by S. Victor Aaron Scherr is an American jazz bassist who resides in Hong Kong and spends his time trying to foster creative music within China. A few years ago, he got the urge to fulfill a longtime goal of making music with saxophonist Michael Blake, and he wanted toRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Robert Hurst is a guy I remember being Wynton Marsalis’ bassist in the late 1980s, before performing in the same capacity for Branford’s Tonight Show band. From there, I don’t recall much. But that’s on me because in reality, Hurst has kept very busy: he’s servedRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Listening to Shawn Costantino’s Waltz For Anne, you’re reminded of Stanley Turrentine or Gene Ammons. Also, he takes on a few standards, but only one of them (“The Touch of your Lips”) is a jazz one. The other two are taken from The Beatles (“Can’t BuyRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Growing up in the Detroit area, Sam Trapchak’s dad played electric bass, and like most musically interested young boys in America, Sam wanted to play guitar. But his father persuaded him to take up bass instead with a piece of irrefutable logic: Everyone always needs aRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Women continue to move into areas of jazz long dominated by men, and in a big way. Even since I made a big to-do about this trend a couple of summers ago, the parade of girls muscling their way into the boys’ club continues on strongerRead More

by S. Victor Aaron NOLA-based Plunge is back again to follow up on their stripped down trombone-based brand of funky jazz found on Dancing On Thin Ice, Tin Fish Tango. Once again, ‘bone player Mark McGrain leads a small ensemble with bassist James Singleton of Astral Project, a sax playerRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Bassist Luther Hughes leads a tenor sax/alto sax quintet in its forth recording paying tribute to the spirit of Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane. Specifically, The Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago album recorded with Miles Davis’ band sans Miles himself just six months before they allRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Gerald Cleaver, along with Nasheet Waits, seems to always be the drummer on some really outstanding jazz records of late. Michael Formanek’s The Rub And Spare Change required virtuosic musicians playing at peak level to make it work, and Cleaver did his part and then some,Read More

by S. Victor Aaron Missoula, Montana’s own Nathaniel Smith has had a career as a jazz drummer and composer that took him from a mountain valley in the Rockies eastward to Appleton, Wisconsin’s Lawrence University (where Smith got to perform with the visiting Dave Holland and Maria Schneider), briefly westRead More

In 2008, then-21 year old tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger issued his debut CD Dry Bridge Road, one that made much of an impression. Fresh out of the New England Conservatory, Dry Bridge Road racked up recognition from publications like Jazztimes, Jazz Review and the Village Voice, where it won theRead More