Chicago’s Terry Kath had never sounded smoother or more melancholy. It’s almost as if he knew tragedy would soon befall him.

Get used to seeing that adjective ‘funky’ applied to the Jeff Lorber Fusion’s latest album ‘Impact;’ it applies all over this record and that’s just the way it was intended.

In unveiling his Superette band, Chris Lightcap shows that he invests a fair amount of serious artistry into his work even when he’s making casually fun music.

New Orleans is a place where many cultures met in the past, and it continues to draw people from all over the world – including jazz lovers like me.

Through it fizzled as a single, Toto’s clean, organic “Turning Point” again exceeds anything their contemporaries were doing at the time.

No adjustment was necessary for this new collaboration, because Sonar or David Torn complement each other uncommonly well on ‘Vortex.’

‘Espresso’ doesn’t always stick to the script of being an acoustic trio playing straight-ahead jazz, but Bob James never really chose a side.

The second bonus track on the Rhino remaster of 1977’s ‘Chicago XI’ is an enjoyable, if not remarkable, listen.

Stanley Clarke, Superfonicos and Max Moran are part of this occasional look at music that’s been in my car lately.

The word ‘Mahobin’ means ‘thermos bottle’ but also ‘magic bottle’ in Japanese, and the magic made for ‘Live at Big Apple in Kobe’ that retained its passion throughout meant that this fledgling group had lived up to both meanings of the name.