With Ches Smith’s recently-earned reputation comes higher expectations, and his upcoming ‘Laugh Ash’ lives up to it with another ambitious project that’s not a mere repeat of what he’s done before.

With ‘Connection,’ Marc Ribot and his rabble-rouser super trio Ceramic Dog are back leading the hell raising contingent of loud, improvised music.

Getting it right instead of getting it sooner paid off handsomely for Trevor Dunn and his Trio-Convulsant on ‘Séances.’

Tim Berne’s constructions become illusions in the hands of this band. Getting yourself lost in these deceptions is so much fun.

‘The Fantastic Mrs. 10’ boils down to Matt Mitchell’s simple words: Tim Berne’s designs provide a context for insanity. Sweet insanity.

Satoko Fujii doesn’t play an instrument in her orchestra; she conducts it. Still, there is hardly a more accurate manifestation of her genius artistry.

feature photo: Bryan Murray Now boasting a remarkable ten albums over twenty years, Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York today takes another step forward with Fukushima (Libra Records), the first new recordings from Satoko Fujii’s American large ensemble project since 2014’s Shiki. The best big band leaders know how to exploitRead More

Though tim Berne’s Snakeoil band lives and thrives dangerously, ‘Incidentals’ never goes off the rails; there’s a constant sense of surprise but coupled with a sense of purpose.

This doesn’t often sound like big band music, as Fujii draws from every impulse at her disposal.

For the longest time, jazz has had its hard-edged fringe and so has rock. Keyboardist Landon Knoblock started CACAW with the intent to combine the two outliers of their respective styles to create something even more otherworldly. You May Also Like: Tim Berne’s Snakeoil – Incidentals (2017) Caroline Davis –Read More