by Pico Right about a year and a half ago, jam band extraordinaire Garaj Mahal wowed us with their nimble, creative offering w00t, which made 2008’s “Best Of” list of fusion records, and contained a killer track I thought topped all other songs in the fusion jazz category. Now inRead More

by S. Victor Aaron I freakin’ love the music of Miles Davis. I once named a dog “Miles Davis.” I’ve written tons about Miles Davis. Even compare most every artist who’s doing something cool and expansive to Miles Davis. And when a musician takes on a project projecting the musicRead More

by Pico I find that much of jazz is taking someone else’s tune and make it into something new. The trick is to do so without casting off the thing (or things) that made it such a great tune to cover to begin with. But who can take Joe Henderson’sRead More

The hottest band in the land just might be the Drive-By Truckers by S. Victor Aaron Funny how it seems I have plenty of time to listen to new music and precious little to write about. There’s about 9GBs of albums in my iPod rotation and I’m familiar with aRead More

by S. Victor Aaron OK, so there’s already a whole lot of great 2010 music to consider (you’ll see), and yet here I am looking at a 2008 release? This is one that escaped my notice when it first came out in September of that year, but we need toRead More

by S. Victor Aaron The other day for the first time I heard a song by a certain female vocalist who had just won a Grammy (or maybe 6 or 7 Grammies, for all I know). The only thing I really remember about the song is that her voice wasRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Baltimore native Tim Kuhl has been a drummer all his life and since 2003, has plied his trade in the rough and tumble NYC music scene. But Kuhl has not only survived, he seems to revel in it. In addition to heading up his own jazzRead More

by Nick DeRiso Perhaps best remembered in jazz circles for his melodic work on the fretless (notably as a member of the Pat Metheny Group from 1977-80), bassist Mark Egan’s earliest influences couldn’t have been more far afield. A former student of Jaco Pastorius at the University of Miami, EganRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Another record by a jazz drummer? Heck yeah! Ulysses Owens, Jr. isn’t just a young up-and-comer percussion specialist with a radiant smile. Behind the cheerful expression is a serious commitment to his craft. A graduate of the world renowned Julliard School, Owens has been touring withRead More

photo: Arne Reimer by S. Victor Aaron A couple of summers ago I was treated to the pleasing but discerning modern jazz found all over Torben Waldorff’s Afterburn. The great Dane guitarist/composer who resides in Sweden is a household name in our little ‘berg on the internet, and needs noRead More