by Mark Saleski So they were picking up the band instruments, holding them high in the air, and looking for interested faces. When I saw that gleaming trombone, I just knew that I had to learn it. It was seventh grade and the middle school music teacher was looking forRead More

by Mark Saleski These kind of pairings are not supposed to work. It goes against the laws of pop music nature. Take any number of well-known and successful musicians, put them together, stir, and what you usually get is something not even worth the time it takes to watch theRead More

by Mark Saleski Bill Frisell has often been referred to as the mad scientist of the guitar. His good friend Gary Larson goes the idea one better, that Frisell has a team of mad scientists living inside of his brain. The notion is a funny one, because the stereotype ofRead More

by Pico As the most popular pop band of all time, it naturally follows that the Beatles have been the most-covered band of all time. Their songs’ popularity has extended into every form of music, and that greasy, soulful organ jazz has been no exception. Before the Beatles were evenRead More

by S. Victor Aaron When Jon Irabagon signed with the mighty Concord Records after bagging the 2008 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition for saxophone, you might assume that he would have left behind his wild side to become a more “serious” player. But his continued involvement in the gangsta jazzRead More

by Mark Saleski A friend of mine, who is just beginning to dip his toe into the pool of jazz, asked me if I thought he was “ready” for Bitches Brew. That’s a tricky question, no matter who is doing the asking. The generic answer, suitable for use in nearlyRead More

Sometimes, we need reminding that Chicago was once a rock/jazz/blues/R&B/whack jazz band masquerading as a mainstream rock band.

by Mark Saleski If you want to really scare yourself, wait until everybody else in the house has gone to bed, turn out all of the lights, and put the Kronos Quartet’s Black Angels on the stereo. You will be assaulted with George Crumb’s terrifying “Black Angels (Images I),” aRead More

by Mark Saleski I wish I had a cool story about where I learned about the blues. I never had an older brother who gave me his Howlin’ Wolf records. There was no cousin who pointed out the line that runs backwards from Jimmy Page. Despite the early appearance ofRead More

photo: Jimmy Katz by S. Victor Aaron When a great, small combo jazz pianist makes a solo record, it usually doesn’t signal that pianist’s arrival, it means he’s solidifying his legacy. We witnessed this with Art Tatum’s Solo Masterpieces recordings made at the end of his life. The same goesRead More