Brian Lynch and Sphere of Influence Songbook Vol. 2 Dance The Way U Want To Hollistic MusicWorks Multi-GRAMMY® Award-winning trumpeter Brian Lynch returns with the second volume of his acclaimed Songbook Series: Brian Lynch And Spheres Of Influence – Songbook Vol. 2: Dance The Way U Want To. Lynch’s concept in the Series is to reclaim original compositions that he […]
Hanka G Universal Ancestry Culture Bridge As stated here previously, discovering a new artist often takes different forms whether by recommendation of friends, a glimpse at a video, or by viewing the accompanying musicians supporting the leader. The latter is the case for New York-based Slovak vocalist Hanka G (Gregusova), who with Universal Ancestry is […]
Breezy Rodio Underground Blues Windchill/Bloos The Italian born blues, soul and reggae guitarist Breezy Rodio first made his mark with Linsey Alexander for a decade before debuting solo in 2011 and importantly on Delmark in 2018. So, yes, he is steeped in Chicago blues with a unique guitar style that according to producer of this […]
Barry Coates, Jimmy Haslip, & Jerry Kalaf New Dreams Outside in Music New Dreams is a trio of kindred spirits exploring the cerebral, the explorative, and the ethereal as they highlight the collaborative compositions of Coates and Haslip, and in some cases, all three members. The most familiar name to most would be bassist Jimmy Haslip, […]
Art Hirahara Verdant Valley Posi-Tone Pianist/composer/ and bandleader Art Hirahara delivers his eighth album as leader on the Posi-tone label, this time with a tight quartet rendering mostly originals with a Wayne Shorter cover and a tune each composed by bandmates, the core Posi-Tone rhythm tandem of bassist Boris Kozlov and in-demand drummer Rudy Royston. […]
Mick Kolassa I’m Just Getting Started Endless Blues Eleven albums in, bluesman Mick Kolassa is proclaiming a reset of sorts with his latest, I’m Just Getting Started. Having just moved to Memphis from Mississippi and having overcome his wife’s passing due to cancer and his own battle with COVID-19 in recent years, no one can […]
Derrick Procell Hello Mojo Catfood This is a powerful blues triumvirate – blues singer/songwriter/instrumentalist Derrick Procell, BMA winner and producer Zac Harmon, and label owner/bandleader Bob Trenchard collaborating on Procell’s Catfood Records debut, Hello Mojo. As you likely realize, given those names, the album was recorded at Trenchard’s go-to studio, Sonic Ranch in Tornillo Texas […]
Kirk Fletcher Heartache by the Pound Ogierea Kirk Fletcher is in a bit of a paradox. While he has all the tools of the best bluesmen and the acclaim to prove it as a five-time BMA nominee and one hailed by such outlets as Guitar World Magazine and Guitar.com, he seldom rises to the top […]
Chucho Valdes & Paquito D’Rivera Reunion Sextet I Missed You Too! Sunnyside This is a reunion over 40 years in the making, uniting two of the most iconic Cuban jazz musicians of our times. Saxophonist/clarinetist Paquito D-Rivera has established a decorated legacy of his own since moving to New York in 1980. Among so many […]
Silent Partners Changing Times Little Village Little Village unerringly brings us genuine blues and soul once again with Silent Partners and their album Changing Times, yet another example of sidemen reaching the bright lights. But these aren’t just any sidemen. Between the three of them, they have over 100 years of experience on the road […]
Caleb Wheeler Curtis Heatmap Imani You have to give a quick nod or fist bump to saxophonist/composer Caleb Wheeler Curtis. Heatmap is a pretty cool (ah, oh well) title. While Immanuel Wilkins has drawn more ink in the last few years, it’s fair to say that Curtis is also one of more interesting alto saxophonists […]
Sheila Jordan Live at Mezzrow (with Alan Broadbent and Harvie S) Smalls Live Living Masters Series – Cellar Music This release marks good news on two fronts. We get the marvel, 93-year-old NEA Jazz Master, vocalist Sheila Jordan, and we have the debut of The Smalls Live Living Masters Series, which Jordan is inaugurating. Round […]
Steve Cardenas/Ben Allison/Ted Nash Healing Power –The Music of Carla Bley Sunnyside Renowned jazz composer and pianist Carla Bley is one of the most covered composers in jazz over the past six decades. Bley’s groups and those of her life partner, bassist and composer Steve Swallow, have featured such iconic names as Gary Burton, Paul […]
Michael Dease Best Next Thing Posi-Tone Trombonist and composer Michael Dease takes a broader approach to Best Next Thing than he did on 2021’s excellent soul-jazz/hard bop Give It All You’ve Got. While that set honored the sound of the classic Blue Note (often the notion of early Blue Note and Posi-Tone go hand in […]
Lyle Odjick & The Northern Steam Through the Rain Tone King Here’s a new blues artist from the Great White North. Lyle Odjick hails from the Algonquin reservation of Kitigan Zibi, QC, now based in Ottawa, ON. As you might guess, he went from living in a small town with little exposure to blues or […]
Eyal Vilner Big Band The Jam! Self-released Multi-instrumentalist Eyal Vilner follows up his 2019 swing dancing effort, Swing Out where the band recorded live with swing dancers in the studio with The Jam! continuing to celebrate the renaissance of swing dancing and serve as one of its leading voices on the modern-day big band scene. Born in Tel […]
Dana Fitzsimmons with Bill Graham and Brandon Boone Fault Lines Self-released Jazz trio albums come in many shapes, colors, and configurations with this one, Fault Lines, in the standard piano-bass-drums lineup, anything but standard in its delivery of the music which, for lack of a better term, is free jazz. Drummer and leader Dana Fitzsimmons […]
Julius Rodriguez Let Sound Tell All Verve We almost got caught not paying attention. Much has been said of the so-called new vanguard of jazz whether that means cross-genre types such as Derrick Hodge, Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin and their godfather of sorts, Robert Glasper, yet 23-year-old New York-based keyboards player and drummer Julius Rodriguez […]
Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra In the Valley Stricker Street Recently we’ve seen projects blending the music of Africa and the Middle East. Bandleader and bass clarinetist Todd Marcus takes a slightly different tact in blending Arab (specifically Egyptian music with American jazz on this stimulating project featuring a nonet. Marcus’ dad is an Egyptian and […]
Evan Drybread Tiger Tail Self-released Evan Drybread is a freelance saxophonist from Indianapolis, Indiana and performs with the finest musicians in the Midwest. Although performing mostly in Central Indiana, Evan has performed around the globe including time as a show band musician for Royal Caribbean International. Drybread’s debut album Tiger Tail highlights his tenor and soprano sax […]
Kat Riggins Progeny Gulf Coast Diminutive, powerhouse blues vocalist Kat Riggins has a trademark slogan – “Reviving the Blues One Song at a Time.” On her fourth full-length album and first for Gulf Coast Records, Progeny, brings more than just a blues revival, she brings a mix of Black music ranging form soul to funk […]
Clemens Grassmann Grass Machine Self-released Drummer and composer Clemens Grassmann is obviously elated to record this album, Grass Machine, as he says in this quote, “‘We left the drums the way Billy Hart had set them up,’ they told me as I entered the drum booth,” recalls Grassmann. “I had never felt such a sensation, […]
Vadim Neselovskyi Odesa: A Musical Walk Through a Legendary City Sunnyside The images of Ukraine that we see today are of war-torn cities while press reports and video clips praise the resilience of its people. Pianist and composer Vadim Neselovskyi gives us an artful, insightful musical tour of one the countries most famous cities, Odesa, […]
John Lee The Artist Cellar Music Group Okay, this writer confesses to a bias toward Cory Weeds’ Cellar Music Group. (see Grant Stewart Quartet) They just continue to issue great recordings as exemplified here by the debut as a leader for 28-year-old bassist and multi-instrumentalist John Lee from Vancouver. The Artist is a straight-ahead, swinging […]
Brian Landrus Red List: Music Dedicated to the Preservation of Our Endangered Species Palmetto Brian Landrus works the low end but has a high-minded mission. The poll winner on baritone saxophone and bass clarinet delivers his eleventh album as a leader with a fervent cause – Red List: Music Dedicated to the Preservation of Our […]
Grant Stewart Quartet with Bruce Harris The Lighting of the Lamps Cellar Music Aside from the alluring title, which in terms of words alone, not music, recalls Jim Hendrix’s “Burning of the Midnight Lamp,” we have a straight-ahead, inspired session led by Toronto-born, NYC-based tenorist Grant Stewart and his usual contingent plus rising NYC-based trumpeter […]
Bennett Matteo Band Shake the Roots Gulf Coast Okay, you may not be familiar with the names Jade Bennett and Gino Matteo but there are lots of familiar names and reference points around their eclectic debut, Shake the Roots. Kid Andersen, plays guitar, is a co-producer, and hosted the recording sessions at his famed Greaseland […]
Caili O’Doherty Quarantine Dream Posi-Tone Here’s a fresh name for most of us and a different band than the usual Posi-Tone rhythm section. Caili O’Doherty is a pianist originally from Portland, OR but based in NYC for over the last decade. She is an award-winning performer as well as an educator, holding a Bachelor of […]
Billy Mohler Anatomy Contagious Music The leader, bassist Billy Mohler has worked as a sideman, producer, and songwriter for Dolly Parton. Macy Gray. Lady Gaga, Mavis Staples, Nile Rogers and others. The tenor saxophonist Chris Speed recently joined the revamped Bad Plus. The trumpeter Shane Endsley and drummer Nate Wood play in the Grammy-nominated jazz=-funk […]
Will Bernard Pond Life Dreck to Disk So, as we learned from Grammy-nominated guitarist Will Bernard’s 2021 trio recording Ancient Grains, basically a soul-jazz outing on Posi-Tone covered on these pages, Bernard is a very versatile cat. Here is the opening to the previous review, just to set us up. Bernard, a Berkeley CA native […]
Alan Pasqua, Peter Erskine, Derek Oles Live in Italy Fuzzy Music If you’re not up on the whereabouts of former Weather Report drummer Peter Erskine, he continues to play both in fusion and acoustic formats. On this date, recorded live in Camogli, Italy in November 2021, Erskine shies away from titling the effort under his […]
Martin Bejerano CubanAmerican FR Miami-born pianist and composer Martin Bejerano straddles the lines between post-bop jazz and Latin music. With humility he claims not be a great Latin player, summing up his latest effort, #CubanAmerican, by saying, “It’s not Cuban music and not American music. It’s Cuban American music.” Take his humility lightly. He is […]
Drive-by Truckers Welcome 2 Club XIII ATO America’s preeminent rock band, The Drive-by Truckers, deliver a different, more personal, and nostalgic album with Welcome 2 Club XIII, a major departure from the politically charged The Unraveling and the New OK from 2020. The album takes its name from the Muscle Shoals honky-tonk where founding members […]
Christopher Lockett At the Station Gritbiscuit At the Station is the fourth album for rootsy-blues singer-songwriter Christopher Lockett. He’s a storyteller whose music lies somewhere between hard outlaw country and blues rock. He may be hard to categorize but is undoubtedly a gifted songwriter with insightful and provocative lyrics. Lockett has more than a few […]
John Minnock Simplicity Dot Time Singer and song interpreter John Minnock returns with Simplicity, reprising his artistic partnership with saxophonist-composer and NEA Jazz Master Dave Liebman and following Minnock’s acclaimed 2020 release Herring Cove, which we covered on these pages. Minnock continues to evolve his sound, but fans of Kurt Elling and Mark Winkler will find that Minnock has a […]
Jonathan Barber & Vision Ahead Poetic Vision Ahead Music Jonathan Barber & Vision Ahead are releasing their third album, Poetic, as this group of five musicians that have played together for over a decade, many of whom are band leaders themselves, forge a dynamic, fresh sound. Maintaining the original lineup, the cast features acclaimed drummer Jonathan Barber at […]
Steve Forbert Moving Through America Blue Rose Admittedly this writer was smitten with singer-songwriter Steve Forbert’s 1978 debut, Alive on Arrival and its 1979 follow-up Jackrabbit Slim. He’s made close to twenty records since with a few worthy gems such as 1997’s Here’s Your Pizza and 2012’s Over With You, continually maintaining his signature folk-rock […]
Dionna Greenleaf I Ain’t Playing’ Little Village Readers of these page likely realize that blues vocalist/shouter Diunna Greenleaf is one of the best belting it out today, but she sadly remains criminally under the radar. We’d be remiss not to mention that Greenleaf has already won three Blues Music Awards and countless nominations, but yet […]
Oded Tzur Isabela ECM Israeli-born and raised New York City based saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator Oded Tzur issues his fourth album and second for the ECM label with Isabela, his follow-up to Here Be Dragons. Tzur’s sound on the saxophone is unlike anyone else. That’s because he marries Indian Classical music with jazz and developed a […]
Zero Naught Again Omnivore Not being familiar with the band Zero, a quick scan of the personnel revealed all one needs to know. Surely Deadheads and Jerry Garcia fans know Robert Hunter, Vince Welnick, and John Kahn. The names of the co-founders, guitarist Steve Kimock and drummer Greg Anton should be familiar too as well […]
Big Jack Johnson Stripped Down in Memphis M.C. Big Jack Johnson, guitarist/songwriter/vocalist was one of the few bluesmen from Clarksdale, MS who stayed home. He never migrated north like Muddy Waters, Ike Turner, and John Lee Hooker. Stripped Down in Memphis is a posthumous release of acoustic blues, pairing the legendary bluesman with harmonica master […]
Hendrik Meurkens and the WDR Big Band Samba Jazz Odyssey Zoho Pairing the smallest instrument, a harmonica as the featured lead with a 17-piece big band is paradoxical to begin with. Throw in the notion that the harmonicist, the practically iconic Henrik Meurkens delivers his Latin jazz compositions, a genre that rarely features the instrument, […]
Joey Alexander Origin Mack Avenue Rising jazz pianist, the Indonesian, Joey Alexander has already achieved three GRAMMY® nominations, performed from the Obama White House to the Grand Ole Opry to most recently, the floor of the United Nations and the child prodigy is still three years shy of legal drinking age. Origin, his debut for […]
Christina Vane Make Myself Me Again Red Parlor Make Myself Me Again is the follow-up for resonator-playing, foot-stomping Cristina Vane who made her auspicious debut in 2021 with Nowhere Sounds Lovely. While blues was an essential focus of the debut, Vane revealed her affection for mountain music, folk music, and even western waltzes. Having moved […]
Erik Friedlander A Queen’s Firefly Skiptone If the instrumental configuration of cello, piano, bass, and drums doesn’t wow you from the outset, you will feel quite differently after hearing this inventive, often exhilarating music led by cellist Erik Friedlander and his quartet named The Throw comprised of elite Downtown players who are all bandleaders– Uri […]
Peter Manning Robinson Celestial Candy Owl Walk So, you haven’t heard anything new in music lately? Welcome to a totally unique sound from multiple award-winning composer and pianist Peter Manning Robinson. In fact, we’ll have to expand his job title once we mention that he is the inventor of The Refractor Piano™ a new way […]
Gina Sicilia Unchange VizzTone Superb vocalists have little trouble crossing genres. Gina Sicilia established her career as blues singer, flirted with Americana having moved to Nashville, and is now trying her hand at gospel as she returns to where she started, on the VizzTone label. This is anything but a casual experiment however, as Sicilia […]
CeCe Gable Next Year’s Song Self-released When a jazz vocalist gets an endorsement from Sheila Jordan and when that same singer gathers a first-rate group of accompanists, all bandleaders themselves, you know that the recording is bound to be special. Such is the case for CeCe Gable, a late bloomer with a youthful sounding voice, […]
San Gabriel 7 w/ Sinne Eeg Under the Stars JRL-SGS We covered the progressive California-based funk band San Gabriel 7 for their 2020 release, Red Dress, with vocalist Femi Knight. Now, the band returns with the preeminent vocalist of Scandinavia, Sinne Eeg, in an album of her songs with, as before, mostly the instrumental arrangements […]
Mike Holober & Balancing Act Don’t Let Go Sunnyside Initially you may think that this chamber music project, Don’t Let Go, is a quiet, pensive, mostly classical music listening experience by judging the first few notes that you hear. If you’re familiar with GRAMMY nominated pianist and composer Mike Holober and his several big band […]
