by S. Victor Aaron Wallace Roney’s live album that bowed last spring is a good record for several reasons, first and foremost because of the trumpet player’s dexterity on the brass horn. In our brief review of If Only For One Night, I didn’t have room to say much aboutRead More

Larry and Tak’s new record is taking Japan by storm; can it do the same in the U.S.? The five new albums below were chosen for a Quickies together mainly because they’re fusion-type records. Beyond that, they are also by artists who I’ve followed for a while or used toRead More

by S. Victor Aaron World class drummer Manu Katché continues to pursue a second musical career as a bandleader with his third ECM release (and fourth overall) on Third Round. His second ECM Playground was warmly greeted here when it first appeared three years ago, and his label debut wasRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Throughout all of the history of jazz, trumpet players were always in the vanguard: Armstrong, Gillespie, Davis, Bowie, I could go on. The common theme with the two fresh offerings go beyond the fact that they are led or co-led by trumpeters; these are releases thatRead More

by S. Victor Aaron We introduced the master trumpeter Weiss on this space as the leader of the talent laden New Jazz Composer’s Octet and he’s shepherded this project through five releases. The NJCO represents just a slice of the long and varied career of this Queens, NY native. HavingRead More

Things could be looking up for Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. by Pico It’s been a whole three months since we last discussed a batch of sparkling new releases that are targeted for wider audiences. That’s such a long span that a few of the half dozen records yakked aboutRead More

The thrash-jazz music of Little Women is well off the wall. by S. Victor It’s time again to take a walk on the wide side. Anybody who plays that unpredictable, elaborate and passionate music called jazz has my eternal respect. If they play it in new and unconventional ways, well,Read More

by S. Victor Aaron “Finding your own voice” is such an overused phrase these days. That especially holds true in the music business, where such rote advice is handed out like doubloons at a Mardi Gras parade. The young, alto tenor saxophone specialist Sarah Manning has heard those words herself,Read More

Multiple personality disorder is considered an affliction among the mentally disabled, but when it comes to the artistry of that unquenchable, multidimensional guitarist Nels Cline, it’s the very thing that makes him such an unpredictably compelling musician. Each time I’ve audited a new record of his, like his celebration ofRead More

photo: Jimmy Katz by S. Victor Aaron If you has happened to follow this site long enough, you know the drill: The Stryker/Slagle Band puts out a new record, I listen to said new record, then I write about how great it is. Keeper, the newest by the Stryker/Slagle BandRead More