by Pico Jazz is special kind of art because it’s not an art that’s put on display in a museum; rather, it’s an art that comes alive and evolves in the small clubs in cities around the world. That’s especially true, of course, in New York City, and like countlessRead More

photo: Haakon Harriss by Pico John Surman may not be a household name on these American shores, but it’s hard to think of a sax guy out of Britain who has been more prolific over the last 40 years than this one. His own discography is a wide sweep overRead More

by Nick DeRisoThough Jimmy Smith is the principal voice of the Hammond B-3 in jazz, finding an entry point in his long discography can be difficult. Some might argue for 1956’s “At the Organ,” featuring Cedar Walton, Pepper Adams and Chick Corea. For me, though, that one doesn’t pop withRead More

There are some lines of business where the odds are stacked heavily against you if you decide to go into it. The restaurant biz is notorious for a high failure rate, for instance. The same could be saying about starting an independent record label; they come and go in massiveRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Chris Potter has long been one of my favorite saxophonists simply by virtue of playing in a couple of my favorite bands. As a former long-time member of The Dave Holland Quintet and the reconstituted Steely Dan, Potter made his name while in his twenties withRead More

An uber-talented young gal from Oregon with a fresh, delightful debut record that brings back to life classic American music of prior generations. That’s what I said in a nutshell about Diane Birch’s Bible Belt, but this time, the buzz is about Hailey Niswanger. Ms. Niswanger (pronounced NICE-wonger) plies herRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Brooklyn-born Steve Kuhn has not only enjoyed a long and fruitful career as a pianist of acclaim, but an interesting one as well. He studied classical piano under Margaret Chaloff, who also educated other jazz pianist luminaries like Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett. At thirteen, heRead More

For Brazilian guitarist Guilherme Monteiro, this was his first album — but looking at his long list of accomplishments tells you already that there’s nothing rookie about it. Having studied at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance and plied his trade in NYC since 2000, Monteiro has worked withRead More

by S. Victor Aaron The highly versatile drummer Matt Wilson has made a name as a leader of bands that straddled the fence between post-bop and avant garde with other music forms tossed in for grins ever since his headliner debut As Wave Follows Wave, which featured tenor sax veteranRead More

by Pico Tuesday was pretty busy day for Manfred Eicher’s fabled label ECM Records, as this was a day when they are released no less than five CD’s. For this all-ECM version of Quickies, we’re going to take some fairly brief looks at three of these, the more jazz-oriented ones.Read More