REVIEWS
- Review: Milton Nascimento and esperanza spalding’s ‘Milton + esperanza’
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”… Read more: Review: Milton Nascimento and esperanza spalding’s ‘Milton + esperanza’ - Review: ‘Triple Fever’
Just when you think we’ve reached peak piano trio, a new recording arrives to demonstrate the infinite elasticity of the venerable formation. It happens so often as to become routine. Yet surprises still abound, and this is one, a digital-only EP from a hitherto unknown label – to me, at least – that is one… Read more: Review: ‘Triple Fever’ - Review: Mary Halvorson’s ‘Cloudward’
Mary Halvorson gives a wide range of effects and musical roles to her guitar, and the result is always idiosyncratic. The guitarist’s compositions have a complex, innovative edge, and Cloudward (Nonesuch, 2024) is more evidence as to why she deserves all the acclaim that comes her way. The intensity and progression of “Desiderata” is a fantastic display… Read more: Review: Mary Halvorson’s ‘Cloudward’ - Review: Lucas Pino’s ‘Covers’
There are recordings that dazzle you from the first few bars—or conversely, put you off—with their audacity. Then there are the agreeably conventional releases that, over time, yield their secrets by degree. Put Lucas Pino’s Covers (Outside In Music, 2023) in the latter category. Notwithstanding some evident drollery, the title proudly advertises Pino’s rejection of conceptual ambition.… Read more: Review: Lucas Pino’s ‘Covers’ - Review: Kris Davis”Diatom Ribbons Live at the Village Vanguard’
On February 17, 2018, pianist Kris Davis played in the second of two concerts at Harvard University to honor the late jazz pianist Geri Allen. It was a fantastic night of music worthy of Allen’s tremendous talent. Davis took the stage in various ensembles, with some featuring drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, who had also curated… Read more: Review: Kris Davis”Diatom Ribbons Live at the Village Vanguard’ - Review: David Ake’s ‘Green Thumb’
It takes daring for a producer to lead off a recording with a ballad. When that producer is Marc Free of Posi-Tone Records, a label known for scorching hard bop, the album particularly demands attention. With Green Thumb (Posi-Tone Records, 2023), pianist David Ake generously provides a varied program of surprising, even eccentric, choices that resolve with… Read more: Review: David Ake’s ‘Green Thumb’ - Review: Avram Fefer’s ‘Juba Lee’
For the last quarter of the 20th century, Italian labels Black Saint and Soul Note issued an influential series of recordings by Black American artists, including the World Saxophone Quartet and its members Hamiet Bluiett, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake, and David Murray. These records were hardly blowing sessions, but their loose-limbed vibe brought the expressive… Read more: Review: Avram Fefer’s ‘Juba Lee’ - Review: Thumbscrew’s ‘Multicolored Midnight’
The fourth cut on Thumbscrew’s Multicolored Midnight (Cuneiform, 2022) is entitled “Shit Changes.” You don’t have to be a climate scientist or Sam Bankman-Fried to appreciate the truth of that phrase, and it could just be another of bassist Michael Formanek’s cheekily subversive titles. Yet despite ten years of consistently provocative and satisfying music making, the cooperative… Read more: Review: Thumbscrew’s ‘Multicolored Midnight’ - Review: Jussi Reijonen’s ‘Three Seconds | Kolme Toista’
“From the snowy, windswept peaks of Lapland to the desert of the Empty Quarter, Three Seconds | Kolme Toista is an adventure unlike any other!” Okay, that’s not Jussi Reijonen’s stated program behind Three Seconds | Kolme Toista (Challenge Records, 2022), which is at once more ambitious and more personal. Yet the music conceived by the Boston-based… Read more: Review: Jussi Reijonen’s ‘Three Seconds | Kolme Toista’ - Review: Jakob Bro and Joe Lovano’s ‘Once Around the Room: A Tribute to Paul Motian’
In an interview with Ethan Iverson on his Do the M@th blog, writer Ben Ratliff related an anecdote that Paul Motian once told him. “Hank Jones said to [Motian] one day, after they’d been playing, ‘I know your secret.’ [Ratliff] said, ‘Oh yeah? And what do you think he meant?’ And [Motian] said, ‘I don’t… Read more: Review: Jakob Bro and Joe Lovano’s ‘Once Around the Room: A Tribute to Paul Motian’ - Review: Tyshawn Sorey Trio’s ‘Mesmerism’
Did any artist have a better 2021 than Tyshawn Sorey? The 2017 MacArthur Fellow was the subject of a New York Times Magazine profile, premiered recordings of two large ensemble compositions, and received acclaim for albums with saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh, DJ/producer King Britt. Not to mention his role in the powerful trio with pianist Vijay… Read more: Review: Tyshawn Sorey Trio’s ‘Mesmerism’ - Review: Steve Cardenas, Ben Allison, and Ted Nash’s ‘Healing Power – The Music of Carla Bley’
If Wayne Shorter is widely acknowledged as the most important living composer in jazz, who is the runner-up? Guitarist Steve Cardenas, bassist Ben Allison, and reedist Ted Nash on Healing Power – The Music of Carla Bley (Sunnyside Records, 2022) present a strong case for their album’s namesake. That Bley’s work should need any advocacy proceeds from… Read more: Review: Steve Cardenas, Ben Allison, and Ted Nash’s ‘Healing Power – The Music of Carla Bley’ - Review: Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double’s ‘March’
The debut recording of Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double was extraordinary. The two-drum (Fujiwara and Gerald Cleaver), two-guitar (Mary Halvorson and Brandon Seabrook), and two-horn (Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet and Ralph Alessi on trumpet) structure of the band is something rarely seen. Even in the bold avant-garde scene that Fujiwara frequents. After the release of… Read more: Review: Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double’s ‘March’ - Review: Irreversible Entanglements’ ‘Open the Gates’
“I’m so close,” poet Camae Ayewa, a/k/a Moor Mother, intones on “Lágrimas del Mar” off of Irreversible Entanglements’ Open the Gates (International Anthem/Don Giovanni, 2021). The hope in her voice is so palpable you can almost see her eyes widen with expectation. “I’m so close to the good news, the silver and gold, the daily bread.” A… Read more: Review: Irreversible Entanglements’ ‘Open the Gates’ - Review: William Parker’s ‘Migration of Silence into and Out of the Tone World [Volumes 1-10]’
Has there ever been a musician whose musical imagination is as universal and as omnivorous as William Parker’s? Perhaps Alexander Scriabin, a composer and virtuoso instrumentalist whose unfinished “Mysterium” was conceived to be performed over a week’s time by an orchestra, choir, dancers, visuals, and incense in the foothills of the Himalaya. Or possibly Don… Read more: Review: William Parker’s ‘Migration of Silence into and Out of the Tone World [Volumes 1-10]’ - Review: Jonny Greenwood’s Soundtrack to ‘Spencer’
Jonny Greenwood is primarily known as the guitarist of Radiohead, but he also has a superb discography of film scores. Based on the sublime Phantom Thread (Nonesuch, 2018), and the alluring anxiety of The Master (Nonesuch, 2012), in many ways Greenwood was the perfect composer for Spencer (Mercury KX, 2021). These brilliant compositions do a… Read more: Review: Jonny Greenwood’s Soundtrack to ‘Spencer’ - Review: Henry Threadgill Zooid’s ‘Poof’
As some artists approach their late careers they become ruthless self-editors, paring down their style to remove everything that is unnecessary or extraneous. Because the unnecessary is seldom granted admission to Henry Threadgill’s compositional world, Poof (Pi Recordings, 2021), the sixth recording from his Zooid band, and the first since 2015, is about something different. … Read more: Review: Henry Threadgill Zooid’s ‘Poof’ - Review: Terence Blanchard’s ‘Absence’ featuring the E-Collective and Turtle Island Quartet
Wayne Shorter is among the best composers of the second half of the Twentieth Century. Several of his compositions including, “Footprints” and “Infant Eyes,” have become standards. But in performing these songs, many musicians often miss what makes the saxophonist’s work so extraordinary. Yes, the pieces are beautiful and well-written, but they are merely jumping… Read more: Review: Terence Blanchard’s ‘Absence’ featuring the E-Collective and Turtle Island Quartet - Review: L’Rain’s ‘Fatigue’
Multi-instrumentalist Taja Cheek, who records under the moniker L’Rain, creates a unique experience in Fatigue. The album is kaleidoscopic and unpredictable. Cheek envelopes the listener in her world with a combination of impressive musicianship, production, and field recordings. The album is full of beautiful moments, an early one being how Cheek embellishes a live gospel… Read more: Review: L’Rain’s ‘Fatigue’ - Review: Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog’s ‘Hope’
Nobel physicist Erwin Schrödinger once noted that “[i]f a man never contradicts himself, the reason must be that he virtually never says anything at all.” Perhaps no finer quote could describe Ceramic Dog’s Hope (Northern Spy, 2021), a recording full of paradoxes. Approaching the album from afar, one sees an optimistic title coupled with a… Read more: Review: Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog’s ‘Hope’ - Review: ‘Impulse! Records: Music, Message & The Moment’ and Sons of Kemet’s ‘Black to the Future’
In 1960, Creed Taylor founded Impulse! Records, which he dubbed “The New Wave in Jazz.” While over time, Impulse! established itself as one of the premier labels in the genre, it was always happiest around categorical edges. Ray Charles’ Genius + Soul = Jazz (Impulse!, 1960) blurred lines between the two styles. Later, Yusef Lateef – as… Read more: Review: ‘Impulse! Records: Music, Message & The Moment’ and Sons of Kemet’s ‘Black to the Future’ - Review: Tony Allen’s ‘There is No End’
An artist’s final recording is often an unusual gift to the world. In large part, this derives from the fact that no one truly knows when they will leave. Even so, some can sense that their time is near, and this shows in their works. For David Bowie, his parting thoughts came through on Blackstar… Read more: Review: Tony Allen’s ‘There is No End’ - Review: Logan Richardson’s ‘Afrofuturism’
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.… Read more: Review: Logan Richardson’s ‘Afrofuturism’ - Review: Thumbscrew’s ‘Never is Enough’
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… Read more: Review: Thumbscrew’s ‘Never is Enough’ - Reflections Through Geography with Joni Mitchell and Theo Bleckmann and The Westerlies
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… Read more: Reflections Through Geography with Joni Mitchell and Theo Bleckmann and The Westerlies - Review: ‘R+R=Now Live’
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… Read more: Review: ‘R+R=Now Live’ - Review: Archie Shepp & Jason Moran’s ‘Let My People Go’
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… Read more: Review: Archie Shepp & Jason Moran’s ‘Let My People Go’ - Review: Dave Brubeck’s ‘Time OutTakes’ and Bill Evans ‘Live at Ronnie Scott’s’
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… Read more: Review: Dave Brubeck’s ‘Time OutTakes’ and Bill Evans ‘Live at Ronnie Scott’s’ - Review: Joe Lovano Trio Tapestry’s ‘Garden of Expression’
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… Read more: Review: Joe Lovano Trio Tapestry’s ‘Garden of Expression’ - Moor Mother and billy woods’ ‘Brass’
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… Read more: Moor Mother and billy woods’ ‘Brass’ - Review: Brandee Younger & Dezron Douglas’ ‘Force Majeure’
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… Read more: Review: Brandee Younger & Dezron Douglas’ ‘Force Majeure’ - Review: Susan Alcorn’s ‘Pedernal’
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… Read more: Review: Susan Alcorn’s ‘Pedernal’ - Review: Keith Jarrett’s ‘Budapest Concert’
On January 24, 1975, Keith Jarrett sat, in pain, at the keys of a decrepit and horribly out-of-tune piano. The instrument’s pedals did not function properly, giving both a dampened lower register and a harsh upper one. Even after several hours of adjustments, it was still defective. Anyone rationally analyzing this situation would see these… Read more: Review: Keith Jarrett’s ‘Budapest Concert’ - Review: EYOT’s ‘557799’
American musicians have been experimenting with Balkan-esque rhythms since at least 1959 when Dave Brubeck brought the 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 pulse back from a folk song he heard in Istanbul and composed Blue Rondo à La Turk. Since then, unusual note groupings have become standard fare in jazz, fusion, and art… Read more: Review: EYOT’s ‘557799’ - Review: Emi Makabe’s ‘Anniversary’
The title cut of Emi Makabe’s debut full-length release, Anniversary (Greenleaf Music, 2020), is a graceful, bittersweet waltz about the kind of partings and reunions that form the bar lines in the lives of touring musicians. It’s a spare duet for voice and bass made all the more poignant by the empathetic accompaniment of the… Read more: Review: Emi Makabe’s ‘Anniversary’ - Review: Small Bills’ ‘Don’t Play It Straight’
Ten tracks into E L U C I D’s Valley of Grace (Backwoodz Studioz, 2017), the rapper declared that “nothing’s broken, this is how it’s supposed to run” on “Talk Disruptive For Me”. At that point in the EP, if the listener did not know that he was talking about systemic racism, they had not… Read more: Review: Small Bills’ ‘Don’t Play It Straight’ - Review: ‘Luke Stewart Exposure Quintet’
Free Jazz/Avant-Garde is at its most expressive when it presents itself as a collective experience. A singular unit that exists by excavating the thoughts, experiences, emotion, and creativity of all members in equal measure. On the recording of The Luke Stewart Exposure Quintet’s self-titled album, the bassist-bandleader states: “I want to convey again the collectivity… Read more: Review: ‘Luke Stewart Exposure Quintet’ - Traveling the Spaceways: Sun Ra Arkestra’s ‘Swirling’ and M’Lumbo and Jane Ira Bloom’s ‘Celestial Mechanics’
Sun Ra was born on the planet Saturn sometime presumably in the early 20th Century. Some historians mistake him for a gifted pianist named Herman Poole “Sonny” Blount, who was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1914. In reality, he was the first great composer born on another planet to came to earth with the mission… Read more: Traveling the Spaceways: Sun Ra Arkestra’s ‘Swirling’ and M’Lumbo and Jane Ira Bloom’s ‘Celestial Mechanics’ - Review: Bootsy Collins’ ‘The Power of the One’
Far too often when people succeed in their field, it becomes far too easy for them to cling to that which brought them acclaim. The best artists, however, are always looking for ways to better express themselves and explore new ideas. Now in the fifth decade of his professional career, bass legend Bootsy Collins has… Read more: Review: Bootsy Collins’ ‘The Power of the One’ - Review: Butcher Brown’s ‘#KingButch’
Here’s a tip for whoever is reading at the Richmond, Virginia Chamber of Commerce: when you produce your next showcase commercial, make sure that Butcher Brown does the soundtrack. Better yet, license “For the City,” the penultimate track on the band’s newly released #KingButch (Concord Jazz, 2020). The song’s hook is, “We’re known for the… Read more: Review: Butcher Brown’s ‘#KingButch’ - Review: Azymuth, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s ‘Azymuth JID 004′
In the field of astrodynamics, azimuth is essentially a way of navigating based on an established location, usually true North. Even its etymology suggests use in voyaging as it was derived from the Arabic term as-sumūt, roughly translated into “the directions.” It is an excellent descriptor for a trio that has been spanning outward from… Read more: Review: Azymuth, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s ‘Azymuth JID 004′ - Review: ‘Blue Note Re:imagined’
Blue Note has a more important discography than almost any label in the history of jazz, encompassing decades of some of the most significant music ever recorded within the idiom. For more than 80 years, the label has produced legendary recordings. It has not rested on its laurels in the modern era, continuing to release… Read more: Review: ‘Blue Note Re:imagined’ - Review: Josh Johnson’s ‘Freedom Exercise’
One effective way to find new artists and music is through their works with others. A great example of this is Josh Johnson. While generally lacking the name recognition of some of his peers, the saxophonist has been at the forefront of some of the finest recordings to emerge over recent history, often those exploring… Read more: Review: Josh Johnson’s ‘Freedom Exercise’ - Review: Cat Toren’s Human Kind’s ‘Scintillating Beauty’
With a first track as striking as “Radiance In Veils”, one immediately gets the sense that Cat Toren’s Human Kind’s Scintillating Beauty (Panoramic Recordings, 2020) is an album that will live up to its name. The tune is an epic Cat Toren original that moves from serenity to overwhelming force – in one instance in… Read more: Review: Cat Toren’s Human Kind’s ‘Scintillating Beauty’ - Review: Bob James’ ‘Once Upon A Time: The Lost 1965 New York Studio Sessions’, Admas’ ‘Sons of Ethiopia’, and Takuya Kuroda’s ‘Fly Moon Die Soon’
Artists often produce some of their best work when given increased freedom over the creative process. In so doing, their other sonic influences frequently seep into their output, generating something which is not just truer to its craftsman but also expressive of a fuller range of ideas. With fewer confines placed on them by record… Read more: Review: Bob James’ ‘Once Upon A Time: The Lost 1965 New York Studio Sessions’, Admas’ ‘Sons of Ethiopia’, and Takuya Kuroda’s ‘Fly Moon Die Soon’ - Review: Jesse Fischer’s ‘Resilience’
As the world seems to descend into increasingly challenging times every day, society needs music more than ever to respond to the events that unfold. Across a broad spectrum from hip-hop to chamber, a series of new releases have provided significant moving, relevant, and pointed commentary. Another excellent new album in this lineage is Resilience… Read more: Review: Jesse Fischer’s ‘Resilience’ - Review: Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah’s ‘Axiom’
In the field of philosophical logic, an axiom serves as a starting point from which other statements are derived. It is regarded as an essentially true foundation for further developments built off of it. Originating from the Greek word ἀξίωμα (axíōma), the term suggests worthiness and equal balance as it extends substance to those crafted… Read more: Review: Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah’s ‘Axiom’ - Review: Marcos Valle, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s ‘Marcos Valle JID 003’
In the year 1500, navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral claimed Brazil as a colony for the Portuguese empire. Despite the region’s immense beauty, the measure was primarily a strategic one, beginning an era deemed “The Sugar Age,” in which millions of slaves were imported, particularly from Congo, to harvest the resource and send it throughout the… Read more: Review: Marcos Valle, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s ‘Marcos Valle JID 003’ - Review: Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids’ ‘Shaman!’
In the early 1990s, Allan Wilson and Rebecca Cann reached a scientific breakthrough in their testing of mitochondrial DNA. Their findings further supported the replacement hypothesis, a theory that proposes a single origin of man in a taxonomic sense. Its essential holding is that every human being descended from a small band of homo sapiens… Read more: Review: Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids’ ‘Shaman!’ - Review: The Regina Carter Freedom Band’s ‘Swing States: Harmony in the Battleground’
American presidential campaigns are often very narrowly focused. One study showed that in the 2016 election a whopping ninety-four percent of events were held within twelve states with little, if any, attention paid to the remaining thirty-eight. The modern campaigning process often trades compassion among the populace for political power. The Regina Carter Freedom Band’s… Read more: Review: The Regina Carter Freedom Band’s ‘Swing States: Harmony in the Battleground’ - Review: Thumbscrew’s ‘The Anthony Braxton Project’
It would be hard to find a trio better equipped to tackle an entire album of saxophonist Anthony Braxton’s compositions than Thumbscrew. Braxton is an accomplished veteran of the avant-garde, free improvisation, and everything in between. Mary Halvorson (guitar), Tomas Fujiwara (drums, vibraphone), and Michael Formanek (bass) do not approach The Anthony Braxton Project (Cuneiform… Read more: Review: Thumbscrew’s ‘The Anthony Braxton Project’ - Review: Gerald Clayton’s ‘Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard’
Pianist Gerald Clayton first came to the attention of many jazz fans by way of the late Roy Hargrove’s quintet on Earfood (Emarcy, 2008). Since then, the musician has grown to be a fine bandleader in his own right. He has released nothing but high-quality work, with a notable artistic shift between 2011’s Bond: The… Read more: Review: Gerald Clayton’s ‘Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard’ - Musical Mentors: Gary Bartz & Maisha’s ‘Night Dreamer’ and Archie Shepp, Raw Poetic & Damu the Fudgemunk’s ‘Ocean Bridges’
The term “mentor” comes from a character in Homer’s Odyssey, an epic written in the 8th Century BCE. However, the concept of mentorship dates back to an even earlier era. Some historians suggest that the concept may be as old as humanity itself. Though hardly novel, there can be significant benefits to both parties. From… Read more: Musical Mentors: Gary Bartz & Maisha’s ‘Night Dreamer’ and Archie Shepp, Raw Poetic & Damu the Fudgemunk’s ‘Ocean Bridges’ - 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 the history of sampling. In the 1940s, Pierre Schaeffer started producing sonic collages by splicing and manipulating sound recordings. His works formed the base of an experimental form known as musique concrète, an avant-garde progenitor… Read more: Review: Roy Ayers, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s ‘Roy Ayers JID 002’ - 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 such as Ghil (Ideologic Organ, 2013). On Yeo-Neun (Shelter Press, 2020), she embraces the delicacy of chamber music, leading a quartet including Maeve Gilchrist (harp), Eivind Opsvik (bass), and Jacob Sacks (piano). Lee has not… Read more: Review: Okkyung Lee’s ‘Yeo-Neun’ - 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 – but also as producers who create beats and use synthesizers to convey their voices. Flying Lotus, Thundercat, and several British acts such as Alfa Mist and Tom Misch are among the artists who have… Read more: Review: HiFiLo’s ‘Speak Your Name’ - 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 Willie Nelson. However, these legendary figures are, in some ways, each mere reflective points. Historical emergence from the melding of countless Native, Latin, African, and European cultures has produced a rich yet underreported musical heritage.… Read more: Review: Norah Jones’ ‘Pick Me Up Off the Floor’ - 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 member was accomplished in pop, funk, and R&B, performing on seminal albums with everyone from Frank Zappa to Parliament-Funkadelic. Their recordings are infused with a unique tightness of the horns and a deep groove, both… Read more: Review: The Brecker Brothers’ ‘Live and Unreleased’ - 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 amounts of particular ingredients potentially create a bland or inedible product. Masterful creation requires a background on how to best use materials and a desire to mix them in the best way possible. When done… Read more: Review: Michael Olatuja’s ‘Lagos Pepper Soup’ - 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, and that doesn’t stop on Who Sent You? (International Anthem, 2020). Camae Ayewa does not have as many lines as on the band’s first album, but whenever she does speak she is as effective as… Read more: Review: Irreversible Entanglements’ ‘Who Sent You?’ - 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 point entirely. The blues is about more than a series of set modes or even emotions. Although often identified with sorrow, the form has always extended far beyond. In light of its historical basis, it… Read more: Review: Ambrose Akinmusire’s ‘on the tender spot of every calloused moment’ - 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 by ichor, the blood of the gods. It was Talos’ job to protect the island of Crete from invaders by throwing boulders at incoming ships and crushing anyone who washed ashore. He was programmed to… Read more: Review: Aaron Parks’ ‘Little Big II: Dreams of a Mechanical Man’ - 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, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Mali, the nation was led by members of the Keita dynasty, a series of rulers who tracked their heritage to Bilal Keita, a freed slave who became a close… Read more: Review: Shabaka and the Ancestors’ ‘We Are Sent Here By History’ - Review: Nicholas Payton’s ‘Quarantined with Nick’
Throughout history, musicians have used the direst of circumstances, including widespread pandemics, to expand their artistic boundaries and examine unexplored sonic territories. As European society collapsed during the era of the Black Death, composers presented new complex forms – the rondeau, the virelai, and the ballade. By 1365, the last of these would become one… Read more: Review: Nicholas Payton’s ‘Quarantined with Nick’ - Review: Takahiro Izumikawa’s ‘Life is Your Thoughts’
There is a Japanese proverb dating back to at least the 16th Century: 一期一会 . Roughly translated, it means “each moment only once” and is intended to convey the fleetingness of life. The focus on the current moment, however, does not mean the nation ignores its past. Instead, it often melds ancient traditions and contemporary… Read more: Review: Takahiro Izumikawa’s ‘Life is Your Thoughts’ - Review: Nduduzo Makhathini’s ‘Modes of Communication: Letters from the Underworlds’
Due to the nation’s rich jazz history, it may appear surprising that a 2020 release – Nduduzo Makhathini’s Modes of Communication: Letters from the Underworlds (Blue Note Records, 2020) – is long-standing labels’ first by a South African musician. While the pianist will receive much coverage based on this fact alone, that singular focus improperly… Read more: Review: Nduduzo Makhathini’s ‘Modes of Communication: Letters from the Underworlds’ - Review: R.A.P. Ferreira’s ‘Purple Moonlight Pages’
On Purple Moonlight Pages, R.A.P. Ferreira is extremely loose and free, at times even nonchalant, but he is always impressive and in control. The emcee’s intriguing abstract nature, wit, confidence and unwavering commitment to the craft of imaginative rhyming all combine in a performance that will undoubtedly go on to be remembered as one of… Read more: Review: R.A.P. Ferreira’s ‘Purple Moonlight Pages’ - Review: Lakecia Benjamin’s ‘Pursuance: The Coltranes’
In the over fifty years since John Coltrane’s death, dozens, if not hundreds, of recordings have honored his artistic genius. The sheer quantity seemingly dwarfs even the number of releases by the saxophonist during his lifetime. This, of course, raises a fairly simple question: does the world truly need yet another homage to Coltrane? If… Read more: Review: Lakecia Benjamin’s ‘Pursuance: The Coltranes’ - Review: Hailu Mergia’s ‘Yene Mircha (የኔ ምርጫ)’
In January 2013, Brian Shimkovitz, the head of Awesome Tapes From Africa, found a cassette tape in a shop in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia titled Hailu Mergia & His Classical Instrument. Its combination of the nation’s traditional music with funk and jazz completely blew him away and he undertook a quest to share it with the… Read more: Review: Hailu Mergia’s ‘Yene Mircha (የኔ ምርጫ)’ - Review: Charles Lloyd’s ‘8: Kindred Spirits (Live from the Lobero)’
For one unfamiliar with Charles Lloyd’s illustrious discography, an octogenarian NEA Jazz Master may seem like an odd focal point for a site focused on music that pushes beyond categorical lines. However, the saxophonist has spent his entire career defying convention. From his early sideman recordings with Chico Hamilton to his more recent Marvels group,… Read more: Review: Charles Lloyd’s ‘8: Kindred Spirits (Live from the Lobero)’ - Review: George Burton’s ‘Reciprocity’
Ralph Waldo Emerson once noted that “to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Whether one’s expectations on another person, of an artist’s output as a certain type, or one’s inflated self-perception, far too often images are depicted and enforced which do not align… Read more: Review: George Burton’s ‘Reciprocity’ - Review: Kassa Overall’s ‘I THINK I’M GOOD’
The human brain is incredibly powerful. It controls every function of our bodies, allows us to reason, and permits us to both create and appreciate art. To do so, it uses 100 billion neurons, each of which fires around 200 times every second. Given its necessary complexity, it should come as no surprise how frequently… Read more: Review: Kassa Overall’s ‘I THINK I’M GOOD’ - Review: Ben Williams’ ‘I AM A MAN’
On February 1, 1968, a malfunctioning garbage truck fatally crushed two black Memphis sanitation workers – Echol Cole and Robert Walker. Their passing was in many ways directly the fault of Henry Loeb, the city’s white supremacist mayor. Loeb previously served as the Memphis’ Public Works Commissioner, a role in which he undertook several steps… Read more: Review: Ben Williams’ ‘I AM A MAN’ - Review: Dave Liebman’s Expansions Group’s ‘Earth’
Scientists estimate that the earth vibrates at varying frequencies between 7.83 and 33.8 Hz. Of course, music also consists of rhythmic waves, though they are limited to our unaided hearing range from 20 to 20,000 Hz. As a result, many of our planet’s tones are wholly incapable of being perceived. Earth, the latest Expansions album… Read more: Review: Dave Liebman’s Expansions Group’s ‘Earth’ - Review: Captain Supernova’s ‘The Voyage Never Ends…’
In his early writings, philosopher Søren Kierkegaard utilized various pseudonyms to present distinctive viewpoints and to interact with each other in complex dialogues. Throughout its history, jazz musicians have also adopted similar approaches – particularly relying on cosmic iconography – to better push their personal creative boundaries. One recent example is the three members of… Read more: Review: Captain Supernova’s ‘The Voyage Never Ends…’ - Review: Tyshawn Sorey & Marilyn Crispell’s ‘The Adornment of Time’
A single fully-improvised piece of over an hour in length, percussionist Tyshawn Sorey and pianist Marilyn Crispell’s The Adornment of Time is a challenging work. It is not simple, danceable, easily listenable, or intended as background music. It is highly unlikely the listener will fully grasp its importance upon first approach. However, further delving into… Read more: Review: Tyshawn Sorey & Marilyn Crispell’s ‘The Adornment of Time’ - Review: Miles Davis’ ‘Rubberband’
Recorded mostly in 1985, the height of Miles Davis’ most critically maligned era, Rubberband is unlikely to be appreciated by one who generally disfavors the artist’s 1980s oeuvre. However, for a listener open to Davis’ music from that period, there is much to enjoy. Full appreciation partly requires an understanding of the album’s history. At… Read more: Review: Miles Davis’ ‘Rubberband’