Teddy Presberg is the kind of jazz guitarist whose greatest appeal likely to come from those music fans where the closest they come to jazz might be Booker T. And the MG’s, early Meters or Harvey Mandel: bluesy and soulful funk instrumentals. And to be sure, Presberg’s songs on Outcries From A Sea Of Red are heavier on the groove [...]

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.

Last year we introduced a really good avanteer to this site in Rich Halley, a lively and imaginative saxophonist and composer who would probably be more of a household name if he were in Chicago or New York instead of Portland, Oregon.

Listening to the guitarist Aram Bajakian is lot like listening to Marc Ribot, and Aram follows much of Ribot’s wildly divergent style that incorporates the vintage forms of swing, punk and rock and roll into a fresh and daring style. So it’s fair to state that if you like Ribot, you’re gonna like Bajakian, too.

Being in a town known for some mind expanding and often quirky acts (Tortoise, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Vandermark 5, etc.), Cheer-Accident stands out in their hometown Chicago.

The closest musical cousins to the whack jazz quintet Afuche that comes to mind are fellow Brooklyners Little Women and the Italian trio Treo: they share some of Little Women’s penchant for highly agitated thrash jazz and Neo’s total unity between harmony and rhythm. At least, that’s what I take away from listening to their second full-length album, Highly Publicized [...]

On this special edition of Something Else! Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to Steve Smith, who’s had memorable tenures with Journey and Jean-Luc Ponty and now leads the fusion jazz group Vital Information.

Cuong Vu is a Vietnamese-born, Seattle-raised trumpet player who can be considered a pretty damned impressive and forward thinking just by looking at the list of bandleaders who he impressed enough to have in their bands:

Drummer Steve Smith is in the midst of a flurry of activity in advance of the 30th anniversary of his jazz group Vital Information.

Guitarist John McLaughlin, decades after his audacious late 1960s’ stateside debut with Tony Williams and Miles Davis, has lost none of his power, virtuosity and vision