For the longest time, jazz has had its hard-edged fringe and so has rock. Keyboardist Landon Knoblock started CACAW with the intent to combine the two outliers of their respective styles to create something even more otherworldly. You May Also Like: Tim Berne’s Snakeoil – Incidentals (2017) Caroline Davis –Read More

A two-step shuffle, a slightly exaggerated country croon, and two feisty saxes with occasional late-period Coltrane wails arousing suspicions that these are wack jazz guys playing Merle Haggard, not dedicated country music musicians. You May Also Like: Jon Lundbom and Big Five Chord – ‘Harder On the Outside’ (2019)

All Anders Osborne wants is the same thing all of us wants: a little peace. But the frictions of his life continue to provide rich fodder for his well-honed roots rock confessionals. You May Also Like: How Anders Osborne Came Into His Own With ‘American Patchwork’ Anders Aarum – ‘Shakin’Read More

One of the bands often cited as a progenitor of smooth jazz and one of the style’s best known names, Spyro Gyra is also one of the most atypical acts of the form. You May Also Like: Tritone Asylum – ‘The Hideaway Sessions’ (2022)

Saxophonist Najee has been a major figure in smooth jazz right from the get-go with his debut Najee’s Theme (1986), which came out smack dab in the middle of the genre’s emergence into a popular music style onto its own. You May Also Like: Lindsey Webster – ‘Reasons’ (2022)

It’s exactly the kind of music you’d expect from a talented musician after a healthy bout of introspection. You May Also Like: Wicked Realm, Aug. 26, 2016: Shows I’ll Never Forget Reza Khan – ‘Imaginary Road’ (2021)

(The song in video above is from ElSaffar’s Inana release, not Alchemy.) They say that the cradle of civilization lies in the fertile Mesopotamian plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now modern-day Iraq. You May Also Like: Why Stanton Moore’s ‘Groove Alchemy’ Was His Best TrioRead More

The third time is the charm…just like the first and second times. Chicago’s rising star trumpet player Marquis Hill wowed us just two years ago with his New Gospel debut, and quickly confirmed with Sounds of the City the following year that it was no fluke. Next week The PoetRead More

That indie-jazz band out of Norway Pixel sure had an irresistible song on their hands last year with the sassy number “Call Me,” part an overall catchy set of songs called Reminder. You May Also Like: Jeff Lorber Fusion – ‘Space-Time’ (2021)

Last year, Marco Cappelli made a surprisingly delightful tribute with his Italian Surf Academy of the music that accompanied Ennio Morricone’s spaghetti westerns (The American Dream). You May Also Like: No related posts.