Butcher Brown Cover Andre 3000’s “Prototype” (Video)
Early this morning, the guys of Butcher Brown just dropped a video of their take on OutKast’s “Prototype” to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the legendary double album, Speakerboxxx/The Love …
Early this morning, the guys of Butcher Brown just dropped a video of their take on OutKast’s “Prototype” to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the legendary double album, Speakerboxxx/The Love …
Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire has always pushed the envelope, bringing about unabashed avant-gardism and exultant individualism to the music he so lovingly creates. His latest project is no different. Stemming from …
One of the beauties of modern jazz is that it freely draws inspiration from an amalgam of other genres. Popular these days are neo soul, indie rock or hip hop, …
We Are All, the eighth album from piano-bass-drums trio Phronesis gets directly to the point. It’s a tidy album of six songs full of the rising energy, quick turns, precision …
Every single song on Now Vs Now’s upcoming new album, The Buffering Cocoon, is brilliant, and you’ll find that out soon enough when it drops September 14th on Jazzland Recordings …
Houston-born, New York City-based pianist, keyboardist, and composer James Francies is the newest signee to the prestigious Blue Note Records label, a feat he’s remarkably accomplishing at the tender age …
Fabled is a UK band spearheaded by saxophonist and clarinetist Sam Rapley and rounded out by Alex Munk on guitar, Matt Robinson on piano, Conor Chaplin on double bass and …
This year is sure full of surprises for the jazz community! After John Coltrane’s posthumous album, Both Directions at Once, recently released on the Impulse label, a new previously unheard …
Saxophonist Johnny Butler has never been one bereft of creative ideas. That’s certainly apparent through his album HyperViolet which released last year. To keep the momentum going (and to call …
The Los Angeles jazz scene has been truly effervescent as of late with more and more extremely talented musicians deciding to call the West Coast home. Among them is Israeli …
I have extremely glowing praise for keyboardist Javier Santiago’s album, Phoenix (which I’m feeling confident that it’s one of my favorite albums of the year). So it brings me joy …
Vocalist José James is back with a new album on September 28th entitled Lean On Me, a heartfelt and honest twelve song tribute to the legendary Bill Withers in honor …
Phronesis — the trio of bassist Jasper Høiby, pianist Ivo Neame, and drummer Anton Eger — are about to drop their new album, We Are All, September 14th on Edition …
I use the word “dynamic” a lot. It’s a word that invokes movement, variance, fluidity, structure, and so many other good qualities that indicate something is holding my attention. I …
Saxophonist Miguel Zenón is one of the most prolific musicians of his generation having received such accolades as multiple Grammy nominations and both the Guggenheim and the MacArthur fellowships, in …
Pianist Art Hirahara discovered jazz while studying Electronic and Computer Music at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. During his junior year there, he began taking lessons from Cleveland jazz giant …
Guitarist Miles Okazaki has for some time been working on playing the complete works of Thelonious Monk. This process has made for some great Instagram videos, but it was unlikely …
Let me come out the gate with a strong statement: I firmly believe that the Young Lions movement is one of the worst things to ever happen to jazz. Don’t …
We’ve always been huge fans of REVIVE Music, the ever-evolving multi-faceted operation spearheaded by fellow jazz fanatic and founder Meghan Stabile. We greatly admire their entrepreneurial spirit and their passion …
Identical twins Jonathan and Jared Mattson have been playing expressive, stripped down jazz for a little while now, gaining plaudits and attention from unconventional corners (their last album was alongside …
Two and a half years ago, David Bowie released Blackstar days before his death. The album, Bowie’s final masterpiece, put front and center a jazz band, namely saxophonist Donny McCaslin’ …
Guitarist Rotem Sivan is preparing to release a new album, My Favorite Monster, on August 31st. He’s going harder on this one, finding a more rock-tinged edge of his usual …
Montreal, aside from hosting the world’s largest jazz festival, also harbors, like many other cities, a small yet resilient community of local musicians whose passion for jazz keeps the music …
You’ve all heard “Bodak Yellow” by now, the 2017 hip-hop anthem that propelled rapper Cardi B to superstardom. With its dark and hypnotic vamp and its aggressive and provocative lyrics, …
It would seem natural that all the work multi-instrumentalist Nate Wood has been doing under his solo project, fOUR, would be leading to an album. Wood has been releasing videos …
Horne + Holt, the instrumental duo of guitarist Jonathan Horne and cellist Randall Holt, sound simultaneously expansive and stark, at least they do on their latest album, Wires. The pair …
We’ve remarked on the neat brilliance of saxophonist Byron Asher’s music before. The Louisiana artist has been a solid staple in a number of groups who have hit our radar …
Anyone who has followed Nextbop for a while may possibly know our strong feelings about Phronesis– one of our favorite piano/bass/drums trio on the planet. We mean it. Jasper Høiby, …
Keyboardist/vocalist Brandon Coleman is an LA-based musician who is in cahoots with a bunch of the all stars of that scene– Kamasi Washington, Flying Lotus, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, (Ciara, Babyface, others …
Polish bassist/composer Wojtek Mazolewski has a great understanding of groove. There’s an easy sensibility to his music, just coasting along. Even in its heights, the music seems to have arrived …
Russell Gunn’s Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra has a lovely familiarity to it. Wes Funderburk & Gunn’s arrangements for his large ensemble, headquartered out of Atlanta (and recorded at my own …
Pianist Eric Hirsh has been a North Carolina staple for a while now, backing assorted groups (most notably hip-hop collective The Beast alongside Pierce Freelon) and providing a sensible, expressive …
The ease with which one can cling to keyboardist Javier Santiago is very reminiscent, oddly enough, of the better corners of smooth jazz. Santiago as a leader melds the best …
Guitarist Gilad Hekselman has been keeping busy, but very soon, there’s about to be a new album to show for it. Out this September on Motéma Records, Hekselman is dropping …
Washington, DC, duo Blacks’ Myths are hypnotically gripping. In five compositions (three of considerable length), the pair are exploring the realm of ambient music, Afrobeat, drone, and jazz, finding ways …
For years, I have referred to Justin Brown as a murderer. He has an adeptness at the drum kit so technically rambunctious, so particularly expressive, that one’s previous thinking about …
Herbie Hancock’s iconic album Speak Like a Child was released fifty years ago in 1968 and the anniversary hasn’t gone unnoticed by rising Star NYC trombonist Nick Finzer. In order …
Paper burns at 451°F. At what temperature do master musicians start burning? When everything is going just right on stage? Broken Shadows — the quartet of Tim Berne on alto …
As someone who has written for theater, musicals and film, Jungsu Choi is no stranger to the grand. The South Korean composer has brought together a band of twelve top …
Keyboardist/producer Jesse Fischer is ramping up the intrigue around his upcoming Flipped II album, release date to be determined. Perhaps the mystery behind an album of remixes and covers of …
Kneebody is continuing their cover series with a new song this week– their take on Beck’s “Dear Life” off his latest album, Colors. Comparing the two songs, Kneebody is definitely …
The Brad Mehldau Trio — Mehldau on piano, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Jeff Ballard on drums — have not released an album together in four years, 2014’s Blues and …
Thumbscrew – the trio of guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Michael Formanek, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara – are giants at the particular kind of weird they do individually, but they’re practically …
Trumpeter Adam O’Farrill is wise beyond his years. It’s the only reasonable explanation for his second album as a leader to be so superb, or his first album, Stranger Days …
Israeli bassist and composer Adi Meyerson left her home five years ago, like so many others before her, to see if she could make a name for herself on the …
You should be a fan of trumpeter Adam O’Farrill. He’s an impressive young talent and a proven bandleader. Oh, sure, he’s good, particularly good for 23 years old, at that. …
The Dafnis Prieto Big Band’s new album, Back to the Sunset, is quite the grand accomplishment. Prieto’s largest ensemble yet is filled with movement after movement of his signature rhythms …
“Resting Warrior”, the new single from the supergroup R+R=NOW, has that certain Glasperian, balanced sense of sprawl where everyone gets a solo and plays that solo at the top of …
Guitarist Gilad Hekselman has a trio with pianist (or really keyboardist) Aaron Parks and drummer Kendrick Scott called ZuperOctave. They’re playful. With Parks on keyboards, there’s a different vibe to …
We talked a lot about our Jazz for the Masses event in the lead up to South By SouthWest music festival back in March. Of course, not all of you …
This one almost got away from us, but over this past Mother’s Day, Andre 3000 (y’know, of OutKast) dropped a two song EP dedicated to his late parents. Yet the …
I wasn’t really asking for this, but I also make it a habit to sleep on Rihanna (hell, I still like Sia’s earlier work), but “Work” is a catchy song …
Drummer, composer, and 2011 MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Dafnis Prieto recently released what may just be his most ambitious project to date, Back to the Sunset, the debut album of the …
Drummer Jonathan Barber is quickly making a name for himself. Voted this year’s best “Up & Coming” drummer in the Modern Drummer Readers Poll, the young Barber is setting the …
Chicago-based pianist Paul Bedal has a crispness to his style of play. Not too ornate or flowery, expressive but direct, illustrative but pointed. This is his style on the keys …
At this point in Henry Threadgill’s career, we already know the dynamic. Everything else is a refinement of those shifting polyrhythms, those floating melodies that skirt about the tonal and …
Rising saxophonist Mike Casey is all about his online presence. His press releases are chalked up with social media metrics. “West End”, the first single off his upcoming album Stay …
Saxophonist Johnny Butler has always had a diversity of influences in his music. It’s worth noting, though, that one of those influences is the drummer/rapper/producer Kassa Overall. They all come …
Slim Bone Head Volt is the collaborative project of composer/pianist/violinist/violaist Dana Lyn and writer/actor Vincent D’Onofrio. It’s an odd project, a curious project. It’s also kind of amazing, which is …
Venezuelan pianist and Guggenheim Fellow Edward Simon is just about as well respected as anyone in the realm of jazz piano. His accolades include stints with Greg Osby and Terence …
Portico Quartet’s latest album, Untitled (AITAOA #2), the companion album to last year’s Art in the Age of Automation, just dropped last week and it’s spacey, trippy, dopeness that I …
French pianist Gauthier Toux has been racking up awards on the European circuit with his progressive blend of jazz music. His newest album, The Colours You See, is set to …
I wish I could talk about Mndsgn more often (bear with me, here, I’ll get to the feature). His last two albums have been staples in my library and floated …
Bassist and composer Martin Nevin has shared the stage with the likes of Albert “Tootie” Heath, Greg Osby, Ethan Iverson, and Ambrose Akinmusire, but Tenderness is Silent, to be released …
Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson would have turned 81 today. Everybody’s got their favorites and Henderson is pianist/producer Jesse Fischer’s. So in tribute of the legend, Fischer just dropped the first …
Bassist/composer Petros Klampanis is a superbly talented musician with quite the mind for arrangement. His last album, Chroma, certainly is proof of that. Yet little else really displays arranging prowess …
Radiohead’s 2001 album, Amnesiac, was recorded in the same sessions as their 2000 album, Kid A, which saw the group begin their exploration into a more electronic sound. It’s hard …
I’ve learned a few things over the years covering the players of the modern jazz scene. Amongst those characters I’ve encountered and heard play their craft, I knew long ago …
Drummer/composer Zach Rhea is from Lafayette, Louisiana. He’s an affable guy with an epic beard, an amusing penchant for naming songs, and fantastic musical sensibilities. At a recent San Antonio …
Saxophonist Kamasi Washington has received, over the past three years, more praise and adoration than any other in the realm of jazz and of its orbiting offsprings. The mainstream media …
The multi-talented Kassa Overall keeps busy and keeps finding ways to meld all those various talents in his works. His latest effort, the four-song EP Drake It Till You Make …
Saxophonist Joe Lovano is a musician whose career I have been following for quite some time. His sound is timeless and exciting gaining momentum and grace as the years elapse. …
Sun Speak, the Chicago duo of guitarist Matt Gold and drummer Nate Friedman, have always sounded great together. Since their 2014 debut, the pair have made a tight sound that …
Keyboardist and producer Javier Santiago has been flying under the radar ever since the release of his 2015 debut EP The Year of the Horse, much to our chagrin we …
If there is one word that cannot be used to describe Mary Halvorson, it’s stagnant. In the past decade, the unconventional guitarist has been consistently expanding the range of her …
If we’re talking a lot about guitarist Rafiq Bhatia‘s upcoming new album, Breaking English, a whole lot, it’s largely because we’re really excited about it. Besides, the album drops tomorrow …
Alto saxophonist Caroline Davis knows her way around a tune. Her songs on her new album, Heart Tonic, can be angular, smooth, poppy, earnest jams, or driving runs. She’s a …
Terence Blanchard and his band the E-Collective are back with a new album entitled Live, set to drop April 20th on Blue Note Records. Following their politically-charged 2015 release Breathless, …
Trumpeter Jaimie Branch, who wowed the masses with last year’s Fly or Die, is a frequent collaborator with drummer Jason Nazary (of Bear in Heaven, Little Women, Helado Negro). Together, …
Bassist/composer Zack Nestel-Patt describes his debut album, River Run, as having “the sensibilities of an indie rock album” while still rooted in jazz elements and the “tradition of improvised music”. …
Mopo is the trio out of Finland of Linda Fredriksson on alto & baritone saxophones, Eero Tikkanen on acoustic & electric bass and violin, and Eeti Nieminen on drums, percussion, …
Soulive, the trio of drummer Alan Evans, guitarist Eric Krasno, and keyboardist Neal Evans, is back with their first album in six years, and their easing their way back with …
There is a new energy awakening among a select few jazz musicians, whether explicit as in Marquis Hill’s latest EP Meditation Tape or implicit as in the album covers to …
16 the Olympus is a friendly outfit. There’s a sense of epicness grasped for in the arch of their songs, but the effusiveness of the group seems to break through …
Guitarist Nels Cline has a new group alongside fellow guitarist Julian Lage, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Tom Rainey, and they’re set to release their new album, Currents, Constellations, April …
Guitarist Rafiq Bhatia is steadily introducing us to his new album, Breaking English, out April 6 on Anti-. Much like the first single, “Hoods Up”, the title track with touches …
Pianist Glenn Zaleski has a new solo piano album out now. It’s a simple affair, not too flashy or ostentatious. He’s playing standards with a gentle deftness. He’s not making …
Nutria is the New Orleans-based trio of tenor saxophonist/overall reedist Bryon Asher, bassist Trey Boudreaux, and drummer Shawn Myers. The three got together in 2014 at the graduate program at …
If there was ever a time to immerse yourself in GoGo Penguin’s music, it is now. Coming off of a string of popular and highly acclaimed albums as well as …
JUNO-nominated (that’s a Canadian GRAMMY for those who don’t know, comes with maple syrup and a beaver fur hat) jazz quartet Peripheral Vision is embarking on a tour of Western …
Shots fired in Paris. ONEFOOT, the trio comprised of keyboardist Yessaï Karapetian, bassist Marc Karapetian and drummer Matthieu Font, is rapidly making a name for itself in the Old Continent …
On Portrait Of, the sophomore offering from Los Angeles-based experimental quartet Similar Fashion, the group presents an intricate yet viscerally compelling musical object, full of inventive layering and development of …
Guitarist Rafiq Bhatia is super dope. He does super dope work with Son Lux (new album Brighter Wounds is out now. He does super dope work with Vijay Iyer (take …
When speaking of jazz cities, New York and New Orleans are the ones that immediately come to mind, however, Chicago also deserves a shout. The city is no stranger to …
NYC jazz and hip-hop collective QNA are set to drop their sophomore effort, XII, this month. The band, comprised of MC Supe, vocalist Marina Espinet, saxophonist Benjamin Chin, guitarist TJ …
Vocalist Emma Frank brings genuine peacefulness and transparent honesty to everything she touches including her newest opus, Ocean Av, slated for a February 16th release on Brooklyn-based Susan Records. Joining …
There’s something about the latest single from Kneebody that seems familiar. It floats through the air easily and Inara George‘s vocals float along with it. It’s difficult to put a …
This song is important. It’s one of those Gospel songs that still works as a secular tune. Sounds of Blackness, the choir that put this song out in the 1990s, …
AJ Ghent [J-ent] hails out of Fort Pierce, Florida, where he grew up surrounded by music. His great uncle Willie Eason was the creator of the “Sacred Steel Tradition,” while …
Fiddle master Martin Hayes, guitarist Dennis Cahill, sean-nós singer Iarla Ó Lionáird, hardanger innovator Caoimhin Ó Raghallaigh and New York pianist Thomas Bartlett (aka Doveman) joined forces in 2011 to …
Solo piano albums are tough listens. They’re exercises in spacing, balance, dynamism, and are generally more intellectual exercises than most jazz albums. Duo piano albums are even tougher. One — …