by S. Victor Aaron Robert Hurst is a guy I remember being Wynton Marsalis’ bassist in the late 1980s, before performing in the same capacity for Branford’s Tonight Show band. From there, I don’t recall much. But that’s on me because in reality, Hurst has kept very busy: he’s servedRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Listening to Shawn Costantino’s Waltz For Anne, you’re reminded of Stanley Turrentine or Gene Ammons. Also, he takes on a few standards, but only one of them (“The Touch of your Lips”) is a jazz one. The other two are taken from The Beatles (“Can’t BuyRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Women continue to move into areas of jazz long dominated by men, and in a big way. Even since I made a big to-do about this trend a couple of summers ago, the parade of girls muscling their way into the boys’ club continues on strongerRead More

by S. Victor Aaron NOLA-based Plunge is back again to follow up on their stripped down trombone-based brand of funky jazz found on Dancing On Thin Ice, Tin Fish Tango. Once again, ‘bone player Mark McGrain leads a small ensemble with bassist James Singleton of Astral Project, a sax playerRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Bassist Luther Hughes leads a tenor sax/alto sax quintet in its forth recording paying tribute to the spirit of Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane. Specifically, The Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago album recorded with Miles Davis’ band sans Miles himself just six months before they allRead More

Yes has taken more twists and turns than the fantastical lettering created for its album covers by Roger Dean.

We begin this series by covering the kind of music most music critics cover when making lists: the Great Mainstream.

by S. Victor Aaron After all the whack jazz winners I’ve heard from Engine Studios, I’ve come to expect nothing but excellence whenever I pop in a CD from that label for the first time, and I’ve yet to be disappointed. Label head and producer Steven Walcott signs up creative,Read More

by S. Victor Aaron “Catalyst” is not just the name of the album, it’s also the name of the band sax/flute player King leads, and this is their debut album. This band which features King, Luis Deniz (saxes), David Braid (piano and keyboards), Rich Brown (bass), Joel Haynes (drums), haveRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Even on an ode to a fallen friend (“Portrait Of Leroy Jenkins”) and the chromatic ballad (“My Wish”) they pour on the intensity, but get downright giddy on harder tunes like “Hot Crab Pot,” a song that boils over with as much intensity as the titleRead More