by Pico A new John Ellis CD drops today, which is an occasion to shout an hallelujah or two. And that’s not just because Ellis serves his jazz with heaping spoonfuls of gospel, either. A couple of years ago, one of the of brightest, ascending sax stars today decided toRead More

by S. Victor Aaron They say that writing about music is like dancing about architecture, and if that’s true, then writing about whack jazz can be more like swimming about psychiatry. Often, you can’t describe a melodic or rhythmic structure because there are none. Saying so-and-so sounds like some otherRead More

by Nick DeRiso Perhaps best remembered in jazz circles for his melodic work on the fretless (notably as a member of the Pat Metheny Group from 1977-80), bassist Mark Egan’s earliest influences couldn’t have been more far afield. A former student of Jaco Pastorius at the University of Miami, EganRead More

by Pico If I were to tell you that I’m going to discuss the sax playing skills of a certain Dutch lady, you might think I’m talking about Candy Dulfer. Not hardly. Tineke Postma (pronounced TEE-na-ka POST-ma), from Heerenveen, The Netherlands, is an alto and soprano saxophonist who has aRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Another record by a jazz drummer? Heck yeah! Ulysses Owens, Jr. isn’t just a young up-and-comer percussion specialist with a radiant smile. Behind the cheerful expression is a serious commitment to his craft. A graduate of the world renowned Julliard School, Owens has been touring withRead More

When you read the liner notes to Matt Slocum’s new record Portraits, it’s full of effusive but knowledgeable praise from one of Slocum’s former instructors at the University of Southern California, where he earned a degree from the prestigious Thornton School of Music. That’s a pretty good reference, but itRead More

Photo by Maria Camillo by S. Victor Aaron Sometimes it takes a fantastic cover of a song to make you realize how good the original has always been. This One Track Mind is about one of those times. When I think of the eponymous Pat Metheny Group album from wayRead More

photo: Arne Reimer by S. Victor Aaron A couple of summers ago I was treated to the pleasing but discerning modern jazz found all over Torben Waldorff’s Afterburn. The great Dane guitarist/composer who resides in Sweden is a household name in our little ‘berg on the internet, and needs noRead More

by S. Victor Aaron In the promo video below, pianist Orrin Evans performs the first cut from his new album Faith In Action, and the camera ever so slyly captures a picture of Thelonious Monk in the background. The subliminal advertising is undoubtedly intended to suggest that Evans’ playing styleRead More

by S. Victor Aaron I’m not one of those critics who creates a “best of” list by merely dumping a bunch of names and titles. But I felt a need to explain that because this list of mainstream and modern jazz from the past year has 41 entrants on it.Read More