Album Reviews

Review: ‘Deface the Currency’ by The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis

Deface the Currency (Impulse!, 2026) is the follow-up to the 2024 eponymous album by The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis,…

1 month ago

Review: Shawn Lovato’s ‘Biotic’

On Biotic (Endectomorph, 2026), his third record as a leader, bassist-composer Shawn Lovato leads a chordless saxophone trio that blurs…

1 month ago

Review: Dave Douglas’s ‘Four Freedoms’

Delve into 'Four Freedoms,' an album that reinterprets Roosevelt's 'Four Freedoms' through Dave Douglas's visionary music. Featuring Marta Warelis, Nick…

1 month ago

Review: Tigran Hamasyan’s ‘Manifeste’

Unveil Tigran Hamasyan's 'Manifeste,' a transformative musical odyssey blending Armenian traditions with jazz. Recorded globally, this 2026 album challenges listeners…

1 month ago

Review: ‘Take A.M.E.’

The eponymous Take A.M.E. is the debut from a trio co-led by three artists based in New York City - alto saxophonist…

2 months ago

Review: Julian Lage Quartet’s ‘Scenes from Above’

Julian Lage is unafraid to switch gears. While the guitarist has held together his trio with bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King, over…

2 months ago

Review: John Ellis and Doublewide’s ‘Fireball’

Despite the name of woodwind specialist John Ellis’s Double Wide, suggesting a large ensemble, the group is a quintet, with…

2 months ago

Review: Craig Taborn’s ‘Dream Archives’

The first release by Craig Taborn since being named a MacArthur Fellow in late 2025, Dream Archives (ECM, 2026) finds…

2 months ago

Review: Kris Davis and the Lutosławski Quartet’s ‘The Solastalgia Suite’

Coined by the philosopher Glenn Albrecht, the term ‘solastalgia” centers on the theme of homesickness while still at home with…

2 months ago

Review: Jerome Sabbagh’s ‘Stand Up!’

Over the last few years, tenor saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh has released recordings thst featured his dulcet tones with several jazz elders…

3 months ago