Three of the larger figures in the downtown New York avant jazz scene – Jim Black, Nels Cline and Tim Berne – join forces.

Walter Becker once called himself as a “B+” guitarist. He’s certainly underrated there but as a bassist, I’d rate him even higher. Nonetheless, Becker had a history of making way for another bassist to play on a Steely Dan tune if he thought if that person was the better manRead More

Over the course of the striking, stripped-down Medicine, former Detroit autoworker Solomon King returns to that moment when the blues moved inexorably away from the uplift that defined gospel music, and ultimately toward rock ‘n’ roll and then hip hop. You May Also Like: How B.B. King Left Us WithRead More

by Tom Johnson It was going to be hard for Bird to top his previous album, Andrew Bird And The Mysterious Production Of Eggs, a gorgeous, moody stunner. Equally balanced between upbeat rock numbers and quieter strings-backed pieces, Eggs had something for everyone, with smart, subtly-humorous lyrics strewn throughout toRead More

In most big bands, the guitarist functions as nothing more than a member of an expanded rhythm section — and for a while it seems like Richard Nelson (even though it’s his band, and all) had fallen into the same role on his forthcoming album You May Also Like: HenryRead More

Intense and beautiful, Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba’s new Fe’ … Faith, is this meditative wonder. Like the earth making its inevitable yearly circle, Rubalcaba returns time after time to themes and thoughts — but never approaches things exactly the same twice. You May Also Like: Susie Blue and the LonesomeRead More

by Tom Johnson “Mailman” is singer David Yow’s tale of a woman being stalked by some creepy bastard who likes to send her little love notes through the mail. You May Also Like: Indigo Girls, “The Rise of the Black Messiah” from One Lost Day (2015): One Track Mind

by Mark Saleski Back in Led Zeppelin’s day, it was near to impossible to twist the radio dial (yeah, radios had dials back then … think of a radio dial as an ancient, manual hyperlink, without the Internet or computers or any of that stuff You May Also Like: HowRead More

by Mark Saleski A piano and drum ‘duo,’ all played by Dave King. Yes, the drummer for The Bad Plus not only has piano skills as well but also a big piles of ideas to play with. Grooves would of course be expected, as well as dissonance and stumbling rhythmsRead More

Listening to Allison Miller’s superb CD from last year Boom Tic Boom, I appreciated how it covered a lot of ground within advanced modern jazz, helped along by such sympathetic supporting players in this piano jazz trio. But that album still left me wondering where this ace drummer, composer andRead More