by S. Victor Aaron About six weeks ago we saluted some amazing young women who stand poised to make a lot of noise in the man’s world of jazz instrumentalists. One of those is releasing her debut album on this very day, a unique bass player who goes by theRead More

by S. Victor Aaron The term “fusion jazz” has been used to refer to the melding of rock and jazz since the late 1960’s, but in truth, jazz has evolved largely by absorbing other forms of music from the beginning. I think that’s one of the very things that’s madeRead More

“Guitar virtuoso” for some can conjure up images of lightning fast shredders and gadget-filled guitar pyrotechnics. Some of these guys are pretty amazing technicians, to be sure, but a lot of them forget about applying their ample technique to songs that are any joy to listen to. But Oz NoyRead More

By Pico Sometime early on in the life of this site when I penned my first review of a progressive rock performance, I mentioned something about listening to prog rock perhaps a lot more than I write about it. Since we started up more than three years ago, only 12Read More

photo: Mamoru Kobayakawa by S. Victor Aaron Here at Something Else we take a shining to rising young talent who puts a modern, interesting twist on jazz while honoring its tradition of deep harmony, creative improvisation and unselfish group symbiosis. That’s what I liked about E.J. Strickland’s debut album InRead More

by Pico One of the more amazing things about Pat Metheny has long been his ability to play music at it’s highest potential and, when the mood strikes him, make it entirely accessible at the same time. In that sense, he’s a modern day version of Louis Armstrong, who wasRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Jazz label Anzic Records is only about four years old but has already made a real impact for young, talented New York-based musicians. Co-founded by Israeli-born clarinet/saxophone whiz Anat Cohen (who was profiled in my list of “Young Lionesses” up-and-coming female jazz stars), this record companyRead More

by Pico You know, it’s funny how making a record can be so quickly habit-forming for some. Here we have the early sixties regional garage band Mike And the Ravens who make a proper debut album about 48 years after they had formed. That’s right, folks, as in a fewRead More

by Pico Lately, a recent CD by Nicki Gonzalez has been getting out into wider release, this one being her first album in the newest phase of her varied music career: that of a solo hard-edged singer-songwriter. Washington, DC native and local star Gonzalez has been around the block aRead More

by Pico Duck Baker, as we noted here earlier this year, is a virtuosic fingerstyle guitarist. That last release, Everything That Rises Must Converge, showcased only a very small sliver of Baker’s passions. He can get enthused for artists ranging from George Jones and Andrew Hill to Clarence White andRead More