by Pico Over the last five years Lizz Wright has become a widely known and respected singer in jazz circles. But much as Eric Bibb often gets unfairly pigeonholed as just “blues” I sort of resent the “jazz” bin she is often put into. That’s because the very thing thatRead More

by Pico Of all the sax-organ-sousaphone-drums ensembles out there, John Ellis & his Double-Wide ensemble really do stand out. That might be because there aren’t any other such ensembles out there. To get to this point where he’s leading such an unusual combo, North Carolina native John Ellis had beenRead More

Tribute records to living icons don’t occur nearly as frequently as the salutes to fallen musical heroes, but they do happen here and there. I was reminded of that occurrence when I covered Jeff Richman’s celebration of Jeff Beck’s music last year. Similarly, avant garde saxophone player Joe McPhee didn’tRead More

“Quickies” are mini-record reviews of new or upcoming releases, or “new to me.”

After arriving in New York City in 2001 and woodshedding as a notable sideman, composer and more recently, producer, a jazz keyboard player is ready to put his best foot forward. Chicago-born Sam Barsh is a name that’s only come up in conversations about the current jazz scene in theRead More

If you’ve dismissed the Stylistics’ “People Make the World Go Round” because it might be a played of a soft-rock oldies station, take a closer listen.

by Pico He’s the son of folk singer Leon Bibb, nephew of Modern Jazz Quartet founder John Lewis, and was directly exposed to several legendary performers like Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan growing up. It would seem that Eric Bibb was destined to go down a similar path as hisRead More

Photo by John Morris When you first hear 28-year-old Sean Costello with his soulful, emotive voice and his tasty guitar licks, it’s tempting to compare him to Jonny Lang. Born less than two years apart and both making their proper debut albums at the age of sixteen, the comparisons betweenRead More

A late period gem from a couple of old hippies you probably thought had self-destructed in a drug-induced haze years ago. Not hardly. It seems like every time you turn around, Graham Nash and David Crosby are touring in one configuration or another. Oftentimes, it’s with their erstwhile partner StephenRead More

photo by Jack Vartoogian The first thing that is usually said about Jane Ira Bloom is that she is the rare jazz saxophonist who plays the soprano sax…exclusively. With so many prominent forebears who made made memorable music on the straight horn ranging from John Coltrane to Dave Liebman, itRead More