by Tom Johnson My first real exposure to jazz was either John Coltrane’s Sun Ship or this. Time has erased the gap between the two, but it matters little. Either way, I was in way over my head. I bought both in quick succession, but found Sun Ship simply wayRead More

by Mark Saleski From swing (“Bopsolete”) to smokey blues (and what self-respecting organ ensemble would sidestep the blues? Check out “Deep Blue,” killer guitar solo by Peter Bernstein on this one), this group knows how to have a good time. The title track gets in that groove and burns. AndRead More

An underappreciated Dizzy Gillespie record on Verve, includes some s-s-smokin’ thoughts of “Con Alma” — two, in fact. You May Also Like: Dizzy Gillespie and Friends – Concert of the Century: A Tribute to Charlie Parker (2016) ‘Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings’ (2023) Wes Montgomery withRead More

You might say that top-notch jazz pianist Orrin Evans has become a fixture here at SER. It all got started four years ago when we noted his participation in Robin Eubanks’ EB3 unit that made the phenomenal double-CD Live, Vol. 1 of 2007. Early last year we salivated over Evans’Read More

If you were tasked with listing the influences of JazzGuitaristPatMetheny™, some good entries might be Four and More (Miles Davis), Ornette Coleman’s Something Else!!! (Sorry, couldn’t resist), and Smokin’ At The Half Note by the Wynton Kelly Trio with Wes Montgomery. You May Also Like: Pat Metheny – ‘Dream Box’Read More

Pretty much for the last twenty years, there have been two types of Monty Alexander records: one that features exuberant, evocative mainstream New York jazz and one that showcases Alexander’s unique Jamaican-styled jazz. Earlier this year, the Kingston piano great released the straight-up jazz trio live chronicles Uplift, a tremendousRead More

by Mark Saleski I have to purchase my Peter Brötzmann only very occasionally because it takes a while to get over the blatant intensity. Recorded at the Molde International Jazz Festival, this is really what European improvised jazz is all about. Well, maybe not all, but certainly a side ofRead More

by Tom Johnson This trio is basically Bill Frisell’s home away from home, it seems. If he’s not putting out his own solo album, it seems like you can almost count on something from this trio sooner or later, where he indulges his more straight-ahead jazz tendencies. The joy inRead More

Israeli-born guitarist Roni Ben-Hur and Brazlian-born bassist Nilson Matta head a date with percussionist Café (another Brazilian) and American drummer Victor Lewis in tow, called Mojave. While the title might conjure up images of the American Southwest, pay closer attention to the native country of both the bass player andRead More

On June 14th, guitarist Pat Metheny will release What’s It All About, an all-acoustic album that’s about as far as you can get, technologically speaking, from last year’s Orchestrion. You May Also Like: Pat Metheny, May 16, 2019: Shows I’ll Never Forget Pat Metheny Discovered Bold New Machine-Aided Freedoms WithRead More