making a Scene

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 […]

Willie Morris Conversation Starter Posi-Tone While you may have seen the name Willie Morris gracing Posi-Tone releases such as those of Josh Lawrence and Something Blue, Conversation Starter is the saxophonist and composer’s debut as a leader. Hailing from St. Louis, Morris has studied at Eastern Illinois University and at Julliard where he learned from […]

Ember August in March Imani We covered alto saxophonist Caleb Wheeler Curtis’ stunning 2022 Heat Map on these pages as well as bassist Noah Garabedian’s 2022 Consider the Stars. Yet, this is our introduction to the trio Ember, comprised of both Curtis, Garabedian, and drummer Vincent Sperrazza, whose name graces several releases from Posi-tone, also […]