Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times by S. Victor Aaron Last month ECM put on sale new offerings by two of their oldest stalwarts: drummer Paul Motian and Ralph Towner. Motian has been discussed on this site probably more than any other drummer, no doubt due to his longRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Last Tuesday, HighNote Records furnished two new CD’s, each by established veterans of the jazz scene. Look on the back of just about any classic Blue Note album from the 60s, and you’re likely to see Joe Chambers’ name listed as the drummer. And while there’sRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Fresh, new talent worth listening to is often hard to spot. Good thing the folks at jazz label Posi-Tone Records specialize in bringing to our attention promising young talent who will keep the flame of jazz going for another generation. Their issuance yesterday of the firstRead More

by Nick DeRiso Luis Bonilla’s “I Talking Now” (NJCO/Planet Arts), from the first bristling blast of trombone on the title track, is dashing down a busy city street. It’s difficult to tell, at first, if he’s running away from or toward something. Whatever the apprehensions, you are quickly surrounded byRead More

by S. Victor Aaron He looks like a young Keith Jarrett, even hums along to his piano lines a little like Jarrett, but Jacky Terrasson is defying straight comparisons to anybody. This 1993 winner of the Thelonious Monk competition can conjure the big, train-like sound of McCoy Tyner, the cerebralRead More

On Monday night, drumming great Steve Reid died at the age of sixty-six after a battle with cancer. He leaves behind a legacy that’s explicitly known by few but surely felt by many. A couple of years ago we profiled what is sadly now his last record released in hisRead More

by Pico Jan Gabarek. There, I had to get that out of way right off. A Norwegian saxophone player who skillfully blends jazz with folk music of his homeland…who else would come to mind so quickly? Probably no one. But to be fair to tenor saxophonist Karl Seglem, he’s workedRead More

There is a whole lot of fun, but also a riveting intensity about “When the Saints Go Marching In,” this touchstone for everything that made Louis Armstrong.

Today, we remember Texas jazz guitarist Herb Ellis, who has passed at 88 in his Los Angeles home after a long bout with Alzheimer’s. Over a career that spanned six decades, Ellis worked with a number of legends, including Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong and in the classic line-upRead More

by S. Victor Aaron A side project of hip-hop artist Madlib, the music is pretty much what the ensemble’s name advertises. It’s loose, trippy and stretched out. There isn’t a whole lot of standout improvisation going on, because this is more of a groovy vibe based affair. But as farRead More