Luciana Souza The New Bossa Nova (Verve) For more than a decade now, Brazilian singer Luciana Souza has moved effortlessly between musical genres. In The New Bossa Nova, she addresses several of them all at once. This is bossa nova – a style informed by jazz – re-interpreted as art [...]

Jeff Lorber Heard That (Peak) Jeff Lorber was a fresh young face during the initial crossover-jazz days of the ’70s. On Heard That, he revives that approach with electric piano, a punchy horn section reminiscent of the CTI sound, and melodic tunes that sound great, even if they don’t linger [...]

Noah Preminger Dry Bridge Road (Nowt) There’s a certain sameness to most debut albums by jazz artists: a safe selection of standards along with a couple of originals that showcase the leader’s technical prowess. That’s not the case with Noah Preminger’s first offering, as the tenor saxophonist demonstrates all the [...]

Kenny Barron The Traveler (Sunnyside) Taste and superb musicianship are cornerstones of Kenny Barron’s dazzling sound. The veteran pianist takes a fresh approach on every project and raises anticipation for his next. Songs on The Traveler – including eight Barron originals – represent a wide variety of styles and instrumental [...]

The Paul Carlon Octet Roots Propaganda (Deep Tone) Due to the economics of the music industry in general and the jazz field in particular, relatively few large-ensemble projects hit the marketplace these days – a lamentable situation that stings all the more after a spin of the Paul Carlon Octet’s [...]

Gilberto Gil Banda Larga Cordel (Warner Music Latina) A popular form of communication in Brazil, the “cordel” is a small pamphlet, often containing a short story. Thus, this album’s title roughly translates into “broadband pamphlet,” implying something like a collision or meeting point between long-standing tradition and new technology. Gil [...]