“Jazz is the sound of surprise”–jazz critic Whitney Balliett, 1926-2007 Sometimes you think you know a musician and his tendencies, or that he’s always played the kind of music you’ve known him to play. Over the course of pursuing my curiosity about certain artists, I’ve stumbled upon some rather peculiarRead More

by Pico A while back we looked at some of jazz’s most notable swan songs, a short, but certainly not complete list of the best last recordings of some jazz greats. So, what about some of the best beginnings? Here I will list five of what I’d consider some ofRead More

by S. Victor Aaron The jazz world took a double whammy over the weekend as Alice Coltrane and Michael Brecker passed away. Both of these artists were among my favorites, and like many of others, I’ll miss them and the major contributions they’ve made to the art form. Alice ColtraneRead More

Tokyo-based whack jazz guitarist, turntablist, composer, arranger and knob twiddler Otomo Yoshihide has been called the John Zorn of Japan for his love of combining experimental sounds with avant-garde jazz. And to my ears, there’s not much there to dispute the comparison, for better or for worse. His fascination withRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Heavy metal is not the kind of music I get into that much, but combine it with avant garde jazz and it’s often a whole ‘nother story. Caspar Brotzmann, The Scorch Trio, parts of The Vandermark 5; these guys have a way of making two seeminglyRead More

by Pico There’s a good reason why we’re looking at this record on this day. In the wake of the tragic events of September, 11, 2001 and it’s aftermath, L.A. producer Carlos Nino cobbled together a collective of about 20 local area musicians he named Build An Ark with theRead More

This week’s single song review shines a light on avant-jazz composer/flautist/altoist Henry Threadgill. A part of the seventies whack jazz movement that brought us such lunimaries as Julius Hemphill, David Murray and the Art Ensemble of Chicaco, Threadgill was one third of the modern creative ensemble Air with bassist FredRead More

by S. Victor Aaron So you’re looking at the album cover just to the left and guessing that it’s a vintage children’s record intended to cash in on the hit mid-sixties series starring Adam West and you would be right. But there was no such band as “The Sensational GuitarsRead More

By S. Victor Aaron When Nick’s article on that badass Idris Muhammed started name-checking all the jazz heavyweights that this great dummer had been associated with, I then realized how many records with his imprint that are among some of my all time favorites. It would easy to launch intoRead More