S. Victor Aaron’s Mid-Year Best of 2014 (Fusion Jazz): Nels Cline Singers, Medeski Martin & Wood, Jaco Pastorius
Everything from ambient post-rock to improvisational, to scattered rock-jazz.
Articles by: S. Victor Aaron
Fred Hersch Trio – Floating (2014)
Never mind the studio setting, the highly lyrical and entrancing beauty of Fred Hersch’s piano and his empathetic rhythm section makes this another winning outing for this trio.
S. Victor Aaron’s Mid-Year Best of 2014 (Avant Garde & Experimental Jazz): Jimmy Giuffre, Roscoe Mitchell, Jamie Saft/Joe Morris
The appeal of this music is its unbiased diversity and lack of set rules.
Something Else! Interview: Nels Cline Singers drummer Scott Amendola discusses his ambitious Fade To Orange project
Amendola is an affable, do-it-all drummer with a wicked backbeat.
S. Victor Aaron’s Mid-Year Best of 2014 (Modern and Mainstream Jazz): Steve Lehman, Jamie Saft, Matthew Shipp, Joe Beck
The future of jazz looks blindingly bright.
Something Else! exclusive stream: Terje Lie, “You Know” from Bright Moments (2014)
Summer time is here and we could go for a sunny groove, right? Cue up the sounds of beach-lovin’, LA-based Norwegian saxophonist Terje Lie.
S. Victor Aaron’s Mid-Year Best of 2014 (Non-Jazz): Jack White, Me’Shell Ndegéocello, Drive-By Truckers, Lucinda Williams
Here are the seven best albums outside of realm of jazz so far in 2014. So says me.
Peter Van Huffel’s Gorilla Mask – Bite My Blues (2014)
From a punk attitude comes jazz aptitude; Gorilla Mask does it again.
Melissa Aldana and Crash Trio – Melissa Aldana and Crash Trio (2014)
Ready or not, here comes 2013’s Monk International Competition saxophone winner Melissa Aldana. ‘Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio’ marks a solid first step in the post-Big Win phase of her young career.
Gene Segal Quintet – Mental Images (2014)
It was a long stretch between Gene Segal’s first and second albums but ‘Mental Images’ assures that the intervening time was time was spent.
