The Matthew Yeakley Group, “Happy F*ckin’ New Year” (2014): One Track Mind
Here’s a stream of Matthew Yeakley’s polished funk-jazz number “Happy F*ckin’ New Year.”

Here’s a stream of Matthew Yeakley’s polished funk-jazz number “Happy F*ckin’ New Year.”
Markus James, Deerhoof, Dave Liebman, Don Pullen and Arild Anderson are included in S. Victor Aaron’s Top Unreviewed Records of 2014.

Arthur Brown, the ol’ God of Hellfire, is back with the oddly bewitching ‘Zim Zam Zim.’

Art Hirahara leads Linda Oh and John Davis through a quick, two-minute jaunt of piano bop bliss.

Top guitar session player Larry Carlton covers “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” with heaping helpings of both skill and sentiment.

If Butcher Brown can make “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” so delectably fonky, they can groove up just about any old tune.

Here is a review of Wayne Krantz’s cool fusion jazz rendition of MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This.”

Bryan Murray’s nutty but endearing hip hop/jazz hybrid ‘Balto!’ is a homegrown concoction worth checking out.

With D’Angelo’s pertinent message, color-blurring harmonics and a total lack of slickness, ‘Black Messiah’ is a worthy successor to ‘Voodoo.’

Studio or live, ECM or ACT record label, it’s that same, damned good Manu Katché music.