ECM is a record label that is often stereotyped as offering only open, spacious, and sterile European — frequently Scandinavian — kind of chamber jazz and I’ve often come across so many exceptions, that characterization can’t even be considered the rule. But Tord Gustavsen’s music can be. Playing economically andRead More
Until a severe heart attack forced him into early retirement in his 40s, my dad worked in a factory, running ball bearing machines for General Motors. You May Also Like: Pop Co-Op – ‘Factory Settings’ (2020) Reevaluating Bruce Springsteen’s ‘The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle’ The DeananRead More
Owl City represents the new paradigm in music: Just a kid at his parents’ house, mixing up an emotive brand of synthpop and posting it up on the Internet — but sounding to all the world like a polished and produced Top 40 act. You May Also Like: Ben Goldberg,Read More
In rock music, there’s been occasions where one act provokes another in a rock song, resulting in a retaliatory song by the provoked. You May Also Like: Steely Dan, “A Man Ain’t Supposed to Cry” from ‘Northeast Corridor’ (2021): Steely Dan Sunday Steely Dan’s Aja at 40: Still the pinnacleRead More
Imagine walking into a big music store. Two guys are playing: a solid funk bass propelled by a wiggly, syncopated drummer. You May Also Like: Derek Sherinian – ‘Vortex’ (2022)
I stand corrected – and pleasantly surprised, too. When I went into my first listen of Van Halen’s A Different Kind of Truth, I was expecting a steaming pile of mediocrity. You May Also Like: Why Complaints About Van Halen’s ‘A Different Kind of Truth’ Were Overblown
In a couple of days, bassist/composer/bandleader Josh Ginsburg will issue his first album, one he’s clearly ready for. You May Also Like: Naya Baaz [Rez Abbasi + Josh Feinberg] – ‘Charm’ (2023) Josh Johnson – ‘Unusual Object’ (2024)
You can’t have a discussion about characters in jazz with including Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
The question of whether a Black Sabbath reunion album and tour will proceed without original drummer Bill Ward has been definitively settled You May Also Like: Why Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi Was Only in Jethro Tull For Two Weeks
In Cooperstown, N.Y.: First of all, it was cold. I myself kinda liked the spate of very, very early fall weather we were having in the northeast, but having to sit on a metal bleacher for over three hours with the temps hovering in the 50s … You May AlsoRead More
