Rob Mazurek and Chad Taylor’s deft application of lo-fi electronics to out-jazz has been celebrated here a few times, and Locus, their second release as the Chicago Underground Duo with Northern Spy Records, is another reason to celebrate. You May Also Like: Rob Mazurek Quintet’s hypnotic, diverse Sound Is rewardedRead More

The Chicago-based duo from Poland Mikrokolektyw (a Polish play on the word “micro collective”) only makes music out of thin air, and like a skilled magician pulling a rabbit out of thin air, makes it look so effortless and fluid. You May Also Like: Anteloper [Jaimie Branch and Jason Nazary]Read More

The genius of Rob Mazurek doesn’t necessarily lie in all the musical ideas he has; it’s the modular approach he takes to those ideas. You May Also Like: Rob Mazurek Quintet’s hypnotic, diverse Sound Is rewarded close listens Rob Mazurek’s Black Cube Marriage – Astral Cube (2017) Rob Mazurek –Read More

Damn … damn! That’s the kind of reaction I have when hearing an artist who left us with still a lot remaining to give. You May Also Like: Vincent Meissner Trio, “Young Folks” from ‘Wille’ (2023): One Track Mind Nils Landgren Funk Unit – ‘Funk Is My Religion’ (2021) MatthewRead More

When Chicago-based trumpeter/cornetist Rob Mazurek decided to dig deeper and absorb the rich and festive melodies of Brazilian music, he didn’t do so by merely listening to a bunch of Jobim records You May Also Like: Rob Mazurek Quintet’s hypnotic, diverse Sound Is rewarded close listens Rob Mazurek’s Black CubeRead More

Brian Landrus is one of the fast rising artists on the NYC jazz scene; so much so that it was only in 2009 his debut album Forward came out and now in 2011, we are here talking about his third release of 2011, Capsule. You May Also Like: Brian LandrusRead More

Despite his heritage, American alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa didn’t start out as a practitioner of a unique blend of American jazz and traditional Indian music, he started with the jazz style of the America he grew up in and worked his way back to the music of his forbears’ nativeRead More

by Nick DeRiso New York City-based Brian Hugh O’Neill can’t get away from hard truths on Free World. “The light’s not very kind in this place,” O’Neill sings in the anthematic “Careful What You Want.” “There’s a shadow moving over your face.” That shadow is moving, really, over the wholeRead More

Lucinda Williams brings a brave, riveting vulnerability to Essence — and, for me, it’s her masterpiece. Yet you are more apt to find it in the cutout bin at a big-box department store than at the top of most people’s desert-island lists. Perhaps the sensual melancholy of Essence was tooRead More

by Mark Saleski “Subtlety” is not a word to be used lightly in a music review, mostly because it’s likely to scare off the listener before even a single particle of the music has entered their ear parts. The sad fact is that “subtle” and “entertaining” are often thought ofRead More