charles Lloyd, has been one of the leading piano voices in jazz. He also serves as the Artistic Director for Jazz at The Kennedy Center in […]

Dan Levinson Celebrating Bix! Turtle Bay Records In one sense this feels like a continuation of the story we brought you about Gennett Records this past June where the Buselli/Wallarab Jazz Orchestra delivered the 2-CD set The Gennett Suite, the second part of which featured mostly to the music of cornetist and premier jazz soloist […]

Christian Dillingham Cascades Greenleaf Music Bassist and composer Christian Dillingham debuts on Dave Douglas’ Greenleaf Music, a testament to the quality of Dillingham’s music, and his first jazz album as a leader. Dillingham has a gospel, classical, and pop background as a sideman having appeared on jazz albums by Greg Ward, gospel with Kirk Franklin, […]

Madd for Tadd (Kent Engelhardt & Stephen Enos) Central Avenue Swing and Our Delight (2 CD set) Tighten Up The first order of business is to explain the various heading here. Madd for Tadd is a 15-piece big band co-led by saxophonist Kent Engelhardt and trumpeter Stephen Enos, devoted to the music of legendary jazz […]

Brandon Sanders Compton’s Finest Savant The adage “it’s never too late” fits drummer Brandon Sanders who at age 52 is making his recording debut after playing drums for the better part of three decades. Though the title may suggest otherwise, Sanders is based in New York and has a ‘day job’ as a social worker, […]

Richard Baratta Off the Charts Savant We’ve covered film producer and drummer Richard Baratta’s previous two releases here that were both focused on movie music compositions. On Off the Charts he casts aside that successful formula in favor of music that inspired him while growing up. Instead of choosing highly recognizable fare however, he instead, […]

Various Artists Shorter Moments – Citizen Wayne Posi-Tone This March we covered Shorter Moments–Exploring the World of Wayne, a Posi-Tone release of various artists interpreting the late Wayne Shorter’s ballads. It was their second tribute to the iconic jazz composer. Now the third and final tribute arrives just the documentary, Zero Gravity, arrives on August […]

Maci Miller Nine Self-released The natural inclination when one sees the Philadelphia-based jazz vocalist Maci Miller’s album title is to think that it is her ninth recording. While it’s only her second, there is plenty of meaning behind the title as she assures us in her liner notes. There are nine songs, nine musicians, and […]