The international element is strong on ‘Spirit’ like a lot of jazz albums these days but Zem Audu is long beyond that concept of throwing together different ingredients and has mastered making his stew simmer with sophistication.
The combination of Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, John Medeski and Larry Grenadier is capable of so much; but ‘Hudson’ delivers in that it doesn’t kowtow to expectations of what kind of music these four legends should make.
Bill Laswell and the cast of characters assembled for this 57-minute jam aren’t the ordinary type.
Cuong Vu 4Tet’s sensitive shaping of Michael Gibb’s songs earn serious attention on their own.
As the 360º video makes clear, the gumption of the Great Harry Hillman knows no bounds.
‘Skyward Eye’ represents a great expansion of scope for the saxophonist, composer and bandleader Jonathan Rowden and his Jonathan Rowden Group quartet.
Jeff Beck himself hadn’t been able to replicate the grit and immediacy of the funk/rock/jazz classic ‘Blow By Blow’ but Butcher Brown’s ‘The Healer’ comes close.
feature photo: Anna Webber, courtesy of Mack Avenue Records You could call this a ‘Tale of Two Cities,’ but also a ‘Tale of Two Bands’ and a ‘Tale of Originals Vs. Covers.’ Jazz guitar extraordinaire Kevin Eubanks decided to present the dualities in his You May Also Like: Robin EubanksRead More
Jazzy, R&B-inflected pop — aka ‘yacht rock’ — is music that had its day in the USA through the 70s and into the early 80s but since then the UK became the main mecca for this kind of music. From the time that You May Also Like: Burnt Sugar theRead More
Haskins’ capacity for blending cutting-edge, high-tech means of music making with the handmade, organically conceived method of playing jazz borders on the genius level, and that’s just what he is going for with ‘Gnosis.’
