There is no sign of summer letting up just yet but there seems to be something of “Fall” in the air, with two excellent and very different approaches to this Wayne Shorter tune having been released recently by Jesse Fischer and Gilad Hekselman. “Fall” was done first by the Miles Davis Quintet, with Miles on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on sax, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter … [Read more...]
Butcher Brown – Jam in the Van
It’s no secret that Butcher Brown gets some love around here, and some newly released videos aren’t going to change that. The band gets down on "Fiat", "Lysol", and "AfroKuti #3", really digging into these tunes and stretching them out significantly (check out DJ Harrison on the keys on "Fiat", pushing that tune into some new territory). Check out the videos after the jump … [Read more...]
Digbii – ‘Lonely Star’
Nothing wrong with coming across some new grooves on a Friday. Milwaukee-based Digbii’s new release, Lonely Star, should fit the bill. Digbii is a quartet of drums (Jay Arpin), bass (Dave Dinauer), keys (Craig Rigby), and sax (Ryan Meisel) whose songs are ambitious enough to have a clear reach to them but catchy enough to grab you. There’s a strong jazz component as well as a … [Read more...]
Orlando LeFleming – “Pretentious Brooklyn” (Stream)
Bassist Orlando LeFleming's new project, Romantic Funk, is described as falling "somewhere between the serene, legato passages of early-Jaco-era Weather Report, and the spaced out electronica of late-70's Herbie Hancock". That's a high bar. If the first track available to stream from the project ("Pretentious Brooklyn") is an indicator, though, Romantic Funk should happily … [Read more...]
Jazzahead! 2017
The recent Jazzahead! event in Bremen, Germany, featured performances from a who’s who of current jazz players. Thankfully, many of those performances have been recorded and made available to those of us who weren’t able to make it to Germany. Performances from Camila Meza, Gilad Hekselman, Julian Lage, Leo Genovese, and others are streamable online through the Jazzahead! … [Read more...]