making a Scene

Ryan Meagher AftEarth Atroefy This writer has seen several integrated, cross-media projects recently. In fact, pianist Yelena Eckemoff issued one recently which you may have seen on these pages. Often musicians pair their songs with videos, though not usually for an entire album. In short, most multi-media projects are two dimensional. Enter Portland-based jazz guitarist/composer […]

Dara Starr Tucker Dara Starr Tucker Green Hill Music That same Philadelphia-based Dara Tucker we covered on her 2021 Dreams of Waking: Music for a Better World (Green Hill) now releases the eponymous Dara Starr Tucker, her sixth album.  As we pointed out last time, Dara Starr Tucker is a jazz/roots singer, notably contributing to […]

Jan Cronin I Thought About You Scootermusic Jan Cronin is a versatile vocalist who has performed in several genres, found success in pop/rock and blues, but has long desired to sing a collection of the Great American Songbook which she does here on the beyond intimate I Thought About You. Cronin’s album is deeply personal […]

Michael Blake Dance of the Mystic Bliss P&M Michael Blake, a major force in the NYC creative music scene, is a saxophonist, composer, and bandleader who assembled a new ensemble, Chroma Nova, for this album of original pieces, Dance of the Mystic Bliss. As the band name suggests, these instruments and players produce a varied […]

Mark Ciprut Blue House White Label New York-based guitarist and composer Mark Ciprut finds a sweet spot between electric blues, classic organ trio, and jazz-fusion sounds on Blue House, co-produced with bass legend Jimmy Haslip and drummer Tommi Rautiannen. Both of them play on the record which also boasts notable names in bassist James Genus, […]

Idle Hands Get a Grip Posi-Tone Jazz enthusiasts will associate the word “Idle” with Grant Green’s classic album Idle Moments and indeed that’s the concept behind the collective, made up of the same instrumentation on Green’s record.  Get a Grip is the second installment for the group of musicians who often appear as leaders or […]

Joannie Pallatto Accidental Melody Southport Readers of these pages may be familiar with Joannie Pallatto by name, if not by music, as she and her husband Bradley Parker-Sparrow are the co-owners of Southport Records, and prime movers behind the recent surge of recordings and support for ninety plus year old blues/jazz guitarist George Freeman, a […]

Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke Lean In Edition Although the duo of vocalist-arranger Gretchen Parlato and guitarist-vocalist Lionel Loueke have performed together relatively often and have contributed to each other’s projects, Lean In is their inaugural recording. Written during the pandemic on two different continents, the project evolved between Luxembourg and Los Angeles, where the two respectively reside. […]

Joe Farnsworth In What Direction Are You Headed? Smoke Sessions In What Direction Are You Headed? is the third album as a leader on Smoke Sessions for “ Time to Swing,” drummer Joe Farnsworth. He has built his reputation as one of the best straight-ahead drummers in jazz for the likes of Wynton Marsalis, George […]

Dominic Miller Vagabond ECM Guitarist Dominic Miller, a longtime member of Sting’s band, releases his third album as a leader for ECM as he fronts a quartet. His co-conspirators are pianist Jacob Karlzon, bassist Nicolas Fiszman, and drummer Ziv Ravitz. (More on them later). Miller’s first album, Silent Light (2017) was a solo venture and […]