Photo by Raj Naik by S. Victor Aaron Tomorrow, a jazz band that’s been around for 30 years will release their 21st album. Founded in the aftermath of Robben Ford’s The Inside Story (1979), Ford’s backing band has been making records since their self-titled album from 1981. Through several line-up changes,Read More

By Nick DeRiso It’s tempting to get too comfy, as Kimball Gallagher dots Orange with a series of spare, acoustic guitar-driven ruminations. It’s never long, however, before this New York City-based Boston native has amped up his dark themes of life and loss into a gritty outburst of power-pop. ThatRead More

Photo by John Broughton by S. Victor Aaron Like William Parker, Anthony Braxton and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Ernest Dawkins is an avant garde jazz guy who doesn’t give a damn if the music he plays is dissonant or tuneful, it’s all about if it sounds right, period. By extension, the saxophonist’sRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Since very early on we’ve eagerly pounced on records that re-image that dense, impenetrable period of Miles Davis between about 1969 and 1975 when he first defined fusion jazz and then kept redefining it again and again. This is music that doesn’t come easily to mostRead More

Photo from www.BobbySelvaggio.com by S. Victor Aaron For a serious post-bop performer to take a leap into Grooveland, it can often be a risky bet. Will they be able to keep their artistic integrity? Will they even care? A couple of years ago, alto saxophonist Bobby Selvaggio made his secondRead More

With a voice that’s axiomatically compared with winged messengers from God, Aaron Neville’s gospel records ought to form the cornerstone of his resume, right? Instead, the New Orleans singing legend’s two previous attempts felt too forced, like being dragged into church. Not this one. Neville, paired with producer Joe HenryRead More

Photo from After Midnight’s gigsalad.com web page by Nick DeRiso Clarinetist Roger Campbell has turned an enduring passion for swing legend Benny Goodman into a sizzling six-piece jazz project called After Midnight. It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that a new live effort finds him slithering his way through “Memories ofRead More

Photo from Jos Knaepen/ amsterdamjazzagency.com by S. Victor Aaron When I first started the Stacks series last year, I had two formatting rules about it: each artist was to be allotted one paragraph each and there must be at least six albums examined. I’m bending both rules this time, asRead More

Photo by Steve J. Sherman by S. Victor Aaron When reviewing Vijay Iyer’s sublime piano-only disc Solo last year, I tossed out my personal maxim that “when a great, small combo jazz pianist makes a solo record, it usually doesn’t signal that pianist’s arrival, it means he’s solidifying his legacy.” Well,Read More

The aptly titled Live Forever, a newly released concert set by Bob Marley and the Wailers, doesn’t sound anything like a man just moments away from the end. Instead, it underscores the indomitable spirit of the singer and his song. Marley had collapsed while jogging in New York just twoRead More