Dafnis Prieto Sextet: Triangles and Circles
It is rare indeed to find drummers who can think like pianists; even rarer to find one that thinks like a saxophonist, a trumpeter,...
Thana Alexa: Ode To Heroes
There is something enchanting about the vocalastic melismas of this album that open it up to a wider circle of listeners that simply want...
Cristina Morrison: Baronesa
Part biographical, perhaps even part autobiographical and all adventure, Baronesa by the ineffable chanteuse Cristina Morrison is an amorous masterpiece. Ms. Morrison’s dark and...
Michel Nirenberg: Retrato/Portrait
Hard on the heels of the carioca, Leo Gandelman comes the infinitely younger carioca, Michel Nirenberg, a musician steeped in choro and samba. A...
Oscar Perez: Prepare A Place For Me
Oscar Perez is a perfectly attired pianist, whose own life story makes this achievement all the more striking. But looking at a photograph is...
Theo Croker: Afro-Physicist
Theo Croker is the epitome of the sound of surprise. He comes suddenly from behind and sideways - never from the front - seizing...
Carlos Averhoff Jr.: iRESI
This recording is one of the most visceral and heartfelt that Carlos Averhoff Jr. may have made. You would think that its audacity had something to do with making a leap of faith into an unknown...
Manuel Valera Trio: Live at Firehouse 12
This recording is a fascinating, satisfying live programme which brings together three of the most active, finest musicians in New York whose work...
Lisa Engelken: Little Warrior
Lisa Engelken is a fearless, versatile singer as she demonstrates once again on her new release, Little Warrior. Her song selection and interpretations reveal...
Gretchen Parlato: Live in NYC
It is hard to listen to Gretchen Parlato without hearing something celestial in her singing. To be sure, she sings in a jazz idiom...
Music for Peter Gunn: Harmonie Ensemble New York and Steven Richman
As I jazz lover it will always be a pleasure and a privilege to write about Henry Mancini´s music, the ingenious composer and arranger...
Brigitte Zarie: L’amour
Beautiful strings arrangements give way to the sensual voice of Brigitte Zarie on “Where there is love”, the first track of her new release...
Aimée Allen: Matter of Time
This is a slow burner of a disc. Honestly, I was not won at first hearing, Romero Lubambo notwithstanding. But listening is believing...
Etienne Charles: Creole Soul
“In the world that we live in today, it’s impossible not to be a creole, it’s impossible not to have a blend of ideas, a blend of traditions and a blend of sound or shape that determines who we are. There is a little bit of a creole...
Paolo Fresu Devil Quartet – Desertico
If Paolo Fresu is quickly becoming one of the most sought after trumpet players it might easily be because he calls to mind a...
Kellylee Evans: I Remember When
Kellylee Evans does not get the attention she deserves and yet she must be swept up and have arms wrapped around her. That may...
Dion Parson and 21st Century Band: St. Thomas
What comes across immediately and irresistibly in this new (2015) recording by Dion Parson and his 21st Century Band is the sheer physical pleasure...
Avishai Cohen Trio: From Darkness
Like Duende that came a few years before it, nothing illustrates the mastery of bassist Avishai Cohen better than From Darkness...
John Basile: Penny Lane
This is a vivid, provocative Beatles album from John Basile, a New Yorker who has a pianist’s approach to the guitar. Let there be...
John Patitucci Electric Guitar Quartet: Brooklyn
Having already given us an excellent account of himself as both a virtuoso acoustic bassist as well as on electric bass, with scores of...
