On an album full of outlier music stars, no star shone brighter on ‘Live In Philadelphia’ than the one who has been around the longest. Marshall Allen is the living embodiment of the miracle of jazz.
The one-of-a-kind father-daughter duo the Dietrichs make experimental noisy music on ‘No Bahdu’ that contains absolutely no compromises nor concessions.
Roscoe Mitchell leads a new trio/quartet using his decades-old ideas with a new freshness and proving with ‘One Head Four People’ that his approach still stands in the vanguard of jazz.
The moments are long on ‘Chrononaux’ but there aren’t any dull ones. Camila Nebbia, Dietrich Eichmann, John Hughes and Jeff Arnal are just too dialed into each other for that to happen.
Peter Van Huffel gets with the German Kneer and the Greek Dimitriades in a combo that cuts across different countries, cultures and backgrounds to find a common vision in improvised music.
Trombonist Dan Blacksberg’s ‘The Psychic/Body Sound System’ is targeted for very open minds (and ears). For those who are, hitching a ride on this journey can be quite rewarding.
With ‘Legend of e’Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye),’ Darius Jones converts his personal struggles into his most personal, genuinely fervid music to date.
Jupiter, the band, and ‘Jupiter,’ the album, feels like the start of a long run of some meaningfully explosive genre bending.
Emphasizing a loosely-structured, open approach, the Tomeka Reid Quartet builds on the success of the prior two outings with ‘3+3.’
Kate Gentile held back no ambition in making the vast, unencumbered ‘Find Letter X,’ as her band carried out thoroughly conceived, nonconformist concepts.
