by S. Victor Aaron Last Tuesday, HighNote Records furnished two new CD’s, each by established veterans of the jazz scene. Look on the back of just about any classic Blue Note album from the 60s, and you’re likely to see Joe Chambers’ name listed as the drummer. And while there’sRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Did Columbia Records just pull a forgotten Miles Davis Second Great Quintet record out of the vault and dropped it unsuspectingly on the public? Because when I listen to Jeremy Pelt’s new CD Men Of Honor (released January 26), it often feels like a set ofRead More

photo: Dan Codazziby Pico This isn’t the first time we’ve featured the Rod Temperton tune made into a 1979 hit by Michael Jackson. But it bears another look, as interpreted by a completely different artist. Pianist and organist Mike LeDonne, a long established fixture in New York’s jazz arena, workedRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Eric Alexander is a tenor sax specialist who comes from the same generation of reed players as Joshua Redman, who he finished second to in 1991 in that career-defining Thelonious Monk Institute sax competition, when Alexander was in early 20’s. Since then, he has been extremelyRead More

by S. Victor Aaron This installment of Quickies takes a glance at three new offerings from HighNote Records. HighNote Reocrds, in case you didn’t know, has been around since 1996, a creation of former Muse Records founder and Prestige Records exec Joe Fields. As a longtime veteran of the wholeRead More

Finally, a musician with a one-letter last name I can actually embrace. Harvie S was the rock-solid bassist who firmly anchored Linda Presgrave’s completely enjoyable Inspiration CD, released last month. It’s only the latest notch in a long career that’s found S paired with such legends as John Scofield, StanRead More