A lot of avant-garde bands will toss a bunch of disparate stuff together in hopes that they come up with exotic combinations that work. The Gunnelpumpers do that, too You May Also Like: Jaimie Branch – Fly or Die (2017) Adam Steffeck – Aviator (2017)
When we last visited Ryan Cohan three years ago, the Chicago-based pianist, composer and bandleader had just issued he third album. You May Also Like: Ryan Blotnick – Kush (2016) Chick Corea – ‘The Montreux Years’ (2022) Why I Avoided Herbie Hancock’s Triumphant ‘River: The Joni Letters’ For So Long
Abigail Riccards has decamped to Chicago, where she continues to ply her trade as an intimate and involving singer — not to mention a respected educator. But time spent in New York, which exposed her to the work of Artsrides, still resonates. You May Also Like: Georgia Mancio and AlanRead More
A one-stop shop for all things hooky and melodic generally sums up the contents presented on this freakishly fantastic disc from Too Much Saturn, a band operating out of Chicago, Illinois. You May Also Like: Adam Rudolph’s Moving Pictures – Glare Of The Tiger (2017) The Baron Four – SilvaticusRead More
A fourth LP is in the offing for that avant-Chicago/folk-Brazilian amalgam, the São Paulo Underground. Rob Mazurek (cornet, electronics), Guilherme Granado (keyboards, electronics) and Mauricio Takara (drums, percussion, cavaquinho, electronics) are back You May Also Like: Rob Mazurek’s Black Cube Marriage – Astral Cube (2017) Rob Mazurek – Chants AndRead More
Mi Casa Es En Fuego, which means, “my house is on fire” in Spanish, is an appropriate name to call a set of music that’s often aflame, and even in the quieter moments, the embers are still glowing, ready to re-ignite the house again. You May Also Like: Ballister –Read More
The Chicago-based duo from Poland Mikrokolektyw (a Polish play on the word “micro collective”) only makes music out of thin air, and like a skilled magician pulling a rabbit out of thin air, makes it look so effortless and fluid. You May Also Like: Anteloper [Jaimie Branch and Jason Nazary]Read More
The “Chicagoan of the Year” as awarded by the Chicago Tribune has to be a person who’s done a lot for that large community, and as percussionist, bandleader, composer, past Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians chairman You May Also Like: Kevin Eubanks – East West Time Line (2017)Read More
One thing that Fred Anderson had shown us in his last years was that the original AACM guys can still make vital, risk-taking music of real consequence; these guys who were at the forefront of jazz in the 60’s never retreated You May Also Like: Roscoe Mitchell – Bells forRead More
The genius of Rob Mazurek doesn’t necessarily lie in all the musical ideas he has; it’s the modular approach he takes to those ideas. You May Also Like: Rob Mazurek’s Black Cube Marriage – Astral Cube (2017) Rob Mazurek – Chants And Corners (2017)
