A couple of years back while covering a record by the whack jazz-funk-rock big band Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber I picked out Living Colour’s Vernon Reid’s contributions to the collective, but he wasn’t the only guitarist on there. You May Also Like: Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber – ‘AngelsRead More

Teddy Presberg is the kind of jazz guitarist whose greatest appeal likely to come from those music fans where the closest they come to jazz might be Booker T. And the MG’s, early Meters or Harvey Mandel: bluesy and soulful funk instrumentals. And to be sure, Presberg’s songs on OutcriesRead More

Easy comparisons arrive quickly as the new self-titled Abstract Logix debut release by Human Element spins, since the group has connections to the original pioneers who fused jazz and world music. You May Also Like: The Chick Corea + Steve Gadd Band – Chinese Butterfly (2018) Miles Davis’ ‘Bitches Brew’Read More

On this special edition of Something Else! Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to Steve Smith, who’s had memorable tenures with Journey and Jean-Luc Ponty and now leads the fusion jazz group Vital Information. You May Also Like: When Jean Luc Ponty Made a Triumphant Return WithRead More

Cuong Vu is a Vietnamese-born, Seattle-raised trumpet player who can be considered a pretty damned impressive and forward thinking just by looking at the list of bandleaders who he impressed enough to have in their bands: You May Also Like: Cuong Vu 4-Tet, featuring Bill Frisell – ‘Change In theRead More

Steve Smith discusses the anniversary of his jazz band Vital Information, and an amazing career that includes stops with Journey, Jean-Luc Ponty, Ronnie Montrose and the Buddy Rich Big Band.

Guitarist John McLaughlin, decades after his audacious late 1960s’ stateside debut with Tony Williams and Miles Davis, has lost none of his power, virtuosity and vision You May Also Like: How John McLaughlin’s First 4th Dimension Album Brought Things Back in Focus John McLaughlin’s Shakti – ‘This Moment’ (2023)

Guitarist-composer Chris Taylor, at once, brings in familiar fusion influences like Weather Report, Pat Metheny and the Zawinul Syndicate, even while adding these fearless flashes of next-gen electronics — samples, voices, weird keyboard programming, chants, scronks, blips, scratches. It’s jam-packed with aural pokes, the kind of album where Taylor, frontingRead More

It used to be that when we used the term “punk jazz,” we were referring to Jaco Pastorius. Let’s face it, the man was a jazz bass revolutionary. You May Also Like: Three-Layer Cake [Brandon Seabrook, Mike Pride + Mike Watt] – ‘Stove Top’ (2021) Brandon Seabrook, Cooper-Moore + GeraldRead More

Fusion label Abstract Logix, which played host to the newly formed New Universe Festival last November in Raleigh, North Carolina, will issue a two-disc commemorative highlights package on July 19 You May Also Like: How ‘Stanley Clarke Band Featuring Hiromi’ Recalled a Funky Past