by Mark Saleski You just can’t go wrong with the B-3. Saxophonist Dan Pratt might be running the show, but it’s B-3 player Jared Gold who is the secret weapon here. Secret weapon #2 (Wait, is it OK to have two?) is trombonist Alan Berber. Go ahead and check outRead More

by Mark Saleski There are drummers who can keep time, who stay out of the way in the effort to enhance their fellow musicians’ sound. Moving a step beyond that are people like Joe Chambers, who play with so much nuance and obvious consideration for the ongoing moment that whatRead More

by Mark Saleski First off, I just have to say that this album, recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio in Boston, sounds gorgeous. Many modern recordings, even in the quieter jazz realm, are tainted by the overuse of compression. Not so here. The inner detail of Winard Harper’s cymbal workRead More

by Mark Saleski I do like my jazz with some funk, and Chris Green delivers. The opening track “Good Riddance!” cooks right along as does “Coffee ‘n Scotch,” built on a simple ostinato that gets moved around in sly ways as the funk slips into and back out of straightRead More

Los Lobos guitarist/accordian player and all around musical polyglot David Hidalgo got together with vocalist Mike Halby (Canned Heat, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers) to create this fantastic chunk ‘o blues. You May Also Like: Los Lobos’ ‘Kiko’ Was a Mysterious, Completely Transfixing Triumph Los Lobos, “Gates of Gold” from Gates ofRead More

by Mark Saleski My favorite Tom Harrell record is actually a Jim Hall record. These Rooms was a Jim Hall Trio album featuring Tom Harrell. Really great stuff. There was a certain synergy between Harrell’s flugelhorn and Hall’s guitar. Some of that kind of thing is evident on Roman Nights.Read More

By Mark Saleski Like mystery novels, poetry, or any other form of art, music has a lot of uses. We’re sad and pull out those old Son House records. Happy? How about some Speaking In Tongues-era Talking Heads? Is romance in the air? You May Also Like: Circus, “Stop WaitRead More

by Mark Saleski Every true music fan has in their pocket a short list: the artists who hold special meaning. Our relationships to those artists are different from the rest. Each release means something. They’re not just records, they’re events You May Also Like: Bruce Springsteen – ‘The Ghost ofRead More

by Mark Saleski To my ears, the reference standard of piano duo recordings has to be that Chick Corea/Herbie Hancock thing. Monstrous, is what it is. This is a little different though. First, it’s Reed and Chestnut (duh). Second, there’s the presence of bass and drums (Dezron Douglas, Willie JonesRead More

Given the fact that Pat Martino had played with some of the biggest B3 players in the business (including Jack McDuff and the great Jimmy Smith), it probably surprised no one that Martino’s first solo release You May Also Like: Pat Martino + Jim Ridl, “The Phineas Trane” from NexusRead More