It’s been a while since the jazz/soul-flavored blues guitarist and singer Robben Ford has last released a live album, and given that he’s one helluva performer, Soul on Ten was the exact right album he needed to put out right now. Since 1998′s The Authorized Bootleg, Ford had since moved on from his Blue Line blues power trio to record [...]

You made out to Al Green. It’s what worked. Only later, did you realize all that had gone on in those records, starting with this — Green’s first charting hit, “Tired of Being Alone.” His is a voice that whips around, like a sparrow, from flat-footed baritone — all silky-smooth grace and twinkling smile — to burning, yearning falsetto. He [...]

by Pico Jazz is special kind of art because it’s not an art that’s put on display in a museum; rather, it’s an art that comes alive and evolves in the small clubs in cities around the world. That’s especially true, of course, in New York City, and like countless other jazz musicians who ply their craft there, pianist David [...]

photo: Haakon Harriss by Pico John Surman may not be a household name on these American shores, but it’s hard to think of a sax guy out of Britain who has been more prolific over the last 40 years than this one. His own discography is a wide sweep over post-bop, avant garde, fusion, chamber jazz. He has long displayed [...]

by Nick DeRisoThough Jimmy Smith is the principal voice of the Hammond B-3 in jazz, finding an entry point in his long discography can be difficult. Some might argue for 1956′s “At the Organ,” featuring Cedar Walton, Pepper Adams and Chick Corea. For me, though, that one doesn’t pop with enough grease. Start with “Back at the Chicken Shack.” Perfectly [...]

by S. Victor Aaron Oftentimes the battle for getting the recorded music of experimental and forward-thinking musicians out to the public is largely undertaken by hundred if not thousands of tiny record labels. These labels are not founded by those with the idea of making a lot of money, but are started up my folks who have a real passion [...]

by Pico Today is the day Nigerian-British bass player Michael Olatuja unfurls his very first album Speak onto the world, but this isn’t the kind of record you’d might expect from a master bassist his first time out. But Olatuja is not an orthodox musician. If he was, I’d most likely would be writing the post about someone else. But [...]

by Pico I think that the Doobie Brothers “What A Fool Believes” must be the favorite guilty pleasure song of all time because I’ve must have seen everyone from Alice In Chains fans to aficionados of the Wu-Tang Clan profess their love for this tune. Me? Eh, I’ll allow that it’s got a catchy melody and verses that are memorable [...]

There are some lines of business where the odds are stacked heavily against you if you decide to go into it. The restaurant biz is notorious for a high failure rate, for instance. The same could be saying about starting an independent record label; they come and go in massive quantities. Probably even more so for jazz labels. And whack [...]

by S. Victor Aaron Chris Potter has long been one of my favorite saxophonists simply by virtue of playing in a couple of my favorite bands. As a former long-time member of The Dave Holland Quintet and the reconstituted Steely Dan, Potter made his name while in his twenties with some of the most discerning types in the business (Paul [...]