Steve Smith, of Journey and Vital Information fame, joins Ross Boissoneau to discuss Max Roach, Buddy Rich, Herb Alpert and others.

Help jazz percussion great Warren Smith get some memorable material from a recent residency at NYC’s The Stone club released and keep his legacy intact.

To Canadians, as the new 2012 liner notes to this historic meeting of the jazz minds so rightly notes, Massey Hall is a building. To fans of this music worldwide, it’s something else You May Also Like: ‘Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings’ (2023) Giancarlo Tossani’s BigRead More

by Mark Saleski Ever have a dream where the impossible has suddenly come true? No, I don’t mean something like you’ve won the lottery, or you finally hooked up with that special someone. No, I’m talking about the impossible. In my case, it was my guitar playing ability. For aRead More

by Nick DeRiso Even a passing fan can purchase with some confidence the touchstone jazz recordings of the last century. But what next? How to explore deeper into the legacy? SomethingElse! is here to help, with an ongoing guide to what we like to call “if/then” jazz listening … IFRead More

NICK DERISO: Volume 2 gives an idea of how considerable a wake the 1940s Miles Davis Nonet left. Taking its name from Davis’ legendary 1950 recording, this welcome, if belated, compilation scoops up all of the Capitol cuts from the early ’50s by two of the nonet’s most important disciples,Read More

Max Roach, a drummer both of unparalleled force and towering intellect, has passed. A New York Times obit talks about the dramatic scope of his life’s work: Mr. Roach’s death closes a chapter in American musical history. He was the last surviving member of a small circle of adventurous musiciansRead More

NICK DERISO: What an enveloping, unforgettable experience: Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and drummer Max Roach, then bop’s most visible surviving pioneers, performing as a duo in a completely improvised concert. Neither had ever recorded a more free-form album, yet still there remains a deep affection for what came before — andRead More

by Nick DeRiso Rainbow Mist, Coleman Hawkins’ 1944 smoker on Delmark, was a brilliant record borne out of boredom. Hawkins, the tenor saxman, had already made his splash with the song “Body and Soul,” back in 1939. When he returned from living in Europe for five years, he took aRead More