Composer Jason Kao Hwang, performing on both violin and viola, starts with a foundation of chamber jazz, and then blows it up. Hwang (Reggie Workman, Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill) is just as apt to set off an explosion of emotive, Eastern-themed motifs (as on the title track from Crossroads Unseen,Read More

There is a contingent of “fans” out there who label this song the “mistake” of The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. Since I think of the record as one of rock’s perfect albums, I must disagree. You May Also Like: Reevaluating Bruce Springsteen’s ‘The Wild, the InnocentRead More

You hear, for one final time, the promise of Amy Winehouse — if only in the way she can so expertly imitate the memorable phrasing of Dinah Washington. You May Also Like: Jazz Reedist Daniel Bennett on How Musicians Can Thrive In (and After) the Pandemic Age [Part 1 ofRead More

by Tom Johnson 2004’s Equatorial Stars seemed like a reunion after 12 years apart for these two ambient giants. After all, the last we’d heard from them was on Eno’s 1992 album Nerve Net, but little did we know that they’d been working together the entire time. This album pullsRead More

by Mark Saleski In a review of this artist, one writer said, “Oh … my … gawd. I was transfixed. Mesmerized. Jaw aslack. A pop music deer caught in Lewis’s headlights. It’s just one of those things.” Yeah, I wrote that. You May Also Like: No related posts.

The last track on Pretzel Logic might be my least favorite one of that album, with that over the top fuzzy bass line. To some it makes the song nice ‘n’ fonky but I find it a distraction; I wanna hear Dias and Baxter’s guitars over that noise. You MayRead More

At the very moment I was waxing poetic last year over Italian whack jazz trio Neo’s last album Water Resistance, the band was in a studio in Chicago recording their next album. You May Also Like: Azymuth – Fênix (2016) Bucher Tan Countryman – Acceptance – Resistance (2017) Adrian YoungeRead More

by Tom Johnson, at the San Diego Sports Arena We drove over to San Diego on a Sunday night, not really getting on the road until about 8 p.m. I had been hoping for more like 4 p.m., maybe 6 p.m. You May Also Like: Anti-Mortem / Scattered Hamlet, JulyRead More

by Mark Saleski Back in the dark ages (read: before the Internet) I spent a fair amount of time searching out new music by paying very close attention to the listings of my local public and classical radio stations. You May Also Like: How Bennie Maupin Left Mwandishi Behind onRead More

‘Levin Torn White’ ain’t for the weak, but it’s lethal combination of brawn and brains makes it the release of the year.