The first release by Craig Taborn since being named a MacArthur Fellow in late 2025, Dream Archives (ECM, 2026) finds the pianist/composer leading an unusual trio with noted cellist Tomeka Reid and in-demand drummer-vibraphonist Ches Smith. All three are acclaimed bandleaders in their own right, with Reid having an extensive history of collaboration through her […]
Coined by the philosopher Glenn Albrecht, the term ‘solastalgia” centers on the theme of homesickness while still at home with a focus towards surveying environmental damage. “Our environment is transforming around us, and we grieve for the landscapes and ecologies we knew,” says Albrecht. These feelings inspire The Solastalgia Suite (Pyroclastic, 2025), Grammy-winning pianist and […]
Over the last few years, tenor saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh has released recordings thst featured his dulcet tones with several jazz elders – Kenny Barron (Vintage (Sunnyside, 2023)) and the late drummer Al Foster (Heart (Analog Tone Factory, 2024)). With Stand Up! (Analog Tone Factory, 2025), Sabbagh returns with this twenty-year running quartet with guitarist Ben Monder, bassist Joe Martin, and newly added drummer Nasheet […]
The vibraphonist Bill Ware is perhaps best known for his work with The Jazz Passengers and Groove Collective. He has a cross-genre bent that includes work with Steely Dan and Elvis Costello. He is also incredibly prolific. Since 2016, he has composed over two hundred and fifty pieces, including sixty during the pandemic. These pieces […]
With Ancestral (Whirlwind, 2025), alto saxophonist and composer John O’Gallagher explores the late-period work of John Coltrane, specifically Interstellar Space (Impulse!, 1974) and Stellar Regions (Impulse!, 1995). These examinations build upon O’Gallagher’s doctoral work, which argues that so-called “free” music is not actually free as the term is commonly used. Or, in O’Gallagher’s words, researching […]
In many ways, the burgeoning improvised music community in Brooklyn resembles downtown New York’s loft movement of the ‘70s. But it differs in one important way: Brooklyn seems to have an even stronger sense of community, with musicians often collaborating on each other’s albums. Such is the case for Chilean-born, Brooklyn-based bassist and composer Simón […]
Guitarist John Scofield and NEA Jazz Master bassist Dave Holland are not only both masters of their respective instruments but incredibly prolific. Versatile too, especially Holland. Since both artists’ rise – a decade apart – through their times with Miles Davis, they have respectively explored a wide area of music. That includes intimate duo settings. […]
Over the past six months, several NEA Jazz Masters – all of them octogenarian, or close to – have released records that defy convention and obliterate preconceptions many may have about their work. The combination of age and the prestige of the prestigious NEA title is an enabler. Kenny Barron issued his first vocal album, […]
A more cerebral artist, saxophonist and composer Mark Turner, never makes it too easy for the listener. However, he may have reached his zenith with Reflections on: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (Giant Step Arts, 2025), a work that combines verbal narrative and music. As its title suggests, the album reflects upon the named […]
As evidenced by two recent collaborations with Wadada Leo Smith, Jakob Bro’s Loveland Music, is releasing some of the most interesting improvised music recently. Yet, also on the label comes Thomas Morgan’s Around You is a Forest (Loveland, 2025), which may well be the most unique album made in a long time. Morgan long ago […]
