When outer fringe guitarist Bruce Eisenbeil got together with kindred spirits Tom Blancarte (upright bass) and Andrew Drury (drums) to form TOTEM>, they injected fresh concepts in the improvised music arena. You May Also Like: Sound Etiquette – Sound Etiquette (2016)
One of the most self-effacing musicians of Chicago’s AACM scene paradoxically creates some of its boldest music, and bassist Harrison Bankhead’s second album confirms that Morning Sun Harvest Moon was no one-off fluke. You May Also Like: Harrison Bankhead and Paul de Jong – ‘Freedom’ (2020) Casey Golden Trio –Read More
With material as tried, true and in some cases worn smooth as Deanna Reuben tackles on Christmas Is Here, the focus quickly shifts to her own approach You May Also Like: Tom Tallitsch – ‘Ten’ (2019) Why I’m Still Confused by Pink Floyd’s ‘On the Turning Away’ Tom Tallitsch –Read More
A patently weird, completely loveable group of retro-cool Austin hipsters, Jitterbug Vipers sounds like Norah Jones sitting in with Django Reinhardt. You May Also Like: Ken Sharp, “Girl / Forget That Girl” (2020): One Track Mind Parlor Greens – ‘In Green / We Dream’ (2024)
Hailing from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, soulful jazz singer Gabriela Pepino offers a heady mixture of Etta James and Amy Winehouse on Let Me Do It, sounding at once retro and somehow completely in the moment. You May Also Like: Eliane Elias Confidently Expanded Her Main Influences on ‘Bossa Nova Stories’
In 2007, twenty five years after Art Pepper’s death, his widow Laurie began issuing concert recordings of her late husband covering the period of his remarkable renaissance of the last seven years of his life. You May Also Like: Art Pepper – ‘Smack Up’ (1960; 2024 reissue) Brecker Brothers –Read More
A guy with the amount of respect and credentials as a composer, bandleader, arranger and drummer as Gerry Gibbs can more the hold his own in the presence of anybody. You May Also Like: Gerry Gibbs & Thrasher People – Weather Or Not (2017) Daniel Carter, William Parker, Matthew ShippRead More
When Chris Biesterfeldt set out to make the mandolin record which became Urban Mandolin, he used a small combo but outsized ambitions. You May Also Like: The Wood Brothers, “River Takes the Town” from One Drop Of Truth (2018): One Track Mind
For all the discussion in recent years about the current generation’s creatively unique piano/bass/drums trios such as The Bad Plus, e.s.t. and Vijay Iyer’s trio, there’s scant talk about the earliest and most unique of this batch You May Also Like: The Necks – Body (2018) The Necks – ‘Travel’Read More
After an opening that manages to be sparse and yet unresolved, “Jaco” transitions into the first (only?) track on this album structured to feature rounds of solos in a more traditional jazz fashion. You May Also Like: ‘Bright Size Life’ Gave Early Definition to Pat Metheny’s Incredible Career Pat MethenyRead More
