by Mark Saleski This is a certified jazz/funk/power trio bomb. With Vernon Reid on guitar, Jamaaladeen Tecuma on bass, and G. Calvin Weston on drums, there is not a flabby moment on this record. Many people know Reid from his fire-spitting days with Living Colour. If you weren’t paying attentionRead More

I remember seeing the first ones. They were behind the glass at the front desk at Strawberries Records. I’m pretty sure I didn’t even know what they were. You May Also Like: Bill Lloyd – Feeling the Elephant (1987): Forgotten Series King Crimson, Fleetwood Mac, Supertramp + Others: My TopRead More

by Mark Saleski Listeners come to jazz from many directions. They may have a natural attraction to it. Jazz may have been the predominant music playing on their parents’ home stereo You May Also Like: Bill Lloyd – Feeling the Elephant (1987): Forgotten Series Richard Lloyd Giddens Jr. – MimosasRead More

by Mark Saleski Artists deserving wider recognition. You see this kind of thing all the time in music polls. And do they ever gain wider recognition? Not usually. You May Also Like: Vertical Horizon – ‘The Lost Mile’ (2018) The Bangles, Dream Syndicate + Others – ‘3 X 4’ (2019)

by Mark Saleski Call me easily amused, by I’m a sucker for a girl who accompanies herself at the piano by whackin’ a chair with a drumstick. That was how Regina Spektor sang the sassy “Poor Little Rich Boy.” One hand for piano chords, the other for abusing a woodenRead More

Bruce accompanied by a lone piano, playing a sparse progression. Motorcycle outlaws (“The angel rides with hunch-backed children”)? Little kids on a bicycle adventures (“Baseball cards poked in his spokes…”)? You May Also Like: No related posts.

by Mark Saleski There’s this notion in the world of sculpture that the artist is merely freeing the shape locked within the raw source material. You May Also Like: David S. Ware & Matthew Shipp Duo – Live In Sant’Anna Arresi, 2004 (2016)

by Mark Saleski Vertical Vision would remind me of Weather Report even if it didn’t contain a smokin’ reading of “Boogie Woogie Waltz.” Honest!! You May Also Like: Gerry Gibbs & Thrasher People – Weather Or Not (2017) ‘Elegant People: A History of the Band Weather Report,’ by Curt Bianchi:Read More

by Mark Saleski I can’t exactly remember either the song or the awards show I saw her perform it on. It had to be either Roy Orbison’s “Crying” or maybe “Constant Craving You May Also Like: Jonny Lang – Signs (2017) Canadian Brass – ‘Canadiana’ (2022)

by Mark Saleski Big ears: usually a none-too-nice description of some poor kid on the elementary school playground. In the jazz world, “big ears” is a good thing. You May Also Like: Bill Frisell’s Timeless ‘Live’ Opened Up a New Musical World for Me Bill Frisell – Music IS (2018)Read More