In 2009, Jake Hertzog was just a couple of years out of Berklee, just beginning to attract notice as a brilliant guitarist, composer and bandleader. You May Also Like: Plucky Strum [Sheryl Bailey & Harvie S] – Departure (2017)

For all the discussion in recent years about the current generation’s creatively unique piano/bass/drums trios such as The Bad Plus, e.s.t. and Vijay Iyer’s trio, there’s scant talk about the earliest and most unique of this batch You May Also Like: The Necks – Body (2018) The Necks – ‘Travel’Read More

For the longest time, jazz has had its hard-edged fringe and so has rock. Keyboardist Landon Knoblock started CACAW with the intent to combine the two outliers of their respective styles to create something even more otherworldly. You May Also Like: Tim Berne’s Snakeoil – Incidentals (2017) Caroline Davis –Read More

One of the bands often cited as a progenitor of smooth jazz and one of the style’s best known names, Spyro Gyra is also one of the most atypical acts of the form. You May Also Like: Tritone Asylum – ‘The Hideaway Sessions’ (2022)

It isn’t often that an up and coming band is able to create a piece of music that singularly defines their mission. A musical manifesto, if you will. Rarer still, is when the passage of time supports the integrity of said gauntlet. You May Also Like: Pat Metheny, May 16,Read More

That indie-jazz band out of Norway Pixel sure had an irresistible song on their hands last year with the sassy number “Call Me,” part an overall catchy set of songs called Reminder. You May Also Like: Manu Katché – Unstatic (2016) Jeff Lorber Fusion – ‘Space-Time’ (2021)

Last year Cory Wong made a sweeping musical statement — or should I say, several statements — sprawling over 2 discs. Quartet/Quintet revealed not just the wide ambition of this guitarist from Minneapolis, Minnesota but the wherewithal to realize it. You May Also Like: Yellowjackets – ‘Parallel Motion’ (2022) SatokoRead More

With this album, we have what many think of as the classic Pat Metheny Group sound.

There are more than a few jazz fusion bassists out there with outstanding dexterity, who’ve mastered every Jaco Pastorius lick and made some fusion record full of endlessly serpentine melodies. You May Also Like: The Chick Corea + Steve Gadd Band – Chinese Butterfly (2018)

Last month when chatting up an advance, streamed track of keyboardist Brian Haas and drummer Matt Chamberlain’s upcoming collaboration Frames, I made kind of a critic’s equivalent of a movie trailer about the album itself You May Also Like: Mike Dillon & Punkadelick – ‘Inflorescence’ (2023) Nolatet – No RevengeRead More