When taking in Julian Lage’s uniquely poetic Gladwell earlier this year, I sensed something uncommonly creative about Lage’s saxophone player, Dan Blake, and his ability to blend in flawlessly with a cello and play music that reconciled jazz and folk and classical music. He even contributed music that fit perfectlyRead More

It’s this time of year that I miss my Dad the most. He passed away in 2008, and though I think about him often, in the fall those thoughts are ever-present. You May Also Like: No related posts.

What’s intriguing about Move by Canada’s Sultans of String isn’t so much the dancing violins that skitter here and there, or even the fizzy guitars that seem to weave in and around this globe-trotting tapestry. You May Also Like: Ivo Perelman + Arcado String Trio – ‘Deep Resonance’ (2020) DamfinoRead More

I’ve been spending a lot of time over recent weekends doing something I haven’t done in a long time: listening to the radio. You May Also Like: Rick Wakeman and the English Rock Ensemble – ‘The Red Planet’ (2020) Yes, That’s Stephen Stills on One of the Bee Gees’ BiggestRead More

All hail the long-awaited return of the ass-kicking rebel chick Shirley Manson and her scraggly band of alterno-rockers in Garbage. You May Also Like: Why R.E.M.’s ‘Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage’ Remains Definitive

What better way to spend Halloween than with (as it’s lovingly referred to in the liner notes) this thing? You May Also Like: How Frank Zappa’s ‘Trance-Fusion’ Became Yet Another Unpredictable Gift Jon Larsen Did a Twist on Frank Zappa With ‘The Jimmy Carl Black Story’ Frank Zappa – ‘FunkyRead More

Members of Baltimore improv music combo Turn Around Norman have been around a lot of jazz greatness: Tim Berne, Michael Formanek, Craig Taborn, Gerald Cleaver, Dave Douglas and Darcy James Argue are but a few of the big shots members in this ensemble have performed and recorded with. You MayRead More

On this special edition of Something Else! Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to the boundary-pushing Nicholas Payton You May Also Like: Nicholas Payton – ‘Smoke Sessions’ (2021)

by Beverly Paterson Sorely overlooked when it was originally released on the Allied label in 1968, The Plastic Cloud — the solitary album by this Bay Ridge, Canada band — has since reaped the critical accolades it deserves You May Also Like: Orpheus – ‘Orpheus’ (1968): Forgotten Series Noel Redding’sRead More

Boasting a homey, Dan Fogelberg-esque nostalgia in both tone and style, Drexel Rayford’s Cherokee Road takes a series of long looks back You May Also Like: Bart and the Bedazzled – Blue Motel (2018)