Ever since Stan Getz, João Gilberto and Charlie Byrd have introduced American audiences to the Brazilian-flavored cool-jazz sounds of Antonio Carlos Jobim, bossa nova has assumed a permanent and prominent place in jazz history. For generations now, people have danced, swayed and just chilled out to the distinctive, 8/4 timeRead More

by Pico A while back we looked at some of jazz’s most notable swan songs, a short, but certainly not complete list of the best last recordings of some jazz greats. So, what about some of the best beginnings? Here I will list five of what I’d consider some ofRead More

by Pico Out of the vibrant music community of greater Vancouver, British Columbia, the same scene that gave the world Diana Krall and Sarah McLachlan, is another female vocalist who’s been influenced by both but has forged a style of her own. And unlike the other two, she is waitingRead More

Many is the legend with a forgotten sideman who helped make him great. Count among them Johnnie Johnson, the sleeper pick’s sleeper. See, you’ve been listening to him for years, as the barreling bar-room pianist in those old Chuck Berry records. Do yourself a favor, if you love that earlyRead More

by Pico “Machine & the Synergetic Nuts”. What kind of music does that band moniker conjure up in your mind? New wave? Neo-prog? Goth metal? Vintage psychedelic rock? How about avant jazz-rock? At least that’s the closest I can come to describing this compelling instrumental music. This isn’t the firstRead More

*** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** NICK DERISO: I was a huge Steely Dan fan, so I once bought even the individual releases, pining for those lost moments of the 1970s. Meaning: I was ready to love Fagen’s second solo album. Bought it out of the box, hoping for “Aja”Read More

I’ve never been much of a movie watcher, and less of a fan of movie soundtracks. But back in 2000 I rented the then-new release Finding Forrester, a movie that featured Sean Connery. And while the movie itself was good, I couldn’t help but to notice what an outstanding andRead More

One of the greatest unheralded rock bands to come out of the UK in the sixties was a group of musical misfits called The Soft Machine. This combo was among the earliest and most influential bands from Britain’s Canterbury Scene in the middle of the decade; a loose fraternity thatRead More

NICK DERISO: As Mardi Gras dawns in a reborn New Orleans, we provide your cool-rocking road map to some recommended local hot spots. Now, most will say Preservation Hall, next to Pat O’s. But that’s overrated, and too crowded for our tastes. A sampling from elsewhere — though the listRead More

by Pico The other day I was digging Bill Withers’ gentle folk-soul masterwork from 1971, Just As I Am. A week later I still find myself occasionally warbling “Ain’t No Sunshine” when there’s no one else around save for my daughter and nearly sat down to write about it inRead More