Part 2, Mainstream and Modern Jazz >>> For the sixth straight year, it’s time to look back on the year in music to recollect which albums I really, really liked this year and make a list. You May Also Like: S. Victor Aaron’s Best of 2015 (Part 4 of 4,Read More
<<< BACKWARD (“Tomorrow’s Girls”) ||| ONWARD (“On The Dunes”) >>> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** When the Doobie Brothers had released One Step Closer in 1980, I eagerly snapped up the album looking forward to another Minute By Minute, but the album was largely a disappointment to me. YouRead More
Damn … damn! That’s the kind of reaction I have when hearing an artist who left us with still a lot remaining to give. You May Also Like: Vincent Meissner Trio, “Young Folks” from ‘Wille’ (2023): One Track Mind Nils Landgren Funk Unit – ‘Funk Is My Religion’ (2021) MatthewRead More
Formally trained as both a classical and jazz guitarist, DiVito has a passion for music that extends broadly beyond that (one of his gigs is leading a Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band), and is deeply into music education. You May Also Like: The David Cross Band – ‘Ice Blue,Read More
Just when you think you’ve heard it all — literally — some really crafty cats come along and create sounds that hadn’t quite been previously contemplated. A couple of such musicians from Philadelphia’s fertile experimental music scene banded together to create some of this alien but strangely alluring noise. YouRead More
Mort Weiss, the old-school bop clarinet player with youthful exuberance and energy, had just this month banged out his tenth album since 2001, I’ll Be Seeing You. You May Also Like: Mort Weiss – Mort Weiss Is a Jazz Reality Show (2015) Dan Weiss Trio – ‘Dedication’ (2022) Delvon LamarrRead More
Fabrizio Sferra is a favored drummer of fellow Italian Enrico Rava, having appeared on Rava’s Full of Life (2003) and last year’s Tribe. In evaluating Tribe, Sferra stood out to me You May Also Like: Walt Weiskopf European Quartet – ‘Diamonds and Other Jewels’ (2022) Doogie White – ‘As YetRead More
Given his astonishingly varied and accomplished music career, the kickoff track from Jeff Babko’s fresh new release Crux can be just about anything, and it’d likely be good. You May Also Like: Jeff Babko: The Albums That Shaped My Career Jeff Lorber Fusion – ‘The Drop’ (2023)
Josh Berman follows up a debut album that brilliantly collided the very old with the very new, mainly by expanding the harmonic range of his band. Old Idea, which cleverly retrofitted trad jazz with a healthy dose of Bill Dixon, announced to the world that Chicago is big enough forRead More
I don’t know too many jazz-fusion bands out of Indonesia. As a matter of fact, I only know of one, and if one is a good enough sample, then I’m ready to state that this nation out of Southeast Asia is a hotbed for vital, dynamic and just plain greatRead More
