by Tom Johnson Another slab of envelope-pushing jazz from Craig Taborn, one that relies heavily on the strong improvisatory skills of the band backing his keyboards and piano. You May Also Like: Craig Taborn’s Junk Magic – ‘Compass Confusion’ (2020) Tim Berne’s Hardcell [Berne, Craig Taborn + Tom Rainey] –Read More

by Tom Johnson This is an album I grew so comfortable with so quickly that it nearly slipped my mind that it came out only in 2004 and is actually not an album I grew up listening to. Granted, Phillips has hardly changed his MO since disbanding Grant Lee BuffaloRead More

by Tom Johnson I awoke at 3 a.m. and that was it. My sleep was over. I laid awake for hours, mentally shaking an invisible, frustrated fist at the darkness. It wasn’t the first such night; it won’t be the last. You May Also Like: Richard Turgeon, “Car Crash” (2019):Read More

by Tom Johnson It’s not so difficult to imagine Skinny Puppy continuing to exist through the mid-90s – most of the solo output of the members over that period actually sounded more like Skinny Puppy than the band’s own “final” album You May Also Like: Why Pop Will Eat Itself’sRead More

by Mark Saleski One of my favorite guitar players, Ribot defines ‘angular.’ While some of his finest stuff has happened as a sideman (good gawd, he’s all over the fricken place on Tom Waits’ Rain Dogs … and now that I think of it, he applies extra twangosity on ElvisRead More

by Tom Johnson Spinning up Mercurial was like jumping in a time machine set for somewhere around 60-75 years ago. The Asylum Street Spankers bravely blazed their own trail far outside of mainstream music, offering pre-Charlie Parker swing jazz and jump-blues that once kept the flappers cavorting across dancefloors allRead More

by Mark Saleski No fireworks here, just some very heartfelt jazz trio music lead by Israeli pianist Ari Erev. With a mix of original compositions, Israeli songs, and selected standards (including a beautiful “Turn Out The Stars” as program closer), Erev succeeds in displaying his love of this music. ‘HalfRead More

Oh, what this could have been … and yet it’s still a pleasing piece of work. My hopes were high when it was announced that the Finn brothers Neil and Tim (both ex- of Crowded House and Split Enz) new album would come out, so I was a little disappointedRead More

by Mark Saleski It can be a tough thing to witness an aging musician head toward (or past) the point of no return. You May Also Like: East Axis [Matthew Shipp, Allen Lowe, Kevin Ray + Gerald Cleaver’ – ‘Cool With That’ (2021) Frank Sinatra’s Trilogy offered one final thunderousRead More

by Mark Saleski You’ve gotta love what Branford Marsalis is all about. In today’s music industry, where creativity is mostly overlooked in favor of bottom-line issues, Branford made a break in advance of this album from his long-time record label You May Also Like: Branford Marsalis, Lucas Lee, Tim MorseRead More