“Quickies” are mini-record reviews of new or upcoming releases, or “new to me.”

Frank Zappa has to be the most well-known and influential weird rock star but his campiness played a much smaller role for that vast influence than most people think. Instead, it was his extreme open-mindedness in making modern music. His equal love for Stravinksy, Varèse and doo-wop created concoctions thatRead More

by Pico In the wild world of underground instrumental music, Marco Benevento is a newcomer as a leader, but he’s no stranger to the scene. The thirty-year old Berklee School of Music grad studied jazz piano under Joanne Brackeen, Kenny Werner and Brad Mehldau and set up shop in NewRead More

The composer and pianist from Zurich by the name of Nik Bärtsch and his band Ronin have just this week released their second major-label record. And even with having had the benefit is listening to Holon for a few weeks, now, it’s hard to tell if this record is supposedRead More

Earlier in the week we introduced in this space the topic of “Nu jazz” that’s all the rage in Europe, and has represented one of the frontiers of fusion jazz these days. One of the pioneers of this collision of acoustic jazz and electronic music is the Norwegian keyboard player,Read More

by Pico Either it’s been a strong year music-wise, or I’ve simply been listening to more new releases than I usually do. It’s probably a combination of both but regardless, there was a lot of good chaff left on the floor by the time I finalized my All-Stars Starters andRead More

After a quarter of a century away as he delved into lightweight urban contemporary, soundtracks and side gigs, I’m becoming a Stanley Clarke fan again.

This installment of “Quickies” actually boasts some more diversity than the last one. As in some (gasp) singer-songwriter records! Sandwiched in between is a jazz icon, who like the first entry, recorded some folk-rock back in 1968. Thankfully, he eventually chose the right genre. The last guy is in aRead More

From “Don’t Stop Believin’” to konnakul. What does that mean, you ask? Allow me to explain. Journey, a band mostly known for gargantuan stadium anthems from the late-seventies to the mid-eighties, had a secret weapon in their ranks. Those who didn’t take their toilet breaks during the individual solo segmentRead More

David Witham is one of those figures in jazz who is hardly a household name to the general public, shoot, even to the jazz public. But just behind the curtain, Witham has been a major contributor to the scene. A pianist who likes to dabble in the electronic stuff, he’sRead More