Hikmah (TAO Forms) is the solo album from [Ahmed]’s virtuoso pianist Pat Thomas, whom Matthew Shipp has identified in his recent book as among the Black Mystery School Pianists. While Thomas may be in that school, his playing bears only a few similarities to his contemporary, Shipp. Thomas’s music is seemingly more spiritually focused. As […]
Natural Name (Sunnyside, 2025) is the second album by For Living Lovers, the acoustic duo of guitarist Brandon Ross and bass guitarist Stomu Takeishi. Ross has appeared in so many contexts – electric, free, and as a leader and sideman – that sometimes his versatility on acoustic instruments becomes lost in the conversation. That is, […]
The gratitude of drummer-composer Domo Branch, an in-demand rising star of contemporary jazz, is evident in many ways as on Hand of Gifts (Albina Music Trust, 2025). Artists often honor tradition, as Branch does here, while going beyond simply honoring his mentors. Albina Music Trust, a new label to most, is a non-profit organization and […]
To say that Colorado-based pianist/composer Bob Schlesinger’s Falling from Earth (Digmatic, 2025) was a long time coming is a vast understatement. The project – the sixty-eight year old keyboardist’s leader debut – had been simmering for half a decade. Tracks were recorded in two separate sessions, Sear Sound in New York City and Coupe Studios […]
Danish guitarist Jakob Bro is the owner of the Copenhagen-based Loveland Records,, a label issuing two albums within a month of each other: the more recently recorded trio of Bro, trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, and drummer Marcus Gilmore for Murasaki (Loveland, 2025), and The Montclair Sessions (Loveland, 2025), from a 2022 recording session that paired […]
Stargazer (Sunnyside, 2025) is a reissue of an album by a trio of pianist Armen Donelian with bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Billy Hart that first appeared forty-five years ago, in 1980. Originally released and distributed on Atlas Records in Japan, it was available only as an import elsewhere. Soon thereafter, Atlas went out of […]
By now, most readers know that the Jazz Detective, Zev Feldman, does not limit his archival work to Black Friday and Record Store Day. Recently, he unveiled the terrific Charlie Rouse Brazilian recording, Cinnamon Flower (Resonance, 2025). As the archival consultant for Blue Note Records, he has another great one – Horace Silver’s Silver in […]
Drummer/composer Phil Haynes constantly leaves listeners anticipating what he will do next. In the past three years alone, he has presented No Fast Food – his trio with Dave Leibman and Drew Gress, Transitions – a duet album with Ben Monder, the romantic piano trio called Daydream, the complete American recordings of Four Horns & […]
While it’s been done in pop, appearing noticeably pregnant on an album cover is a rarity for improvisation-based music. Indeed, vocalist and composer Sarah Elizabeth Charles’ Dawn (Ropeadope, 2025) may be one of the first. The album’s cover is striking – the artist in a stunning silhouette, leaving no doubt that she is indeed with […]
Saxophonist-composer Donny McCaslin is determined to move way beyond conventional concepts of jazz, jazz-rock fusion, or any label you want to ascribe to his music. Just when we didn’t think his music could be louder and more rock-influenced than I Want More (Edition, 2023), he kicks it up a couple of notches with Lullaby for […]
