Under the Same Stars (Motéma, 2025) is the second installment of Mongolian-born and Germany-based pianist-composer Shuteen Erdenebaatar’s planned trilogy drawing inspiration from the mythology of her Mongolian homeland surrounding the sun, moon, and stars. The first, Rising Sun (Motema, 2023), was an acclaimed quartet recording that evoked vitality, positivity, and optimism – a fitting choice […]
Go ahead and try this – Ask your friends who the most prominent female jazz vocalists have been in the past five years. Or, do a Google search with the question. More often than not, you won’t find Nicole Zuraitis’s name on the list. That’s criminal. Consider the Grammy Awards. Samara Joy has won five […]
With Alloy (Greenleaf, 2025), trumpeter, composer, and forward thinker Dave Douglas unveils his latest unique ensemble. Joined by two young trumpeters – UK native Alexandra Ridout and New Hampshire native Dave Adewumi, both of whom now live in New York – he creates, for lack of a better term, a trumpet choir. The group’s rhythm […]
In a musical environment that too often propagates concepts of genre, one label in particular often stands out as problematic: “folk music.” What exactly is folk music? A cursory definition would state that the form is music “of the people.” In the abstract, this idea seems sensical. When Béla Bartók transcribed the works of Transylvanian […]
There are no written rules for NEA Jazz Masters. Clearly, they have earned the right to undertake their long-dreamed-of projects. Or to buck the music establishment with something unexpected. Or to fulfill a “bucket list” item. George Coleman with Strings (High Note, 2025), unequivocally the most gorgeous album of the tenor saxophonist’s storied career, meets […]
Here is a fun exercise for a reader’s consideration. Consider these two quotes: “[It is] just a bunch of notes thrown together without melody or soul—hardly what I’d call music” and “[It’s] not music… [it] doesn’t require musicianship….” What genre of music are they referring to? Here is a hint- the music grew organically through […]
Although instruments like the Teleharmonium plugged in as early as the late Nineteenth Century, it was not until the 1970s that electronic sounds would meet the depths of human improvisation-based music by the name of jazz. At the height of fusion, synthesizers added to the works of Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, and others. […]
Despite its jagged start, listen to Cantica Profana – The Béla Bartók Field Recordings (Sunnyside, 2025) its whole way through as it evolves into gorgeously flowing music. On the album- those who purchase the two LP set will also receive The Athenaeum Concert (Sunnyside, 2025) by the same artists – pianist Lucian Ban, violist Mat […]
Fresh off their appearance at the Big Ears Festival, which this author unfortunately missed, the trio Fieldwork return with their first album in almost two decades, Thereupon (Pi, 2025). You will likely not find three more decorated individuals in any trio than those in this band: Vijay Iyer, Steve Lehman, and Tyshawn Sorey. Pianist Iyer […]
Caelan Cardello is breaking out. As part of vocalist Tyreek McDole’s backing quartet at this summer’s Newport Jazz Festival, the pianist-composer impressed the audience with his comfort with hard swinging numbers and his duetting with McDole on the standard “Lush Life.” Few in attendance knew Cardello’s forthcoming debut, Chapter One (Jazz Bird, 2025), would arrive […]
