By introducing his consistent and dynamic new quintet with ‘Smoke Shifter,’ we learn a little more about percussion ace Chad Taylor’s almost limitless artistry.

Liberty Ellman’s new PI Recordings release ‘Last Desert’ is some cerebral jazz, yet avoids the clutter of some music that often falls into that category.

Liberty Ellman takes time off from doing great things for other jazz musicians to do a pretty great thing under his own name.

‘Mise En Abîme’ would be a stunning achievement for just about anybody else; for Steve Lehman, it’s just his still-evolving musical personality racing out beyond jazz’s frontiers and daring anyone to try and catch up.

There’s been a ton of great modern and mainstream jazz albums released this year, coming from stalwarts and newcomers alike. It’s not just tradition being upheld with grace and passion, there were loads of creative spurts by newcomers and stalwarts alike You May Also Like: No related posts.

For this middle-of-2013 version list of best modern and mainstream jazz records, I expanded the meaning of “modern and mainstream jazz” a little bit this year You May Also Like: No related posts.

Amazon.com Widgets Very soon, Jonathan Finlayson will lose his distinction as jazz’s best trumpet player on the scene today without a record under his name. You May Also Like: Liberty Ellman – ‘Last Desert’ (2020) Miles Okazaki Quartet – ‘Thisness’ (2022) Miles Okazaki – ‘The Sky Below’ (2019)

“Every beat on the album was original,” said Herbie Hancock about his game-changing funk-jazz album Head Hunters. It’s the one aspect about that record that has stood out to me over everything else, and made Harvey Mason a drum hero in my book You May Also Like: Michael Coleman +Read More

“Bending Bridges,” reveals Mary Halvorson, “is a title I came up with in a semi-conscious state”, the same as how most of the titles in her songs come about. You May Also Like: Mary Halvorson Octet – Away With You (2016) Tomas Fujiwara, Ben Goldberg + Mary Halvorson – TheRead More

The music of Tomas Fujiwara and his Hook Up band is some of the most deceptively clever jazz out there, which makes it very difficult to describe his music. You May Also Like: Tomas Fujiwara [w/ Tomeka Reid + Patricia Brennan] – ‘Pith’ (2023) Tomas Fujiwara, Ben Goldberg + MaryRead More