Articles by: S. Victor Aaron

Vinyl

Steely Dan Sunday, “Hat Too Flat” (1994)

<<< BACKWARD (“This Moody Bastard”) ||| ONWARD (“Little Kawai”) >>> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** This detailed re-evaluation of Becker’s first solo record from the mid-90s gave me a better appreciation of the album, but there are some quirks I still can’t overcome and the whole of “Hat TooRead More

Vinyl

One Track Mind: Kahil El’zabar, “Central Park West” (2013)

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)

Vinyl

Roscoe Mitchell – Duets With Tyshawn Sorey and Special Guest Hugh Ragin (2013)

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

Vinyl

Sean Nowell – The Kung-Fu Masters (2013)

Sean Nowell is a name I remember from a couple of years ago when sizing up his last album Stockholm Swingin’ (2011), a snappy live encounter of solid, straight ahead jazz performed by both American and Swedish musicians in a small combo band. You May Also Like: Michael Dease –Read More

Vinyl

Dave Haskell Group – Pivot Point (2013)

Dave Haskell is back, which is undoubtedly significant news for longtime followers of the San Francisco Bay Area’s jazz and blues scenes. And if you’re a fusion fan from any other locale, then let me tell you why that should be significant to you, too. You May Also Like: HowRead More

Vinyl

Steve Coleman and Five Elements – Functional Arrhythmias (2013)

“Every beat on the album was original,” said Herbie Hancock about his game-changing funk-jazz album Head Hunters. It’s the one aspect about that record that has stood out to me over everything else, and made Harvey Mason a drum hero in my book You May Also Like: Michael Coleman +Read More

Vinyl

Jared Gold – Intuition (2013)

One of the great things about jazz is that some jazz musicians can just get together in a studio and knock out tunes and resulting record can be just as enjoyable as a carefully constructed, meticulously planned affair. You May Also Like: Dave Stryker – Strykin’ Ahead (2017) Dave StrykerRead More

Vinyl

Kendrick Scott Oracle – Conviction (2013)

“Conviction” is a powerful word, it connotes purposeful, assured and determined. And those are qualities that be ascribed to Kendrick Scott’s second album, Conviction. You May Also Like: Christian Scott Confirmed His Vision for Jazz With ‘Live at Newport’ Joey DeFrancesco, with Pharoah Sanders – ‘In the Key of theRead More

Vinyl

Andrea Centazzo Invasion Orchestra – The Battle (2013)

Amazon.com Widgets April 6th of last year was assuredly a special night for Andrea Centazzo. He was leading a thirteen-piece orchestra through five of his compositions at NYC’s The Stone club, during a fifteen-day festival celebrating the 30th anniversary of the storied creative music label he co-founded, Ictus Records YouRead More

Vinyl

Steely Dan Sunday, “This Moody Bastard” (1994)

<<< BACKWARD (“My Waterloo”) ||| ONWARD (“Hat Too Flat”) >>> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** Back during the time that 11 Tracks Of Whack was new, I’d pop that CD out of the player after “Girlfriend” most of the time; I thought that most of this album’s filler wereRead More