Not always tuneful but unfailingly engaging and playful, ‘Hearts and Minds’ exemplifies the best qualities of adventurous Chicago jazz.

So many great records to rave about…and so little time to rave. Last year I started a new tradition with a “just one more list before we’re done with lists” kind of list. You May Also Like: Ivo Perelman, William Parker, Gerald Cleaver – The Art Of The Improv Trio,Read More

Earlier this year Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis launched his own record label Aerophonic to serve as the main home for his various projects and the first two of these recordings are hittin’ the streets You May Also Like: Kuzu (Dave Rempis, Tahi Dorji, Tyler Damon) – ‘Hiljaisuus’ (2019) Kuzu –Read More

Josh Berman follows up a debut album that brilliantly collided the very old with the very new, mainly by expanding the harmonic range of his band. Old Idea, which cleverly retrofitted trad jazz with a healthy dose of Bill Dixon, announced to the world that Chicago is big enough forRead More

One of the more distinctive and convincing points made by Ted Gioia in his definitive chronicle of jazz, The History of Jazz (1997, rev. 2011, Oxford University Press) is about the under-credited impact pianist Lennie Tristano made You May Also Like: Jason Stein Quartet – Lucille! (2017) Jason Stein’s LocksmithRead More

by Mark Saleski Saxophonist Dave Rempis’ co-conspirator on drums, Frank Rosaly, lays down some solid grooves and textures. Nothing here is quite as chaotic as say, Interstellar Space, but the music isn’t exactly subdued either. Rempis displays some impressive extended technique on tunes like “How to Cross When Bridges AreRead More