by S. Victor Aaron Gebhard Weber is the German sax and bass clarinet player we introduced here last spring when reviewing the new album by the combo he co-leads with trombonist Steve Swell, The Ullmann|Swell 4. Ullman has other projects going, though and the Conference Call whack jazz supergroup heRead More

by S. Victor Aaron A record that truly lives up to its title, composer, arranger and horn player Rafi Malkiel creates a stew of orchestral klezmer jazz, Latin jazz, classical, and European folk music that is themed around H2O. Throughout every cut, water can be heard as a percussion instrument,Read More

by S. Victor Aaron Pianist and composer Ryan Cohan follows up his highly acclaimed One Sky (2007) with another slate of mostly originals, Another Look. Though Cohan is an exceptional composer (Ramsey Lewis has recorded many of his tunes), Cohan sought to make his latest record more performance-oriented. He supplementsRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Ideal Bread is a Steve Lacy tribute band, at least a tribute band in that they play the songs of the late, great soprano saxophonist and composer of the free jazz world. But this four-piece band, which includes baritone saxophonist Josh Stinton, Lacy’s copyist and studentRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Around the same time William Parker released the culmination of an epic Curtis Mayfield project that spanned live performances over seven years, Parker quietly released a decidedly more personal and discreet affair, Uncle Joe’s Spirit House. Dedicated to his 92-year-old uncle Joe and his wife ofRead More

by S. Victor Aaron This is a compilation of some highlight tracks from Mike Marshall’s albums released under Adventure Music, a label he co-founded in the late 1990s. Going agaist the grain, the track sequence goes in reverse chronological order, which means two cuts from last year’s Mike Marshall’s BigRead More

Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has taken his share of knocks over the years. But we’d like to give the former Richard Starkey his due.

by S. Victor Aaron A side project of hip-hop artist Madlib, the music is pretty much what the ensemble’s name advertises. It’s loose, trippy and stretched out. There isn’t a whole lot of standout improvisation going on, because this is more of a groovy vibe based affair. But as farRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Shipp is one of the currently reigning giants of whack jazz, so that’s a good-sized hole we proud avant garde types left on this site. My short mention of his latest is merely a down payment to rectify that gap. This latest release, by the way,Read More

by S. Victor Aaron Guitar whiz Buckethead has built a loyal following primarily by virtue of his fretted pyrotechnics. Among the several records he makes every year are the mellower, dulcet types that range from ambient to instrumental pop. In some ways , this toned-down record by a fiery guitaristRead More