Accomplished musical alchemist Billy Martin has taken an opportunity away from Medeski Martin and Wood to rekindle an idea he had years ago — combining ragtime and funk with trumpeter Steven Bernstein. You May Also Like: Medeski Martin & Wood with Alarm Will Sound – ‘Omnisphere’ (2018)
Peter Viani, who had a memorable late-1970s tenure in the Frank Sinatra band, offers series of solo recitations that are lyrical but never lightweight. You May Also Like: Joe Henderson’s ‘Power to the People’ Boldly Deviated From His Hard-Bop Formula Matt Nelson, Tim Dahl, Nick Podgurski – GRID (2017)
Don’t cry, indeed. For Ben Sidran — producer of Van Morrison and Rickie Lee Jones, co-writer of “Space Cowboy” with Steve Miller, sessions man with the Rolling Stones, NPR radio voice — being a hipster seems like such an effortless thing. You May Also Like: Jeff Berlin, Ben Sidran, JeffRead More
I love a good surprise. This week it was my discovery of Kid Koala. You May Also Like: Steely Dan, “Kid Charlemagne” from ‘Northeast Corridor’ (2021): Steely Dan Sunday Sue Foley – ‘Pinky’s Blues’ (2021)
This song, a new live interpolation of a Miles Davis cut from 1961’s Someday My Prince Will Come, might be the best argument Nicholas Payton has ever made for the use of the term Black American Music (or #BAM) instead of jazz. You May Also Like: Nicholas Payton – ‘SmokeRead More
As a insatiably open minded guitarist and composer, maybe it was inevitable that someday Sean Moran would make a record featuring his nylon six-string guitar in a setting alien to that instrument. You May Also Like: Max Moran, jazz bassist: Something Else! Interview Kelly Moran – Bloodroot (2017)
Prior to gaining the reputation as an ace jazz guitarist, Larry Coryell honed his skills playing in blues and rock bands. But the Free Spirits were the first band he ever recorded with. You May Also Like: Larry Coryell – ‘Last Swing With Ireland’ (2021) The Left Banke – ‘WalkRead More
Emilio Teubal’s third album (his first for Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records) is, like the prior two, a record that draws on his Argentinian roots. But this pianist, composer and bandleader doesn’t make Musica Para Un Dragon Dormido another collection of self-described “Argentinian jazz.” You May Also Like: Tower of Power’sRead More
To paraphrase Joe Lovano, FUSK doesn’t so much play free jazz, as set jazz free. Performing Super Kasper in a series of first takes, with three tracks presented as complete improvisations, this amalgam is simply too enterprising to fit into any one category. You May Also Like: Ivo Perelman –Read More
The “Chicagoan of the Year” as awarded by the Chicago Tribune has to be a person who’s done a lot for that large community, and as percussionist, bandleader, composer, past Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians chairman You May Also Like: Kevin Eubanks – East West Time Line (2017)
