3 Cohens (Anat, Yuval, Avishai): Tightrope
To make this album, Tightrope, with virtually just reeds, woodwinds and brass takes courage. To pull it off requires a very large...
The Debut Album of Mitch Shiner and the BloomingTones Big Band: Fly!
As soon as I played the first track on Mr. Shiner and the BloomingTones Big Band ´s debut album, I was astonished by the...
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...
Guelph Jazz Festival @ “19” & Going Strong
The Guelph Jazz Festival is always a treat, always offering up a taste of fresh innovative music. On this occasion the festival looked back...
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...
Roswell Rudd – Trombone for Lovers
Trombone For Lovers by Roswell Rudd
Roswell Rudd—the inimitable Roswell Rudd—is one of those musicians who must be thought of with the definite article preceding...
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...
Jacques Schwarz-Bart: Jazz Racine Haïti
This album by the composer and tenor saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart Jazz Racine Haïti is significant for several factual reasons and the core aspects...
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...
Helen Sung: Anthem for a New Day
Helen Sung’s pianism is informed by elegance and an intellect that goes far beyond her young years. Both qualities cannot be learnt. The former...
Ray Vega: Chapter Two
This disc ought to come with a connoisseur’s advisory: Be prepared to be amazed. As much as that sounds like something trite, it is,...
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...
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...
Steve Turre – Woody`s Delight
Few trombone players in Steve Turre’s generation have pushed the boundaries of their instrument further than he has. Born of the blue, hard bopping...
Kavita Shah: Visions
To say that Kavita Shah is an artist like no other is not really saying anything new. It is in her singular voice and...
Papo Vazquez: JS Bach – Goldberg Variations
There are no sacred cows in music – certainly not for Papo Vazquez. His 2018 offering in a quartet format is selections from Johann...
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...
Kevin Harris Project – Museum Vol. 1
Credit must go where it is due. Kevin Harris is a pianist who is not merely satisfied by playing a set repertoire on the...
Rudresh Mahanthappa – Gamak
There is an invisible connection between the two principal dialects of Indian music—Hindustani and Carnatic—and the dialect of jazz. All three are really old...
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...