Three of the most gifted improvisers in free jazz today released this week a studio follow-up from their well-received 2009 live debut. As fellow giants of the NYC downtown scene, William Parker, Craig Taborn and Gerald Cleaver know each well musically and personally (as noted before, Cleaver and Taborn goRead More

by Tom Johnson Bob Marley’s son did this one without the Melody Makers to make an album less about being reggae and more about music. Ziggy seems to find some influence in the Dave Matthews Band, as many songs feature passages that could easily have been played by the DMBRead More

We talked to Adrian Belew during an extended hiatus for King Crimson. But it’s not like he’d been sitting idly by.

An underappreciated Dizzy Gillespie record on Verve, includes some s-s-smokin’ thoughts of “Con Alma” — two, in fact. You May Also Like: Dizzy Gillespie and Friends – Concert of the Century: A Tribute to Charlie Parker (2016) ‘Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings’ (2023) Wes Montgomery withRead More

You might say that top-notch jazz pianist Orrin Evans has become a fixture here at SER. It all got started four years ago when we noted his participation in Robin Eubanks’ EB3 unit that made the phenomenal double-CD Live, Vol. 1 of 2007. Early last year we salivated over Evans’Read More

Opening with the old-world charm of an accordian and trumpet, at once lonesome and timeless, Brooklyn-based Katie Costello’s “Isn’t It Lovely” slips into your head like a thief. The whole song has a similar cunning, never going too far yet always beckoning You May Also Like: Animal Logic, “Can YouRead More

Early on, you never heard much piano from Duke Ellington, a grievous thing. It was only in the twilight of his career that this American jazz master regularly consented to taping some shows where his impish wit at the instrument could be heard front and center. You May Also Like:Read More

by Mark Saleski There was a time when the purchase of a new album resulted in yours truly spending an insane amount of time locked into his bedroom, pouring over liner notes while rattling the walls with that most recent vinyl object of my affection. It’s records like this oneRead More

If you were tasked with listing the influences of JazzGuitaristPatMetheny™, some good entries might be Four and More (Miles Davis), Ornette Coleman’s Something Else!!! (Sorry, couldn’t resist), and Smokin’ At The Half Note by the Wynton Kelly Trio with Wes Montgomery. You May Also Like: Pat Metheny – ‘Dream Box’Read More

Their Ocean, ambient then soulful, is one of those amalgams that sounds instantly recognizable, yet completely new. The Chicago-based psychedelic R&B/indie rock group has described itself as “a cross between Hall and Oates and Arcade Fire, if they were friends with the Soulquarians.” As funny as that sounds, it’s aboutRead More