Inspired by an early Cachao album, “Tin Marin” is the rousing closer on Mongorama’s new self-titled project on California-based Saungu Records. A thrilling exposion of classic charanga-jazz, the album features a nine-piece all-star band You May Also Like: How ‘Live: Oy Vey, Baby’ Reminded Us That We Never Deserved TinRead More

by Mark Saleski Firstly, credit must be tossed in the direction of my former guitar teacher. Jerry Adams turned me on to piles of great jazz (and loaned me actual LPs). Jerry’s favorite guitarist was Jim Hall. I’m not sure I’d use the word “obsessive,” though Jerry did relate aRead More

Guitarists Bill Anderson and Billysteve (yep, one word) Kopri turn the blues inside out on Churchwood’s “Vendidi Fumar,” then wear it around like Lady Gaga’s meat dress. Theirs is a sound — sudden, bright and menacing — not unlike a car crash You May Also Like: No related posts.

by Mark Saleski Good gawd, the man is a veritable Fort Knox of ideas. From barroom stompers to pensive ballads to clattering percussion to spoken word oddities. Waits reciting Bukowski? Yes, please! Waits is the weird uncle you’re fascinated by and scared of at the same time. You still loveRead More

Last fall, we saluted the arrival of a new Richard Pinhas CD, Metal/Crystal, one that supplemented his trio with fellow experimentalist warriors Merzbow and Wolf Eyes. You May Also Like: Richard Pinhas, Tatsuya Yoshida & Merzbow – Process & Reality (2016) Keiji Haino, Merzbow, Balazs Pandi – An Untroublesome DefencelessnessRead More

by Fred Phillips Converting a huge CD collection to digital as I’ve been doing slowly for the past couple of weeks can be tedious, but it also has its rewards: Namely, stumbling across very cool records that you haven’t spent any quality time with in years. You May Also Like:Read More

What Grayson Capps brings to country music, if you can call it that, is a real sense of danger. From the first of “Highway 42,” a tune that jangles like a loose fender, I was thinking about those long-haired rebels of the 1970s You May Also Like: No related posts.

I probably say this too often, but here goes … this record is just too much fun! Saxophonist Troy Roberts knows how to lay down the funk and on Nu-Jive, the funk is relentless. From the David S. Ware-meets-Steely Dan opening salvo of “Chiver-town,” to the slippery “Shavon” (where electricRead More

If you stop eating popcorn mid-munch during the opening strains of the film ‘Malcolm X,’ that’s just fine with trumpeter Terence Blanchard.

Everytime I’ve examined a Jerry Granelli record, like Song I Thought I Heard Buddy Sing or News From The Street, I’ve marveled at how a guy who drummed for all those Charlie Brown children’s TV specials with Vince Guaraldi ended up being such a creative risktaker as a leader. YouRead More