Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste, a funky furnace that once powered the Meters, has just released a tour-de-force project aptly titled New Life.

Easy comparisons arrive quickly as the new self-titled Abstract Logix debut release by Human Element spins, since the group has connections to the original pioneers who fused jazz and world music.

Some non sequiturs make no sense, like jumbo shrimp. Others, like Glambilly, couldn’t be more perfect. This San Antonio-based threesome plays rootsy punk rock, sounding at times more than a little downhome — but with nary a trace of countrypolitan refinery. That makes for a sound, and an album, is that is consistently, brilliantly surprising. Check out the nasty little [...]

A blossoming career that started in Birmingham, Alabama recently had a stop all the way over in Stockholm, Sweden. For tenor saxophonist Sean Nowell’s third album (all of which are on Posi-Tone Records, by the way),