Every so often, an album moves beyond music, carrying the listener to an array of deeply reflective moods. Last year, we were gifted such an album in Central Park’s Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens (Red Hook, 2024) by pianist Amina Claudine Myers and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. Now, with the latest release on […]
Joshua Redman did not follow suit after his first vocal album, where are we (Blue Note, 2024). Sure, vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa appears on a track, but gone is the supergroup rhythm section of Aaron Parks, Joe Sanders, and Brian Blade, all of whom left to honor other commitments. Yet, Redman had compositions in the tank […]
Pianist and composer Matthew Shipp seems to be garnering as much publicity for his criticisms of André 3000’s piano album as his own music lately. As is often said, even negative publicity may be good in the long run. This site has certainly given Shipp his fair due, of the positive kind, with the two-part […]
If you have not yet read the two-part interview with saxophonist Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp regarding Armageddon Flower (TAO Forms, 2025), it provides important context to the recording. The album features a quartet with those two joined by bassist William Parker and violist Mat Maneri, in a chamber-like, drummer-less session to which these […]
My review of emerging piano great Isaiah J. Thompson’s Power of the Spirit (Blue Engine, 2023) ended thusly: “a must-have for enthusiasts of straight-ahead, blood-pumping soul-jazz, 21st-century style. Thompson will be a force to be reckoned with well into the foreseeable future.” While there is still plenty of soul-jazz present in The Book of Isaiah: […]
One never knows where drummer-composer Ches Smith’s muse will take him next. From the Haitian voudou of We All Break: Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic, 2021) to the uncategorizable mash-ups of Laugh Ash (Pyroclastic, 2024) to inventive trio albums with violist Mat Maneri and Craig Taborn to whatever else strikes his fancy, Smith is there. […]
There are widely publicized and wildly anticipated supergroups, and then there are those – at least a few – that sprout suddenly without heralding fanfare. The Quantum Blues Quartet is the epitome of the latter, joining four iconic players who came together in New York in 2024 for a day-long session. They are avant-garde jazz […]
Considering guitarist Nels Cline’s history, it’s no surprise that the music of the Consentrik Quartet occasionally has shades of rock. “Slipping Into Something” starts subtly before bursting into a drum-driven groove fit for a rock song. Tom Rainey (drums) and Chris Lightcap (bass) keep heads nodding as Ingrid Laubrock (tenor saxophone) and Cline impressively trade […]
Michel Petrucciani exploded onto the North American consciousness in 1982 when he persuaded Charles Lloyd to come out of a self-imposed retirement. The French pianist was a sensation and quickly found himself on a New York-bound Concorde to become the first European artist signed by Bruce Lundvall to a Blue Note Records contract. The label […]
esperanza spalding has made no secret of her love for Milton Nascimento’s music. Her sophomore album features a spirited rendition of Nascimento’s “Ponta de Areia” – early evidence of her strong affinity with the Brazilian legend’s compositions. After having heard Nascimento and spalding on Milton + esperanza (Concord, 2024), listening to spalding’s “Ponta de Areia” […]
