[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPtBOpq4v1E&w=500&h=305] With another year gone, the time for lists is upon us. I’ve already toiled over my list of favorite metal albums and my list of pop/rock/whatever albums, so the unenviable task now falls to identifying 2012’s favorite jazz records. You May Also Like: Jimmy Haslip, jazz bassist: TheRead More

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhNXoeogHDo&w=500&h=305] Brilliantly off-kilter, completely unquantifiable, Xenat-Ra is, at any given moment, the best prog/free jazz/hip hop/metal band you’ve never heard of. You May Also Like: Projekt Gemineye – ‘Man of Science … Man of Dreams’ (2018) Tim Berne’s Science Friction – ‘Science Friction +size’ (2020) Walter Becker, “Medical ScienceRead More

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB7aWTFGcuI&w=420&h=315] Vancouver native and saxophonist Michael Blake came back to this Canadian city after residing in NYC for a quarter century, and brought home a wealth of ideas with him. You May Also Like: Ryan Blotnick – Kush (2016)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk7NPU9jF3E&w=420&h=315] Jazz performed by large orchestras make up a big, important part of the history of jazz but the kind of big bands that get me fired up the most are ones who break from convention and behave like a rowdy, small band. You May Also Like: Satoko FujiiRead More

We stop today to remember those who left the world of music in 2012.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGtl-_qW1sQ&w=500&h=305] Blending elements of arena rock, prog and metal, Heroso confounds expectations in the very best of ways. The album opener, called “Act 1,” begins as a tensile, mainstream rocker, marked by a searching riff courtesy of Brian Rohr You May Also Like: Charlie Parker – Unheard Bird (2016)

Brit-styled power pop has been making undiluted rock bouncy and fun since the Beatles and “Can’t Buy Me Love” took the world by storm in 1963. New wave bands that emerged at the end of the 70s such as Squeeze The Cars, The Romantics and The Knack reminded us ofRead More

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp_rgWn5Yp0&w=420&h=315] Flush with beauty and mystery, “Elusive Butterfly” by Bob Lind remains one of the greatest tunes ever to inhabit the airwaves. The track reached #5 on the charts, both in America and Europe, making an instant star out of literate singer/songwriter, who was born in Baltimore, Maryland. YouRead More

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di2EmyzCmdw&w=420&h=315] As one of jazz’s more restless saxophonists of his generation, Jeremy Udden has moved from the “melodic jazz-rock” of his Torchsongs ensemble to the country/folk-inflected jazz of Plainville. You May Also Like: Three-Layer Cake [Brandon Seabrook, Mike Pride + Mike Watt] – ‘Stove Top’ (2021)

In 2012, readers flocked to a boisterous discussion on those times when the Beatles didn’t exactly impress. You May Also Like: Part of Neil Young’s Creative Process Was Ignoring Bob Dylan