Maria Schneider wanted to send a strong message about the threat of a mass manipulation with ‘Data Lords.’ She gets the message across in perhaps the grandest way possible.

Not everyone is cut out to take on such an ambitious project but one look at Michael Leonhart’s background makes it undeniably clear that he could.

This album seems to have brought Donny McCaslin to a decision point: Is he a jazz player, an improviser or a rock / pop / stage show player?

German trumpet/piano brother act Julian & Roman Wasserfuhr rise to the high level of their much-ballyhooed supporting cast.

Donny McCaslin’s ‘Beyond Now’ is an astonishing show of talent and indefinable music which crosses boundaries and merges them – yet retains his jazz influences.

S. Victor Aaron picks the best of 2015’s fusion jazz music, including John McLaughlin, Chris Potter, Donny McCaslin, Jeff Lorber and others.

Donny McCaslin’s ‘Fast Future’ manages to be original, adventurous and engaging all at once, making this one of his very best efforts to date.

When I attended a Pat Metheny Unity Band concert last October, I often focused on what the drummer Antonio Sanchez was doing. Not so much when he soloed but his drumming from behind the front lines. You May Also Like: Antonio Sanchez – Three Times Three (2015) Pat Metheny, “YouRead More

<<< Part Three, Whack Jazz In the final piece of these exhaustive, four-part salutes to the top releases of 2012, the fusion jazz records are surveyed. You May Also Like: S. Victor Aaron’s Best of 2015 (Part 4 of 4, Fusion Jazz): John McLaughlin, Chris Potter, Donny McCaslin, Jeff LorberRead More

When Sean Wayland gets inspiration, he holds nothing back. You May Also Like: Wayne Krantz, “U Can’t Touch This” from Good Piranha, Bad Piranha (2014): One Track Mind Wayne Krantz – ‘Music Room 1985’ (2021) The Click Beetles – ‘Pop Fossil’ (2020)