One of my favorite funk-jazz albums of all time isn’t by a crossover act like the Crusaders or Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, but by Lou Donaldson.

Last week, that venerable soul-jazz outfit out of London Incognito released a new disc Transatlantic RPM, an occasion we marked with a couple of streams to songs to tracks on that record (click here to listen to the streams of “Lowdown” and “Gotta”). Now, it’s time to delve into thisRead More

by Pico It must have been quite a journey for a life that started out in the wide open ranges of Montana and ended up in the hustle and bustle of the New York jazz scene, but trumpet player Jim Rotondi got there with an assist from the late, greatRead More

by S. Victor Aaron It’s not that hard to discern the message behind the title of Billy Bang’s brand new album Prayer For Peace. And just in case you’re not sure, Bang clarifies beyond all doubt in the liner notes: We do not need war, any kind of war, especiallyRead More

by Pico Like Jamiroquai, Icognito is one of those British bands that’s faithfully carrying the torch for good ol’ American seventies-styled jazz-funk & soul better than anybody in the USA is doing these days. And Incognito, formed 31 years ago, is arguably the first of these so-called acid jazz outfitsRead More

by S. Victor Aaron It could be argued that Houston, Texas is one of the major gestation points for smooth jazz sax stars. Ronnie Laws and Kirk Whalum came from what Laws calls the Bayou City of the Future. Also, let’s not forget that Wilton Felder, Joe Sample and theRead More

by Pico Even as a small child growing up in Japan, jazz pianist Hiroe Sekine loved to pick out melodies she heard, such as the Japanese folk tunes emanating from her Mom’s pedal organ. Today represents a culmination of that life long passion with the release of her debut albumRead More

Posi-Tone Records delivered a rare new album by NYC-based pianist Art Hirahara in 2010, called Noble Path. “Lyrical” is an adjective I’ve seen ascribed to Hirahara, and it’s one he lives up to on this trio date, his Posi-Tone debut. Though he hadn’t been very prolific leading sessions, Hirahara hasRead More

by S. Victor Aaron It’s not unusual at all for the tenor sax and the vibraphone to appear on the same jazz record; we’ve heard these on countless jazz recordings. But by co-leading a record, saxophonist Ken Fowser and vibraphonist Behn Gillece gives us fairly rare opportunity to hear bothRead More

by S. Victor Aaron As the sixties turned into the seventies, soul, like rock, got tougher and edgier. In 1971 alone, Sly Stone’s There’s A Riot Goin’ On, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On and Gil Scott-Heron‘s Pieces Of A Man raised the stakes in R&B that was serious, far-reaching andRead More