by Tom Johnson Drummer Joey Baron’s Barondown, featuring Steve Swell on trombone and Ellery Eskelin on tenor sax comes across like the mischievous little brother to John Zorn’s Masada. You May Also Like: Trombone Shorty Raced Beyond Genres on Transcendent ‘Backatown’

by Mark Saleski Reviewers sometimes get too caught up playing the label game: jazz, pop, world (ah, the ambiguous catch-all label), rock, ambient. Whenever a writer struggles with material that lacks a definite musical anchor, I am reminded of the transformation seen through Miles Davis’ electric years. You May AlsoRead More

by Mark Saleski Digital. It’s just got to be digital — ones ‘n zeros. Forget that old-fashioned analog stuff. That’s for old fogies. If you want to be with it, current, where it’s at, up to date, in the know, down with it … your activity must be presented inRead More

by Mark Saleski I’m still kinda mad at Joe Strummer. I mean, did the guy have to kick off so early? He was still making great music! You May Also Like: Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Joe Strummer: The Singers and the Songs Joe Sofra, “One of Those Things” (2020):Read More

by Mark Saleski Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Carter, Ella Fitzgerald, Sam Cooke, Sarah Vaughan, Bobby Darin, Nancy Wilson, Ray Charles. That’s the short list of artists that Gerald Wilson has been involved with You May Also Like: Cassandra Wilson’s slow-starting Loverly didn’t take her usual risks MattRead More

by Tom Johnson Three discs and a DVD that covered the entire career of Tortoise, so far. That’s generally a formula for something pretty spotty, but like Tom Wait’s magnificent Orphans box, this one worked on the virtue that it covered so damn much territory that it kept listeners onRead More

by Mark Saleski I’m not generally known for buying best-of packages (the last exception was Tom Waits’ Used Songs, because I arrived on vacation to discover that I’d not packed any Waits. Two weeks with no Tom Waits? No way!), but Ani’s career has been so prolific that this isRead More

by Mark Saleski At this time, there’s really no point in starting another Iraq war ‘debate.’ It’s all been mashed out on the Internet so many times before. I have my opinions. You have yours. You May Also Like: Vince Tomas, “Anything and Everything” (2018): One Track Mind How BobRead More

by S. Victor Aaron In the wake of 9/11, LA producer Carlos Nino initially put together a collective of about 20 area musicians he named Build An Ark with the intent of spreading a message of peace, love and harmony through music. You May Also Like: Mats Gustafsson – MGRead More

by Mark Saleski MTV Unplugged. It was an interesting show (heck, it was an interesting network, back when the ‘M’ actually stood for “music”). Can an artist/band deal with going ‘naked,’ the protective cover of studio sheen stripped away? You May Also Like: How the Isley Brothers Made Seals andRead More