Memorial day weekend 1921 started just like any other day in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma. One of the wealthiest communities in America, this segment of the city was such an economic powerhouse it would be dubbed “Black Wall Street.” By the end of the weekend, the prosperous region would be turned to rubble. […]
It hasn’t even been a year since Thumbscrew released their superb record in tribute to Anthony Braxton, but the trio is already back with Never Is Enough (Cuneiform Records, 2021). Braxton’s influence is still apparent, especially in the more rigid moments, but this album is a completely different experience. For much of the runtime, the […]
Fifty years ago, Joni Mitchell released the most iconic album of her career, one that changed the trajectory of music forever: Blue (Reprise, 1971). Writing uniquely warm, evocative lyrics and integrating folk guitar, piano, and dulcimer with adventurous harmony, Blue was widely successful upon its release and continues to influence new works today. However, part of its excellence derives […]
If 2020 has shown us anything, it is how quickly circumstances can change. One day you are living your “normal” life. The next you are unexpectedly shut-in for the foreseeable future. So when R+R = Now – a band intended to reflect upon and respond to the events of the current moment, not weeks or […]
Albert Murray once noted that “the blues is not the creation of a crushed-spirited people [but rather] the product of a forward-looking, upward-striving people.” Throughout his career, Archie Shepp has explored the connection between the blues and aspiration for a brighter future. He’s done so significantly by branching the sonic qualities of the form to […]
Dave Brubeck and Bill Evans were the twin Great White Hopes of jazz piano at the apex of the Pax Americana. Born on opposite coasts at the opposite ends of the 1920s, both men achieved great popular success. Brubeck, the elder of the two, became a cult figure on college campuses during the 1950s and […]
Neo-traditionalists like Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Crouch have long desired the classification of “jazz” as “America’s classical music.” While this idea may bring more stature to the art form in certain social circles, it also largely marginalizes significant works by artists that do not fit their set preconceptions, particularly those in the avant-garde. Ironically, since […]
The first song on BRASS (Backwoodz Studioz, 2020), “Furies”, was the beginning of something special. Although Moor Mother and billy woods had connected before on “Ramesses II” by Armand Hammer (woods and ELUCID), “Furies” was the first time they recorded as a duo. The track was originally released as part of the Adult Swim single […]
Black’s Law Dictionary (8th ed.) defines force majeure as “an event that can be neither anticipated nor controlled.” A party to a contract may be discharged of their duty to perform under said contract upon showing the occurrence of some unforeseeable event outside of their control which rendered their performance impossible or impractical. The concept […]
Geography isn’t destiny, but it might explain some things about pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn and her new release, Pedernal (Relative Pitch Records, 2020). Alcorn is based in Baltimore, a place where the strange, unexpected and contradictory thrive. It is the birthplace of Edgar Allan Poe, Frank Zappa and John Waters, who wrote, “You can […]
