John Chacona

Review: Irreversible Entanglements’ ‘Open the Gates’

"I’m so close," poet Camae Ayewa, a/k/a Moor Mother, intones on "Lágrimas del Mar" off of Irreversible Entanglements’ Open the Gates (International…

3 years ago

Review: William Parker’s ‘Migration of Silence into and Out of the Tone World [Volumes 1-10]’

Has there ever been a musician whose musical imagination is as universal and as omnivorous as William Parker's? Perhaps Alexander…

3 years ago

An Alternative Holiday Playlist

Remember the old "Saturday Night Live" parody of the "60 Minutes" Point/Counterpoint debate, the one remembered for the line "Jane,…

3 years ago

Review: Henry Threadgill Zooid’s ‘Poof’

As some artists approach their late careers they become ruthless self-editors, paring down their style to remove everything that is…

3 years ago

Ritual for the Losses: A Brief Conversation with Jen Shyu

During her recording career thus far, Jen Shyu has drawn on a deep well of song, fable, and poetry from…

3 years ago

Review: Dave Brubeck’s ‘Time OutTakes’ and Bill Evans ‘Live at Ronnie Scott’s’

Dave Brubeck and Bill Evans were the twin Great White Hopes of jazz piano at the apex of the Pax…

4 years ago

John Chacona’s Best Albums of 2020

Here it is, a "Best Of" list for the worst of years. Alright, that's a bit jokey; the fact is…

4 years ago

2020 PostGenre Hall of Fame Inductee: Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five’s “West End Blues”

Jazz fans can be a disputatious lot, yet if there’s something on which we all can agree it’s this: the…

4 years ago

Review: Susan Alcorn’s ‘Pedernal’

Geography isn’t destiny, but it might explain some things about pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn and her new release, Pedernal…

4 years ago

Review: Emi Makabe’s ‘Anniversary’

The title cut of Emi Makabe's debut full-length release, Anniversary (Greenleaf Music, 2020), is a graceful, bittersweet waltz about the…

4 years ago