Jason Stein’s ‘Three Kinds of Happiness’ makes all kinds of sweet noise.

by S. Victor Aaron Fred Fried comes from the George Van Eps school of guitarists, having been taught by the late guitar great himself. That’s readily apparent from his harmonically intricate style that leads with full chordal lines while simultaneously playing the enhancing bass lines. In other words, Fred FriedRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Like another longtime legend Barry Harris, guitar great Kenny Burrell cuts a live disc that proves he’s still got what it takes to live up to his immense reputation. Recorded over a week-long engagement at one of NYC’s hottest jazz spot’s, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, BurrellRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Avishai Cohen, the trumpet player, was last seen nearly two years ago in conjunction with his 2008 release Flood, a sparsely configured work where he sought to push against the outer boundaries of jazz using just his trumpet accompanied by only piano and percussion. This year’sRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Like James Moody and Benny Golson, Barry Harris is a fine, old-school performer with a few standards under his belt and whom I was pleasantly surprised to find is still making viable records. Having a long legacy from 1960 on playing alongside greats such as CannonballRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Here’s another CD of advanced jazz led by its composing drummer, this time Mike Pride. One thing I’ve found with drummer-led combos, is that drummers have a natural tendency toward democracy in a band, and his Bacteria To Boys (Darius Jones, alto sax; Peter Bitenc, bass;Read More

by S. Victor Aaron My current rotation has Crystal Silence by Gary Burton and Chick Corea, as well as After-Birth Of Cool by the Chris Graham Trio. When I play the two records concurrently or near concurrently, I pick up the same ambiance from the latter as I do fromRead More

by S. Victor Aaron From the first, lonely wails notes from Wadada Leo Smith’s trumpet on the propulsive “Uprising,” it becomes crystal clear that this is no ordinary session. Smith and classic-period Ornette Coleman drummer Ed Blackwell had a longstanding friendship, and when the two lived near each other inRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Schroeder is part of an emerging and exciting new crop of tradition-minded jazz talents like Michael Dease, Graham Dechter and Hailey Niswanger. As a baritone saxophonist, though, Schroeder is keeping alive a flame that’s been flickering probably since Gerry Mulligan’s death in 1996. Schroeder’s debut ARead More

by S. Victor Aaron Hard to believe it’s been over three years since a Soft Machine record was last scoped out here, but that’s only half the time frame between the live dates between The Middle Earth Masters and this one from May, 1973, called NDR Jazz Workshop – Hamburg,Read More