by S. Victor Aaron Like James Moody and Benny Golson, Barry Harris is a fine, old-school performer with a few standards under his belt and whom I was pleasantly surprised to find is still making viable records. Having a long legacy from 1960 on playing alongside greats such as CannonballRead More

I tend to regard unaccompanied solo records as a pretty good indicator as to how well that musician can play their instrument. Even if they play so well a capella, though, that doesn’t necessarily make it a great record. It can so easily devolve into a “look how good IRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Here’s another CD of advanced jazz led by its composing drummer, this time Mike Pride. One thing I’ve found with drummer-led combos, is that drummers have a natural tendency toward democracy in a band, and his Bacteria To Boys (Darius Jones, alto sax; Peter Bitenc, bass;Read More

by S. Victor Aaron Avant garde specialist Albert Beger has long been known commodity in his native Israel but not so much in America, despite having recorded with William Parker and Hamid Drake on a couple of records. Beger seeks to change that with what he considers one of hisRead More

by S. Victor Aaron The drummer and composer Mark Lomax convened a recording session with saxophonist Edwin Bayard and bassist Dean Hulett with a batch of compositions that the Blacklist co-founder wrote when he was trying to come to terms with his own identity as both an American and aRead More

by S. Victor Aaron John McNeil is a trumpet player, a veteran of the illustrious Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra and has led recording dates since 1978. Bill McHenry is a sax player, has played with Charlie Haden, Paul Motian, Henry Grimes and Norah Jones, and has led recording dates sinceRead More

by S. Victor Aaron My current rotation has Crystal Silence by Gary Burton and Chick Corea, as well as After-Birth Of Cool by the Chris Graham Trio. When I play the two records concurrently or near concurrently, I pick up the same ambiance from the latter as I do fromRead More

by S. Victor Aaron From the first, lonely wails notes from Wadada Leo Smith’s trumpet on the propulsive “Uprising,” it becomes crystal clear that this is no ordinary session. Smith and classic-period Ornette Coleman drummer Ed Blackwell had a longstanding friendship, and when the two lived near each other inRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Schroeder is part of an emerging and exciting new crop of tradition-minded jazz talents like Michael Dease, Graham Dechter and Hailey Niswanger. As a baritone saxophonist, though, Schroeder is keeping alive a flame that’s been flickering probably since Gerry Mulligan’s death in 1996. Schroeder’s debut ARead More

by S. Victor Aaron Hard to believe it’s been over three years since a Soft Machine record was last scoped out here, but that’s only half the time frame between the live dates between The Middle Earth Masters and this one from May, 1973, called NDR Jazz Workshop – Hamburg,Read More