For ‘Dial Up’ by Dave Rempis, Jason Adasiewicz + Chris Corsano, it’s the Chicago/Midwestern lunch-pail approach to free improvisation is the glue that holds this trio together.

Markus James, Deerhoof, Dave Liebman, Don Pullen and Arild Anderson are included in S. Victor Aaron’s Top Unreviewed Records of 2014.

Earlier this year Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis launched his own record label Aerophonic to serve as the main home for his various projects and the first two of these recordings are hittin’ the streets You May Also Like: Kuzu (Dave Rempis, Tahi Dorji, Tyler Damon) – ‘Hiljaisuus’ (2019) Kuzu –Read More

The genius of Rob Mazurek doesn’t necessarily lie in all the musical ideas he has; it’s the modular approach he takes to those ideas. You May Also Like: Rob Mazurek Quintet’s hypnotic, diverse Sound Is rewarded close listens Rob Mazurek’s Black Cube Marriage – Astral Cube (2017) Rob Mazurek –Read More

Josh Berman follows up a debut album that brilliantly collided the very old with the very new, mainly by expanding the harmonic range of his band. Old Idea, which cleverly retrofitted trad jazz with a healthy dose of Bill Dixon, announced to the world that Chicago is big enough forRead More

James Falzone is part of a young, resurgent cadre of clarinet players that also includes the likes of Ben Goldberg and Anat Cohen, determined to prove the continued vitality of this sometimes-forgotten wood instrument of jazz. You May Also Like: Big Brooklyn – Purpose (2018) Rob Mazurek Quintet’s hypnotic, diverseRead More

As I write this, the power fails at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park just prior to kickoff of the Niners/Steelers Monday night football game. But as I am also listening to Frisco-based trumpeter Darren Johnston, I’m hearing lights-out music. You May Also Like: Darren Barrett – ‘The EVI Sessions: Mr. Steiner’Read More

One of the busiest players in Chicago’s jazz/improvised music scenes, the name of vibist and composer Jason Adasiewicz always seems to come up You May Also Like: Jason Stein Quartet – Lucille! (2017) Ivo Perelman, Mat Maneri, Mark Feldman, Jason Hwang – ‘Strings 1’ (2018)

I don’t know if it’s a trend of not, but lately I’ve noticed a lot more unconventional trios in jazz. By “unconventional” I mean without the bass player, and the usual premise I’ve heard for doing this is to allow more freedom. Trying out uncommon configurations is an interesting andRead More

Each of the year’s four Satoko Fujii records made our Best Of 2010 List. by Pico With the more accessible types of jazz out of the way in Part 3 and Part 4, this Best of 2010 series concludes with the least accessible stuff, the experimental and avant garde stuffRead More