by Pico Last year I devoted precious little space to praise a then-new album by bassist-composer Ben Allison called Little Things Run The World. The brief praise didn’t really do the record justice, as Allison is a certain kind of composer and bandleader who can build rib-sticking compositions and findRead More

by S. Victor Aaron The Two-fer isn’t a double celebration of a single artist, but rather of a single instrument: the trombone. I’ve always liked that warm, brassy sound with its slippery pitch variations that gives it a colorful, almost-human character. An instrument that has been there in jazz’s earliestRead More

photo: Chris Barber The history of jazz is a history of a continuum of leaders where the next generation of shining stars emerge when the leaders of the prior generation are still in their prime period. The torch of the premier trumpet player passed on from Louis Armstrong to DizzyRead More

by S. Victor Aaron About six weeks ago we saluted some amazing young women who stand poised to make a lot of noise in the man’s world of jazz instrumentalists. One of those is releasing her debut album on this very day, a unique bass player who goes by theRead More

By Nick DeRiso “Two Of Us,” the old Beatles album cut, is reborn — as is a long-ago relationship — in the hands of this pair of early 1970s-era country-rock stars. Part of a new Disney children’s album “All Join In,” the tune is actually one of two by theRead More

by S. Victor Aaron The term “fusion jazz” has been used to refer to the melding of rock and jazz since the late 1960’s, but in truth, jazz has evolved largely by absorbing other forms of music from the beginning. I think that’s one of the very things that’s madeRead More

“Guitar virtuoso” for some can conjure up images of lightning fast shredders and gadget-filled guitar pyrotechnics. Some of these guys are pretty amazing technicians, to be sure, but a lot of them forget about applying their ample technique to songs that are any joy to listen to. But Oz NoyRead More

photo: Mamoru Kobayakawa by S. Victor Aaron Here at Something Else we take a shining to rising young talent who puts a modern, interesting twist on jazz while honoring its tradition of deep harmony, creative improvisation and unselfish group symbiosis. That’s what I liked about E.J. Strickland’s debut album InRead More

by Pico One of the more amazing things about Pat Metheny has long been his ability to play music at it’s highest potential and, when the mood strikes him, make it entirely accessible at the same time. In that sense, he’s a modern day version of Louis Armstrong, who wasRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Jazz label Anzic Records is only about four years old but has already made a real impact for young, talented New York-based musicians. Co-founded by Israeli-born clarinet/saxophone whiz Anat Cohen (who was profiled in my list of “Young Lionesses” up-and-coming female jazz stars), this record companyRead More