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Judy Wexler Back to the Garden Jewel City Los Angeles-based jazz vocalist Judy Wexler is taking more risks with each album, Back to the Garden, being her sixth. Her last effort, 2018’s Crowded Heart (covered here) had her stepping away from Great American Songbook fare to present, in this writer’s terminology, the Great Global Songbook, […]
Tim Mayer Keeper of the Flame D Clef Saxophonist and composer Tim Mayer leads an octet as well as other intimate configurations of first-call musicians including bassist Rodney Whitaker, drummer Ulysses Owens Jr., and trombonist Michael Dease, with pianist Emmet Cohen sitting in for one track on Keeper of the Flame. The dates and places […]
Jalen Baker This Is Me, This Is Us Outside In Music There’s a new vibraphonist on the scene not named Joel Ross. Indeed, hailing from Houston, TX we have the young Jalen Baker, also a composer of merit that belies his youthful stature with his auspicious debut This Is Me, This Is Us. Baker has […]
Mary Hott with The Carpenter Ants Devil in the Hills – Coal Country Reckoning Self-released You may be thinking that The Carpenter Ants may not be the most inviting band name, but this is as an important concept album as you’ll find. Singer-songwriter Mary Hott is a seventh generation West Virginian who has devotedly researched […]
Bruce Harris Soundview Cellar Music Group Trumpeter Bruce Harris is a died-in-the-wool New Yorker, having grown up in the Soundview section of the Bronx (hence the title) and living now in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem. The album is a tribute to his community and family in both places and Black American Music. The […]
Chris Bergson All I Got Left 2 Shirts Coincidentally as we sit down to write on this day of Levon Helm’s birthday, we have one of his many disciples – singer-songwriter, blues guitarist Chris Bergson, offering his new solo effort, All I Got Left. It’s solo in the true sense of the word as you […]
Dahveed Behroozi Echos Sunnyside Echos is the sophomore album from both classically and jazz trained, California-bred, and New York based pianist Dahveed Behroozi. This is his first studio recording and he’s flanked by two of New York’s finest in this trio – bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Billy Mintz. The leader has already received high […]
Andre Ferreri Quintetto Numero Uno Laser A first glance at the name and title would suggest a European group but New York born, Charlotte, NC-based guitarist Andre Ferreri and his quintet are a stateside group. Ferreri has worked in an array of genres including frequent stints with the Charlotte Symphony. For years he led the […]
Almog Sharvit Get Up or Cry Unit Get Up or Cry is the first album as a leader for New York-based bassist and composer Almog Sharvit. Yet this is far from your conventional jazz record; some of the press materials bill it as a crossover record. Much of that has to do with Sharvit’s sense […]
Alex Conde Descarga for Bud Sedajazz If you were to ask most casual jazz fans to name the most important pianist of the fifties, it would inevitably be Thelonious Monk. Yet although the jazz pianists may agree, they would also name the bebop giant Bud Powell as the major contender as he had a profound […]
Kendall Carter Introducing Kendall Carter Lladnek Music Recently one of my review comments was that organ trios are far from dead. In fact, we’ve seen several contemporary twists on the idiom lately, but newcomer B3 master Kendall Carter mostly embraces the tradition on this soulful, bluesy debut. Impressively he teams with one of today’s most […]
Dara Tucker Dreams of Waking Green Hill Productions The blues readers of these pages probably know the name Dara Tucker, ostensibly a jazz vocalist on this outing – Dreams of Waking – Music for a Better World. She co-wrote and sang on the title track for ‘Keb Mo’s Grammy winning Oklahoma. Tucker indeed hails from […]
Donna Herula Bang at the Door Self-released Donna Herula, a killer slide and resonator player and singer-songwriter, is releasing her third album, Bang at the Door. She brings ten originals, a co-write, and three well-chosen covers. While Herula’s slicing guitar is usually front and center, she is joined by quite a cast including FJ Ventre […]
Ahmed Warshanna Ishta Tiber River Ahmed Warshanna is an artist to watch, hailing from Baltimore and leading a septet that combines the western music of jazz with the eastern music of Egypt. Warshanna is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland Baltimore County where he received a Music Achievement Award in 2020. Warshanna is […]
Aaron Germain Bell Projections Aaron Germain Music This is a one-of-a-kind for this writer and maybe for any artist as the versatile Bay Area musician Aaron Germain who typically plays bass, delivers 17 compositions for guitar quartets and plays every guitar part himself. He does have accompanying musicians who appear in various configurations across the […]
Oliver Wood Always Smilin’ Honey Jar/Thirty Tigers Okay, before anyone gets too worried and jumps off the next cliff, the Wood Brothers remain intact as an ongoing band. That said, Always Smilin’ is the first solo outing for one of the three members, Oliver Wood. As you likely know, brother Chris has long had side […]
Jacqui Naylor The Long Game Ruby Star Jacqui Naylor is not your prototypical jazz vocalist. She stands apart in this intensely competitive field from those who revel in an over reliance the Great American Songbook, scat, and predictable fare. She is a terrific writer and an inventive interpreter of contemporary material found in other genres. […]
Dan Moretti Tres Libre Roots Grooves Tres Libres is the unusual trio album that features ten musicians and ten different instruments. Marking his twentieth recording as a leader, versatile saxophonist Dan Moretti, as you might guess, uses an array of combinations across diverse styles ranging from free-Latin-jazz, funk, ambient, modal, and swing. Moretti employs all […]
Declan O’Rourke Arrivals Miesta Music/Warner UK Arrivals is the seventh album for Irish singer-songwriter Declan O’Rourke and represents his first new material in two years, and importantly, a new raw, intimate sound encouraged and realized by producer Paul Weller of Jam fame. Weller is also a multi-instrumentalist who chips in now and then along with […]
Rale Micic Only Love Will Stay Whaling City Sound Organ trios generally take the soul-jazz path, to the point where such a configuration is too easily stereotyped. Guitarist Rale Micic will argue that he still brings plenty of soul in this quartet setting, Slavic soul that is. As such, it is a refreshingly different sound […]
Maia Sharp Mercy Rising Self-Released Maia Sharp just did two years ago what many singer-songwriters do. She moved to Nashville to be in the company of kindred spirits, hoping her change in scenery from L.A. would inspire her musically and give her personal life a necessary reboot. This is not to say she hadn’t enjoyed […]
Jesse Terry When We Wander Wander Recordings When We Wander marks a series of first for New England-raised, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Jesse Terry. It’s the first album of his seven, that he wrote since becoming a parent, the first he ever recorded live in the studio, and likely the first that was delayed for a year. […]
Lunar Octet Convergence Summit Put Ann Arbor in the headline and this writer is immediately interested, having received a degree from the city’s most famous school and hosting a wonderful jazz radio show during my tenure there. Yet, of course, this is not about yours truly but about the long-running Lunar Octet who return after a […]
Alex Sipiagin Upstream Posi-Tone Russian-born, once New York-based trumpeter Alex Sipiagin has recorded near twenty albums as a leader, yet Upstream marks his debut for the Posi-Tone label. He is backed by the label’s consistent and reliable rhythm team of pianist Art Hirahara, bassist Boris Kozlov, and drummer Rudy Royston, each of whom contribute originals […]
Ted Nash and Glenn Close Transformation Tiger Turn This one takes plenty of concentration. The liner booklet and perhaps this review will help when you listen to Transformation from reedist Ted Nash and actress Glenn Close. It is an ambitious project of the first order with the subhead entitled Personal Stories of Change, Acceptance, and […]
Tony Joe White Smoke from the Chimney Easy Eye Sound Smoke from the Chimney, a nine-song album of never-before-heard Tony Joe White tunes, is the posthumous album that most thought never existed. Produced by Dan Auerbach and rounded out by Nashville’s most seasoned studio musicians, Smoke from the Chimney started as several unadorned voice and guitar demos […]
Van Morrison Latest Record Project: Volume 1 BMG Perhaps no artist was more upset about the pandemic lockdown, at least to the point of railing against it in song, as the ever prolific Van Morrison. And yes, he used the time to generate a ton of new material, indicating that this tongue-in-cheek entitled Latest Record […]
Francesco Amenta Midtown Walk Amenta Music International This is the second release and U.S. debut for saxophonist, pianist, and composer Francesco Amenta. The Italian-born, now New York City based Amenta enlists some premiere players or this effort including co-producer John Lee (best known as Dizzy Gillespie’s bassist and producer for Larry Coryell, Roy Hargrove, Antonio […]
Paul Colombo Group Rio Crystal Vectordisc The Paul Colombo Group is a quartet of players residing in the Philadelphia area, that expanded the original trio of guitarist Paul Colombo, bassist Andy Alonso, and drummer Chris Loser with the addition of renowned pianist/composer Ron Thomas who had played with Pat Martino on 1972’s Pat Martino/Live. As […]
Berta Moreno Afro-Jazz Soul Project Tumaini Tiger Turn Berta Moreno is a Madrid-born, New York -based saxophonist and composer who leads a sextet dubbed the Afro-Jazz Soul Project through the music of Kenya. Morena volunteered, working with children at the Little Ray of Hope School in the Kawangware region of that country several years ago […]
John Daversa Jazz Orchestra (featuring Justin Morell) All Without Words: Variations Inspired by Loren Tiger Turn Multiple Grammy winner, trumpet master, bandleader, composer and arranger John Daversa continues his string of poignant, imaginative, and vastly different projects with this captivating work – All Without Words -Variations Inspired by Loren. And yet, he does not compose, […]
Ben Cosgrove The Trouble with Wilderness Self-released Ben Cosgrove is a traveling composer, pianist, and multi-instrumentalist from New England. He travels constantly all over the country, performing a unique variety of original instrumental music that explores themes of landscape, geography, and environment while straddling a line between folk and classical music. He has delivered several […]
Spike Wilner Trio Aliens & Wizards Cellar Music Group Animated pianist, bandleader and club manager Spike Wilner has enjoyed a long tenure on the New York City and global jazz scenes, performing with the likes of The Artie Shaw Big Band, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Maynard Ferguson & Lennie Cuje while remaining highly active as a […]
Randy McAllister Paperbag Salvation Reaction East Texas-born, South Dakota-based Randy McAllister is an acclaimed blues/roots artist, known principally for his soulful vocals and inventive songs both topically and structurally in a genre that often is far too predictable. McAllister didn’t arrive on the scene overnight. From Texas to Massachusetts to Alaska and then back to […]
Abigail Dowd Beautiful Day Self-released Last year folk singer-songwriter Abigail Dowd issued one of the year’s more provocative albums, her search for identity in Not What I Seem. She now returns with A Beautiful Day, another self-reflective effort, also filled with some haunting songs and a prevailing melancholy that in enough places emerges to find […]
Evan Arntzen Countermelody Dot Time Countermelody is the third album from multi-reedist, vocalist and bandleader Evan Arntzen. This is a throw-back record to the vintage sounds of New Orleans and Chicago in the early days of Black American music in the first half of the twentieth century, signaled in part by the premiere vocalist in the […]
Melody Gardot Sunset in Blue (Deluxe Edition) Decca Singer Melody Gardot is the definition of sultry, dusky romanticism. Her highly acclaimed 2020 Sunset in Blue, is reissued here less than a year later to include five intimate bonus tracks, that leave out the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra that backed the original album, providing soft cushions for […]
Marques Carroll The Ancestors’ Call JMarq This is the debut of trumpeter Marques Carroll leading his quintet, but Carroll is no stranger to Chicago audiences as a member of the Chicago Soul Jazz Collective and the Count Basie Orchestra. This project, The Ancestors’ Call, pays homage to his ancestors and heritage. Joining Carroll is his […]
Arturo O’Farrill The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra Virtual Birdland Zoho Last year we were fortunate to bring you the Grammy-winning effort from Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra –Four Questions. So, it is only fitting that we bring you the follow-up, Virtual Birdland. By now you’ve seen the opening sequence to the Grammys, and you […]
Matt Panayides Field Theory Pacific Coast Jazz Guitarist and composer Matt Panayides tries something new and different for him on his third release, Field Theory. While his first wo albums were acoustic, this one blends that sound with electric by using various guitar pedals and jamming often with Matt Vashlishan, a multi-woodwind instrumentalist who plays […]
The Pink Stones …Introducing. Normaltown/New West There’s a tendency to use the term ‘country’ albeit sparingly with the more famous Athens, GA-based bands, The Drive-by Truckers (DBTs), and to some extent Bloodkin, yet The Pink Stones are by far the most country of the three. They fall into the camp of Cosmic American Music, whose […]
Kane Mathis Geminus Nyaato As we’ve commented before, the kora is one of the most beautiful sounding instruments of any, string or otherwise. It’s not often that we find an accomplished player of the instrument that didn’t grow up in Africa where the instrument is passed on through generations and it’s a testament to the […]
Zoe FitzGerald Carter Waterlines Self-released Author-turned-songwriter Zoe FitzGerald Carter releases her debut solo full-length, Waterlines, featuring ten original songs backed by some of the Bay Area’s best. Her background as a journalist, essayists, and author (Imperfect Endings) gives the album an autobiographical feel, partly implied by the album title, serving as a metaphor for searching clues from […]
Steve Hunt Connections Spicerack The dizzying array of names emblazoned on the CD cover, Billy Cobham, John Patitucci, Vinnie Coliauta, and Eric Marienthal, prominent among the 32, speaks to the album title, Connections for keyboardist Steve Hunt’s second album as a leader. Those prominent names suggest a fusion outing which is what keyboardist Hunt delivers […]
Jack Brandfield I’ll Never Be the Same Gut String New York City Native tenor saxophonist Jack Brandfield, like many musicians, has an affinity for the Great American Songbook. Brandfield holds a B.M in Jazz Studies from Michigan State University and is currently a scholarship recipient from The Frost School of Music at The University of […]
Lorne Lofsky This Song Is New Modica Music Canadian jazz guitarist Lorne Lofsky delivers his first album in more than two decades with This Song is New. A master guitarist known for his pianistic voicings and virtuosic skill, Lofsky is considered one of Canada’s great musical treasures. Joining Lofsky is his tight-knit quartet made up of his […]
Daniele Germani Congregation of Folks GleAM As his debut received an enthusiastic endorsement from saxophone great Joe Lovano, that might be all the encouragement that the budding newcomer Daniele Germani needs. Indeed, A Congregation of Folks introduces a riveting and spirited voice on the alto saxophone, and an intriguing, unique composer. Ten modern jazz compositions, […]
Vinnie Riccitelli Octet For the Record Self-released The music is one thing. And then there’s the story. Sometimes there are both and such is the case with Vinnie Riccitelli as we are looking at likely the longest gap between recording projects in history – 65 years to be exact. Yes, you read that correctly; Riccitelli […]
John Smith The Fray Commoner/Thirty Tigers UK Singer-songwriter John Smith, with one of the most common names around, is not your run-of-the-mill singer-songwriter-guitarist. Those types cannot attract a cast like Smith does here for his highly emotive The Fray. Smith co-produced with long-time friend and producer Sam Lakeman at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio, assembling pianist […]
Various Artists Cumbia 1 & 2 World Circuit World Circuit Records is re-issuing from their celebrated catalog the music and dance associated with Colombia, that’s been with us since the 17th century – Cumbia 1 & 2 performed by a variety of artists and compiled by the label’s world music expert Nick Gold. They will […]
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