What better time of the year is there for a list like this? After all, discovering each one of these up-and-coming standouts was like finding a Christmas-morning surprise under the tree. You May Also Like: No related posts.

Like a Wayback Machine, certain sights, sounds, smells and tastes transports us to certain times and places in our lives. You May Also Like: Victor Assis Brasil – Toca Antonio Carlos Jobim (1970, 2017 reissue)

Little Worlds is another one of those oddly configured trios that’s been popping up lately in jazz, but there is nothing gimmicky sounding from this guitar (Ryan Mackstaller), trombone (Rick Parker) and drums (Tim Kuhl) getup. With all three of these musicians being veterans of rock, jazz and whack jazz,Read More

Sporting a drop dead gorgeous image and a six string violin that resembles a Gibson Flying V, Susan Aquila certainly looks the part, but is her fiddle playing up to snuff? Well, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Kanye West, Metallica and Billy Joel, just to name a few ofRead More

Ramsey Lewis discusses his signature hit “The ‘In’ Crowd,” and a breakthrough collaborative moment with Earth Wind and Fire.

The Le Boeuf Brothers, like many of the younger jazz musicians today, crave bashing up jazz of their formal training with the Bjork, Radiohead and Sufjan Stevens of their iPod playlists. And as I’ve come to realize, this often has great results. But these identical twins, Romy (reeds) and PascalRead More

That Sidony Box, a French trio, has chosen to explore jazz rock is anachronistically interesting enough. But they’re doing it without the musical GPS of a bass — something that allows guitarist Manuel Adnot, drummer Arthur Nancy and saxophonist Elie Dalibert to wander around these wide open spaces. What theyRead More

There’s a trance-like euphoria surrounding this emotional, at times indescribably spiritual endeavor. Rez Abbasi, leading a group that also includes Rudresh Mahanthappa and Vijay Iyer, found inspiration for Suno Suno from Pakistani Qawwali, a devotional Sufi music You May Also Like: Rez Abbasi – Unfiltered Universe (2017) Naya Baaz [RezRead More

I had come into writing this review thinking I had already reviewed the prior release by pioneering fusion jazz trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær, Hamada (2009), but found that I hadn’t. You May Also Like: Eivind Aarset 4tet – ‘Phantasmagoria, or A Different Kind of Journey’ (2021)

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