As with the Symbiosis album that it follows, Red Sparkle is a Jeff Hamilton small combo setting where its drummer leader can make his presence known without having to be overbearing. That’s because he’s a master stylist behind the kit, whether he’s swinging on “Ain’t That A Peach” or “TooRead More

There are a lot of ways to fail at a jazz vocal album, in particular with the glut of such projects flooding the marketplace these days. The first, though, is to lack nerve. You May Also Like: Stephanie Angelini and Vince Tomas, “Midnight Blue” (2020): One Track Mind

You worry when legacy rockers return after long layoffs. You wonder if they are going to sound too on the nose, like imitations of their previous selves. You worry that they won’t sound enough like their old selves too You May Also Like: Tommy James and the Shondells – CellophaneRead More

The Cowboy Junkies will complete their four-CD Nomad Series this March, capping a remarkably productive 18-month period with the release of The Wilderness. You May Also Like: Bobby Avey – Inhuman Wilderness (2016) Gordon Grdina’s Nomad Trio – ‘Nomad’ (2020)

A fizzy combination of Cocteau Twins-style dream-pop and stamping R&B grooves, Poliça is a meeting of the musical minds by electronica producer Ryan Olson (Gayngs) and vocalist Channy Leaneagh. Together, they’ve fashioned an album in the forthcoming Give You The Ghost that is both haunting and hooky — like next-genRead More

A vibraphonist very much in the tradition of Lionel Hampton, Peter Appleyard — who’d, fittingly, worked with Benny Goodman in the period that these recordings were made — has issued 21 albums as a leader. Unfortunately, many (maybe most) of them have long been out of print, including a pairRead More

Whereas Audra Mae’s initial album, 2010’s The Happiest Lamb, boasted this gloamy, lightly swinging throwback appeal, the addition of the Almighty Sound gooses her into sizzling new soul-packed places. This self-titled album, set for release on February 14 courtesy of Side One Dummy, is still shaped by her dark andRead More

Singer-songwriter Kevin Gordon drills in on the second half of that descriptor, telling stories that resonate like age-old fables, even on the first listen.

In a genre that’s rapidly becoming overwhelmed with vocalists reinterpreting the Great American Snoozebook (important in their time, but rapidly becoming threadbare old saws — if only because of their endless modern repetitions), Lorraine Feather (daughter of the legendary jazz critic Leonard Feather) is not kidding with this album title.Read More

A delicately refined update of band leader Tim Baker’s 2008 project Into Your Lungs, Hey Rosetta! (with an assist from producer Tony Doogan, who’s worked with Belle and Sebastian, and Wintersleep) offers another retro-cool chamber pop triumph here, but with a pleasant dash of pop-music raucousness. ATO is releasing SeedsRead More