making a Scene

John Scofield Uncle John’s Band ECM As the esteemed jazz guitarist that John Scofield is, his repertoire is often wide ranging, encompassing country, folk, rock, and funk. He’s never really left the genres he grew up with behind. As Scofield’s long coveted title suggests, this new double LP, which takes its name from the Grateful […]

Caroline Davis’ Alula Captivity Ropeadope Avant alto saxophonist, composer and activist Caroline Davis and her band Alula issue through Ropeadope Davis’ first social justice album, Captivity.  Davis’ electronics infused compositions speak to the lives of eight heroes who kept hope alive through incarceration. Joining Davis are turntablist Val Jeanty, bassist Chris Tordini and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, as well as special guests Qasim […]

Ron Blake Mistaken Identity 7tēn33 Productions Saxophonist and composer Ron Blake releases his first album as a leader in fifteen years with Mistaken Identity, a tight quartet recording featuring his longtime friend, the guitarist Bobby Broom along with bassists Nat Reeves or Reuben Rogers and drummer Kobie Watkins. As you may recall we covered Broom’s […]

Jocelyn Gould Sonic Bouquet Self-released Rather than continue to advance her quickly growing career with a batch of originals, Canadian guitarist and composer, 2021 JUNO Award winner Jocelyn Gould opts for some comfort by including standards and deferring to her colleague and mentor, guitarist Randy Napoleon, who has three of the nine tunes here while […]

Emmet Cohen Featuring Houston Person Master Legacy Series Vol. 5 Bandstand Presents To see pianist Emmet Cohen collaborating with a legendary elder jazz statesman is nothing new. If you are at all tuned to social media, you’ll see tons of YouTube clips (bet you can find this one too) of Cohen with his guests at […]

Quinsin Nachoff Stars and Constellations Adyharopa We’re taking a bit of a calculated risk with this one, realizing that writing about classical music on these pages will turn most readers away. Yet, we did cover composer and saxophonist Quinsin Nachoff’s 2020 Pivotal Arc on these same pages, so why not inform you about Stars and […]

Michelle Lordi Two Moons Imani Two Moons is vocalist and songwriter Michelle Lordi’s fifth album as a leader, and the second with bassist Matthew Parish serving as a co-producer as he did on her 2019 Break Up the Sound. Just as that album featured a A-list cast (guitarist Tim Motzer, saxophonist Donny McCaslin, and drummer […]

Darrell Grant’s MJ New Our Mr. Jackson Lair Hill For whatever reasons, today we seldom hear about one of the longest running groups in jazz, the Modern Jazz Quartet, dubbed MJQ. Led by pianist John Lewis with vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Connie Kay, (who replaced Kenny Clarke), they were formed in […]

Ethan Philion Gnosis Sunnyside We covered bassist Ethan Philion’s debut as a leader, 2022’s Meditations on Mingus on the pages. Now Philion returns with his second, a departure from the large 10-piece ensemble he led then, paring down to a quartet to render mostly his own originals on Gnosis. The rarely heard term means knowledge […]

Hiromi’s Sonicwonder Sonicwonderland Telarc The internationally recognized and Grammy-winning pianist and composer Hiromi, unveils her new quartet, dubbed Sonicwonder for a slight departure in her sound that now incorporates electronics and funk. For the first time Hiromi is also playing electric keyboards and synths while trumpeter Adam O’Farrill uses pedals. Hadrien Feraud is the bassist […]

Miho Hazama – m_unit Beyond Orbits Edition Composer and conductor Miho Hazama celebrates the tenth anniversary with her m_unit on Beyond Orbits, her version of the concept of Afro-futurism, explored by many creative musicians before her, most notably Sun Ra. Although the “Afro” piece of the equation doesn’t fit, Hazama’s concept is built on her […]

Matthew Shipp The Intrinsic Nature of Shipp Mahakala There well may not be a more prolific musician than pianist and composer Matthew Shipp, who since arriving in New York in the ‘90s has over one hundred releases under his name no fewer than eight since the inception of 2022.  He is now regarded as one […]

Todd Sickafoose Bear Proof Secret Hatch Bear Proof is 62 minutes of continuous music by a super group of creative musicians led by Tony and Grammy-winning bassist, composer, and producer Todd Sickafoose.  The album was recorded in the since shuttered Fantasy studios (Berkeley, CA) and the delay in getting it issued likely attests to Sickafoose’s […]

Michael Dease Swing Low Posi-Tone This writer was initially puzzled to see trombonist Altin Sencalar on a small combo album by the award-winning trombonist Michael Dease but when viewing the album cover that has Dease cradling a baritone saxophone, I began to better understand this latest effort, Swing Low. We call Dease lots of things […]