“Why would you listen to this?” The question must have travelled through nearly everyone’s mind at some point upon hearing some seemingly offensive bit of music. You May Also Like: No related posts.

Sacramento, CA-based experimental guitarist Ross Hammond has been making records since 1999, and his latest one Adored features his Quartet of himself, Vinny Golia on saxophones, Alex Cline on drums and Steuart Liebig on electric bass. You May Also Like: Ross Hammond and Kevin Corcoran – ‘Music For Lighthouses 2’Read More

Julian “Cannonball” Adderley is the undisputed leader on this date — the big-hearted, soul-lifting center of every song. But the proper focus here might just be on keyboardist Joe Zawinul You May Also Like: Cannonball Adderley – ‘Poppin’ in Paris: Live at L’Olympia 1972′ (2024) ‘Elegant People: A History ofRead More

The Clash once had an album called Combat Rock, but William A. Thompson’s combat music called Baghdad Music Journal (2006) was hardly a figurative statement You May Also Like: Linda and Richard Thompson, “The Great Valerio” (1974): One Track Mind

They say nobody cares about album art, but art still sells. At least to me. It’s too small on CDs, everyone says, and when reduced down even further to iPod and iPhone size, it’s just a thumbnail. You May Also Like: Mary Halvorson Octet – Away With You (2016) RobertRead More

On April 22, Jean-Baptiste Frederic Isidor “Toots” Thielemans turns 90 years old. Four weeks before that comes a look back on one of the richest and yet disregarded career in jazz music, Yesterday & Today. You May Also Like: Eliane Elias Confidently Expanded Her Main Influences on ‘Bossa Nova Stories’

New Standard Quintet lives up to its name, time and again, not by resurrecting age-old tracks but by trying to fashion its own rules for approaching original jazz music. You May Also Like: Laurence Juber – Standard Time (1982; 2018 reissue) Pearcy / Gratzmiller Jazz Quintet – ‘Over the Edge’Read More

This was a rare thing: an album of guitar music where the guitar isn’t really the point. Put a different way, it’s the ideas that are given the focus, not the chops. You May Also Like: Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog – ‘Connection’ (2023) Bill Frisell – Music IS (2018)

As one of the more talked about fusion records of last year, Naked Truth’s Shizaru put four established maestros from jazz, rock and avant garde words in the same studio, resulting in an album that pulled in creative streams from all of these music worlds into a purposeful, distinctive andRead More

Bob Belden has been in the thick of major jazz recordings issued or reissued in the last quarter century, but his name has rarely been presented in large, bright fonts. You May Also Like: Miles Davis’ ‘Bitches Brew’ Broke Every Rule: ‘An Art Form Unto Itself’