The foundations laid down here set up the Pat Metheny Group for commercial success on 1985’s ‘The Falcon and the Snowman’ and 1987’s ‘Still Life (Talking).’

For me, Dave Holland is one of those guys who has stood for excellence in almost four decades of recording, dating back to the In A Silent Way recordings and before. Yup, it’s time to devote space giving him mad props. Put on your raincoat and rain boots, ‘cos I’mRead More

by Pico Lately it seems every other article I write has some sort of Miles Davis connection to it (and I have yet another piece about a Davis sideman sitting in the pipeline). But as a lover of the early style of fusion as well as just about any formRead More

by S. Victor Aaron That Keith Jarrett, he’s one amazing individual. Consider: · In the middle of the domination of jazz by wanking electric guitarists and keyboardists in 1975, KJ sits down in front of an audience in West Germany armed with only a piano, starts playing whatever came outRead More

Miles Davis’ ‘Tribute to Jack Johnson’ is less than perfect in many respects, but the imperfections are such that they only add to the intrigue.

by Pico When the phrase “jazz musician from Louisiana” is thrown out, thoughts of New Orleans immediately spring to mind. And while it’s true that NOLA is the state’s, natch, the region’s jazz hub, you can find a few from Up North over in Nick’s neck of the woods whoRead More

by Pico From Stanton Moore we make a short hop to his Garage A Trois bandmate Charlie Hunter. Even among eccentric acid-jazz musicians, Hunter stands out. First of all, for all the soul-jazz, funk and world fusion he paints on his canvas, he is a bop man at heart; mostRead More

With the outstanding ‘Flyin’ the Koop,’ Stanton Moore leaves little ground uncovered in his search for the rare groove.

By S. Victor Aaron When Nick’s article on that badass Idris Muhammed started name-checking all the jazz heavyweights that this great dummer had been associated with, I then realized how many records with his imprint that are among some of my all time favorites. It would easy to launch intoRead More

by S. Victor Aaron My look at jazz guitar records that didn’t get their due. You May Also Like: Pat Martino + Jim Ridl, “The Phineas Trane” from Nexus (2015) How John McLaughlin’s First 4th Dimension Album Brought Things Back in Focus John McLaughlin – Black Light (2015)