Album Reviews

Review: L’Rain ‘fata morgana’

L'Rain's "birthday" is not a straightforward celebration. She moves from loneliness to a plea for self-love amidst a sultry ambiance.…

2 months ago

Review: Nicholas Payton and Butcher Brown’s ‘A Supreme Blue’

Sometimes a grand project can emerge from a single riff, or even a quote in an improvised solo. A Supreme…

2 months ago

Review: ‘Peace Anthems’

In only a few short years, Red Hook Records has gone from start up to deliverer of some of the…

2 months ago

Review: Marshall Allen’s ‘101: An Audio Odyssey’

Even well into his second century, practically ageless wonder Marshall Allen continues to record, perform, and defy any conventional logic.…

2 months ago

Review: Nicole Zuraitis’ ‘The Devil I Knew’

As a vocalist, pianist, and songwriter Nicole Zuraitis is a triple threat. Yet the two-time Grammy-winner often goes criminally undermentioned…

3 months ago

Review: Your Brother’s Keeper and Gary Bartz’s ‘Where Rivers Meet’

Even well into the second half of his eighties, Gary Bartz remains one of the most powerful and evocative alto…

4 months ago

Review: Helen Sung Big Band’s ‘Oracles’

Pianist and composer Helen Sung delivers her first big band album with Oracles (Sunnyside, 2026). The seventeen-piece big band is under the conduction…

4 months ago

Review: James Brandon Lewis Quartet’s ‘Omni’

Most press releases for new albums proclaim how their latest offering is the artist’s “most personal statement yet” or the…

4 months ago

Review: Lakecia Benjamin’s ‘We Dream’

 We begin with a question. When is the optimal time for a rising artist to invite a bevy of guests…

4 months ago

Review: Steven Bernstein’s ‘ResoNation Trio’ and ‘Ultra Resonance’

Trumpeter. Composer. Bandleader. Arranger. Conductor. Steven Bernstein is many things, with those five descriptors only scratching the surface of his capabilities.…

4 months ago