by Mark Saleski There’s this notion in the world of sculpture that the artist is merely freeing the shape locked within the raw source material. You May Also Like: David S. Ware & Matthew Shipp Duo – Live In Sant’Anna Arresi, 2004 (2016)
Last year we introduced a really good avanteer to this site in Rich Halley, a lively and imaginative saxophonist and composer who would probably be more of a household name if he were in Chicago or New York instead of Portland, Oregon. You May Also Like: Rich Halley 5 –Read More
Listening to the guitarist Aram Bajakian is lot like listening to Marc Ribot, and Aram follows much of Ribot’s wildly divergent style that incorporates the vintage forms of swing, punk and rock and roll into a fresh and daring style. So it’s fair to state that if you like Ribot,Read More
The closest musical cousins to the whack jazz quintet Afuche that comes to mind are fellow Brooklyners Little Women and the Italian trio Treo: they share some of Little Women’s penchant for highly agitated thrash jazz and Neo’s total unity between harmony and rhythm. At least, that’s what I takeRead More
Cuong Vu is a Vietnamese-born, Seattle-raised trumpet player who can be considered a pretty damned impressive and forward thinking just by looking at the list of bandleaders who he impressed enough to have in their bands: You May Also Like: Cuong Vu 4-Tet, featuring Bill Frisell – ‘Change In theRead More
Our favorite avant gardist from Japan Satoko Fujii is at it again, releasing at once a new batch of records of distinct character. You May Also Like: Satoko Fujii Orchestra Toyko – Peace (2017) Kaze + Ikue Mori – ‘Crustal Movement’ (2023) Kaze – ‘Unwritten’ (2024)
It’s got a cool looking cover, the names on that cover are all giants in the improvised music field, and the rapport is what you’d expect from free jazz pros like these. Those attributes in itself will probably get Planetary Unknown on some year-end lists and it’s already one atRead More
Everybody digs Nicole Mitchell. They love her in sweet hometown Chicago and all the critics in New York love her, too. Heck, even we discerning types at SER have taken a shining to her. She’s the consensus top flautist in the jazz world, she’s got a new record out, Awakening,Read More
It used to be that when we used the term “punk jazz,” we were referring to Jaco Pastorius. Let’s face it, the man was a jazz bass revolutionary. You May Also Like: Three-Layer Cake [Brandon Seabrook, Mike Pride + Mike Watt] – ‘Stove Top’ (2021) Brandon Seabrook, Cooper-Moore + GeraldRead More
Tim Kuhl’s website greets visitors with a set of simple sentences describing who he is: “Drummer+Composer,” followed by “Bandleader, Sideman, Collaborator, Noise Maker, Rocker.” Tim is succinct and up-front about describing himself, but the term that’s most telling — aside from the obvious “drummer+composer” part — is “Noise Maker YouRead More
