Nat Janoff’s guitar sounds pretty good on a leisure listen; it’s downright revelatory on closer listen. His single line runs are so brisk, clean and vibrant, the notes feel like 3-D for the ears. Janoff took an unusual route to get that perfect tone and phrasing: he started on piano,Read More

Ultime Cosmos was not serious. At least, not serious in that We’re Wearing Nice Suits, We’re Going To Play Jazz kind of way. Heck, this wasn’t even jazz, not in spirit anyway. You May Also Like: Quoan – Fine Dining (2018) Tim Berne’s Hardcell [Berne, Craig Taborn + Tom Rainey]Read More

Lena Prima centered this project with a pair of songs by her father, Louis Prima. But she didn’t settle for the simple goal of glowing tribute, either to this legendary New Orleans-born purveyor of post-war jump blues or to his era’s great American songbook. You May Also Like: Joni MitchellRead More

It’s a given that show tunes and Tin Pan Alley songs have provided plenty of fodder for jazz interpretations, especially in the decades before there were enough quality standards written specifically for jazz to fill up a fake book. You May Also Like: Why Keith Jarrett’s Reunion With Charlie HadenRead More

I was struck, time and again, by the considered, almost slow-motion attention to detail here, as trumpeter Jimmy Owens and Co. tease out every blues-soaked nuance from the oft-heard music of Thelonious Monk. You May Also Like: Gregory Lewis, with Marc Ribot – Organ Monk Blue (2018)

Time to let you have your say. We made a series of lists, checked them twice, then published our best-ofs. But what better way to end things than with the annual SER Readers’ Top 10? Here are your albums of the year You May Also Like: Martin Barre – ’50Read More

There are certain names that signify quality in a musical release, and there’s a bunch gathered on McCoy Tyner’s ‘Guitars.’

A posthumous memoir by Gil Scott-Heron, the late street poet and godfather of hip hop, will be published on Jan. 16, 2012, by Canongate. You May Also Like: Martin Luther King Songs by Stevie Wonder, Queen + U2, Others: Gimme Five MFTJ [Mike Keneally + Scott Schorr] – ‘My Mom’sRead More

In Boston After experiencing the first two minutes of this Pat Metheny Group concert, there was no doubt that Boston-area fans just plain love the man. You May Also Like: Pat Metheny, May 16, 2019: Shows I’ll Never Forget Pat Metheny, “You Are” from ‘From This Place’ (2019): One TrackRead More

Live albums and reissue projects often do much to shape the broader idea we have about a musical legacy, and this year was no different — with impressive sets devoted to Ray Charles, the Beach Boys, Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings and the Smiths You May Also Like: No related posts.