by S. Victor Aaron The beginning of the year is usually a quiet period for music releases. Coming on the heels of the frantic holiday shopping season and the various “best of (prior) year lists” that assist in yuletide purchasing decisions, you’d think there wouldn’t be anything worthwhile coming outRead More

by S. Victor Aaron David Cook is a recent addition to the burgeoning young talent that’s filling up the roster at Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records, and like his new labelmates, this pianist comes to BJU Records with an abundance of experience. Already, he’s worked with Lizz Wright, Donny McCaslin, DennisRead More

by Mark Saleski After years of writing reviews, I have now stumbled into what must be the most embarrassing way to discover music: via a tumblr photo blog. I can’t even remember what I’d been writing at the time, but I had googled the word “geek” and ended up onRead More

by Nick DeRiso Taking on Nina Simone, a singer of dusky persuasiveness, might be foolhardy enough. Remaking this song, a Top 20 pop hit off Simone’s celebrated 1958 debut Little Girl Blue seemed like the worst idea of all. But Canadian singer Kellylee Evans finds a new light, even ifRead More

by Nick DeRiso Emory Quinn doesn’t quibble about genre. Heck, this happy-go-lucky San Antonio, Texas-based band can’t even stick to one instrument, with its principal members merrily switching from one to another. That makes for a nice metaphor on See You At The Next Light, an album of restless musicalRead More

by Nick DeRiso Erik Hartley can’t decide about things, and that uncertainty creates an interesting tension on the new EP Not Me Being Nervous. The in-joke ends up being that he’s anything but “not nervous.” Hartley, instead, couldn’t be less settled, with looming questions about girls, about life, about gettingRead More

by Nick DeRiso On Triangulation, Boston-based guitarist Mitch Seidman has complete command of both the bebop R&B fission and the gentlemanly poise of early idol Kenny Burrell. That means tunes of lyrical strength and technical skill, linked by this remarkable ability to blend seamlessly with his fellow musicians across aRead More

Photo by Autumn de Wilde by Mark Saleski It’s that time of year again. The time when you’re afraid to go into that store, afraid to watch the television, afraid to turn on the radio — for fear of hearing “Jingle Bell Rock.” Or “The Christmas Song.” Or “Grandma GotRead More

Photograph by Clayton Bozard by Nick DeRiso Haley Dreis likes to fiddle with expectations. You wouldn’t expect a classically trained violinist to dabble in pop music. And you wouldn’t expect the self-confident nuance of “All For You” from someone who only began writing mainstream songs three years ago. Yet sheRead More

by Mark Saleski One way to define a categorical number line of female jazz vocalists would be to put artists like Ella Fitzgerald (full of insistent smolder, fire & brimstone) at one end, and balance that with voices of pure subtlety at the other — Billie Holiday, Shirley Horn, andRead More