Album Reviews

Review: Roy Ayers, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s ‘Roy Ayers JID 002’Review: Roy Ayers, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s ‘Roy Ayers JID 002’

Review: Roy Ayers, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s ‘Roy Ayers JID 002’

Humanity has a longstanding fascination with incorporating the latest technological developments into music. This interest is perhaps most evident in…

5 years ago
Review: Okkyung Lee’s ‘Yeo-Neun’Review: Okkyung Lee’s ‘Yeo-Neun’

Review: Okkyung Lee’s ‘Yeo-Neun’

Cellist Okkyung Lee is best known for her visceral attack and extended techniques, which can be heard on past albums…

5 years ago
Review: HiFiLo’s ‘Speak Your Name’Review: HiFiLo’s ‘Speak Your Name’

Review: HiFiLo’s ‘Speak Your Name’

During the last few years, many young musicians have approached improvisation not only in the traditional method – as instrumentalists…

5 years ago
Review: Norah Jones’ ‘Pick Me Up Off the Floor’Review: Norah Jones’ ‘Pick Me Up Off the Floor’

Review: Norah Jones’ ‘Pick Me Up Off the Floor’

When many think of Texas, the first musicians that may come to mind are Bob Wills, Stevie Ray Vaughn, or…

5 years ago
Review: The Brecker Brothers’ ‘Live and Unreleased’Review: The Brecker Brothers’ ‘Live and Unreleased’

Review: The Brecker Brothers’ ‘Live and Unreleased’

The Brecker Brothers, throughout their twenty-year career, always embodied an interesting duality in their music. On the one hand, every…

5 years ago
Review: Michael Olatuja’s ‘Lagos Pepper Soup’Review: Michael Olatuja’s ‘Lagos Pepper Soup’

Review: Michael Olatuja’s ‘Lagos Pepper Soup’

It can be incredibly difficult to be creative at the culinary arts. Insufficient attention to detail or excessive or inordinate…

5 years ago
Review: Irreversible Entanglements’ ‘Who Sent You?’Review: Irreversible Entanglements’ ‘Who Sent You?’

Review: Irreversible Entanglements’ ‘Who Sent You?’

In their debut and the live album released a year ago, Irreversible Entanglements wowed audiences with energetic free-jazz poetry performances,…

5 years ago
Review: Ambrose Akinmusire’s ‘on the tender spot of every calloused moment’Review: Ambrose Akinmusire’s ‘on the tender spot of every calloused moment’

Review: Ambrose Akinmusire’s ‘on the tender spot of every calloused moment’

Tonic, minor third, fourth, minor fifth, fifth, minor seventh. While this describes the blues scale, such a summation misses the…

5 years ago
Review: Aaron Parks’ ‘Little Big II: Dreams of a Mechanical Man’Review: Aaron Parks’ ‘Little Big II: Dreams of a Mechanical Man’

Review: Aaron Parks’ ‘Little Big II: Dreams of a Mechanical Man’

In ancient Greek mythological lore, Hephaestus, the god of technology, created a giant bronze automaton named Talos who was powered…

5 years ago
Review: Shabaka and the Ancestors’ ‘We Are Sent Here By History’Review: Shabaka and the Ancestors’ ‘We Are Sent Here By History’

Review: Shabaka and the Ancestors’ ‘We Are Sent Here By History’

From the Thirteenth to the Seventeenth Centuries, the powerful Mali Empire ruled Western Africa. Encompassing modern Mauritania, Niger, Gambia, Guinea,…

5 years ago