Just because Rudresh Mahanthappa took a break from composing for this project doesn’t mean he took a break from creating.

Here is S. Victor Aaron’s Best of 2018 list for avant garde jazz and experimental music, including releases by Wendy Eisenberg, Brandon Seabrook, David Dominique and others.

Henry Kaiser has long found spiritual fulfillment playing music informed by the ancient songs of Korean Shamanism. This time he finds further fulfillment in the comradery of musicians who like him understand the power of the mudang.

The baker’s dozen in this Best of 2017 list reveals that fusion jazz has expanded and diversified way past its ‘Bitches Brew’-era beginnings.

Rez Abbasi and his potent Invocation band have demonstrated with ‘Unfiltered Universe’ that creativity and originality is more than just ideas and knowledge, it’s about vision.

Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition’s the original mission of melding modern group-level stream-of-consciousness with contemporary raga remains intact, ‘Agrima’ builds on those original ideas, too.

Once you accept the weird, wonderful microtonal world of David Fiuczynski, the universe gets much, much bigger. And better, too.

S. Victor Aaron picks the best of 2015’s modern and mainstream jazz albums, including John Scofield, Matthew Shipp, Antonio Sanchez and others.

Here is a review of ‘Bird Calls,’ a creative tribute by alto sax great Rudresh Mahanthappa to his primary inspiration Charlie Parker.

Here is a sneak peek of Rudresh Mahanthappa’s “Chillin’,” from his upcoming February 2015 release ‘Bird Calls.’