Dominican bandleader Michel Camilo goes all out with this dizzying display of Latin big band…
Reviews
Brandee Younger – Soul Awakening (self-released)
It may seem unnecessary to emphasize that the chief reason to pay attention to Brandee…
The OGJB Quartet – Bamako (TUM)
Four audacious veterans of creative music comprise The OGJB Quartet, their name derived from each…
Auditions Round-Up: Keys to the Kingdom
Given the economics, few jazz musicians can survive in one band without freelancing. In the…
Auditions Round-Up: Rounding the Basses
Although artists from Charles Mingus to Jaco Pastorius have left an indelible mark on the…
Andrew Hill – Passing Ships (Blue Note)
One of pianist and composer Andrew Hill’s most alluring albums, Passing Ships sat on the…
The Jamie Saft Quartet – Hidden Corners (Rare Noise)
Spiritual jazz — a style of devotional modal-to-free jazz that is most often associated with…
Charlie Ballantine – Cold Coffee (self-released)
Restless, careening and dense with information, it’s hard to imagine bebop developing anywhere other than…
Paul Bley/ Gary Peacock/ Paul Motian – When Will the Blues Leave (ECM)
Strands of history are woven into the beguiling tapestry of When Will the Blues Leave,…
Nancy Kelly – Remembering Mark Murphy (SubCat)
Vocalist Nancy Kelly considers the many talents of singer and lyricist Mark Murphy on a…
Curtis Nowosad – Curtis Nowosad (Sessionheads United)
With the release of his self-titled third album, Canadian-born drummer-composer Curtis Nowosad has more on…
JD Allen – Barracoon (Savant)
JD Allen’s massive tenor tone sounds as if it were tilled from dark, loamy soil.…
Naomi Moon Siegel – Live at Earshot (Slow & Steady)
Trombonist Naomi Moon Siegel lives in Montana, but she developed her distinctive voice in the…
Dave Douglas/Uri Caine/Andrew Cyrille – Devotion (Greenleaf)
The word devotion may well imply spiritual matters. But that doesn’t mean straight-up reverential or…
Tori Freestone Trio – El Mar de Nubes (Whirlwind)
Tori Freestone, a highly regarded British tenor saxophonist, packs a lot into El Mar de…
Matt Slocum – Sanctuary (Sunnyside)
On previous recordings, New York City-based drummer Matt Slocum featured compositions tailored toward themes and…
John Stetch & Vulneraville – Black Sea Suite (Self-released)
Despite a recording career that goes back more than 25 years, Canadian composer and pianist…
Lafayette Gilchrist – Dark Matter (Self-Released)
Most instrumentalists think of themselves as storytellers. During performances, in the back of their minds,…
Brad Mehldau – Finding Gabriel (Nonesuch Records)
Of all the qualities for which composer, keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist Brad Mehldau earns praise (and…
Mark Turner/Gary Foster – Mark Turner Meets Gary Foster (Capri)
The glue that binds this meeting of two saxophonists 30 years apart in age is…