Atlanta guitarist Jacob Deaton began the year with a new album—his first one, in fact—and makes a good initial impression. These six songs, all Deaton’s, vary in tempo in mood but the common thread throughout them all is that they are crisp post-bop with simple melodies and advanced harmonies. ThisRead More

Music reviewing is famously described as “dancing about architecture” but dissecting Merbow’s noise music is more comparable to slicing water. For starters, the Japanese king of noise challenges and stretches the whole notion of what we call music. You May Also Like: Richard Pinhas, Tatsuya Yoshida & Merzbow – ProcessRead More

What struck me first about the Nick Moran Trio’s second album No Time Like Now were the instantly likable melodies and the righteous grooves. But listening to it closer reveals other reasons to like this record: the subtle tempo shifts (“Wishful Thinking”), a soul-jazz take on the blues that retainsRead More

Floratone to Bill Frisell is a lot like what the Fireman is to Paul McCartney: a way to break outside of usual comfort areas.

With the death of Hank Jones a couple of years ago, Ahmad Jamal might now be considered the dean of jazz pianists, but in all likelihood, he’s long been more influential You May Also Like: Nick Millevoi – ‘Moon Pulses’ (2024) Denny Zeitlin – Wishing On The Moon (2018)

DJ-manufactured dance/electronica/trance stuff isn’t usually my cup of tea, but maybe it’s the lack of good melodies to go along with the grooves. That’s the special advantage of Black And Tan Records’ “miX&dorp” party remixes of blues You May Also Like: ElectroBluesSociety featuring Boo Boo Davis, “What’s Going On” (2021):Read More

Crisp, perfectly modulated, utterly suave and precisely integrated, the sound on this Steely Dan record set new standards.

I might have stated this a time or two before on this space, but the future of jazz as a living, breathing, expanding music form is in the hands of the twenty and thirtysomethings who grew up on Bjork, Radiohead and Oasis You May Also Like: No related posts.

The Dutch quartet Talking Cows never take themselves too seriously — see video below — but the non-nonsense modern jazz they make is no joke. Admirers of The Netherlands’ great jazz icon Misha Menglelberg, Talking Cows uses strong melodies that often masks the intricacies happening underneath, and an energetic, pliableRead More

My first thought upon listening to Warm Winter by Memories Of Machines was that it’s very similar to Steven Wilson’s softer side. My second thought was that the vocalist sounds an awful lot like Wilson’s old No-Man partner Tim Bowness. Turns out, it IS Tim Bowness singing. He formed thisRead More