Pianist and composer Helen Sung delivers her first big band album with Oracles (Sunnyside, 2026). The seventeen-piece big band is under the conduction…
Most press releases for new albums proclaim how their latest offering is the artist’s “most personal statement yet” or the…
We begin with a question. When is the optimal time for a rising artist to invite a bevy of guests…
Trumpeter. Composer. Bandleader. Arranger. Conductor. Steven Bernstein is many things, with those five descriptors only scratching the surface of his capabilities.…
The pairing of trumpeter/composer Ambrose Akinmusire and guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson seems almost pre-destined. They are two of our most inventive…
Since 2023, the Alvaro Torres trio - pianist Torres, bassist Masa Kamaguchi, and drummer Kresten Osgood - has uniquely merged…
Drummer, composer, and arranger Tyshawn Sorey has put together a top-shelf quintet for a blistering, intense, live double-LP reimagining of…
A careful observer may notice that many of Ropeadope’s recent releases are tied to the Third Way Cultural Alliance (TWCA), a…
Twelve years have elapsed since drummer and composer Eric Harland released the first installment of Vipassana (Ropeadope, 2014). The music took many by…
Natural Rhythm (Posi-Tone, 2025) is the seventh album by composer and trombonist Altin Sencalar. The album features unorthodox takes on jazz…