Dave Liebman’s Expansions Group’s ‘Earth’ Album Reviewed
Scientists estimate that the earth vibrates at varying frequencies between 7.83 and 33.8 Hz. Of course, music also consists of rhythmic waves, though they are limited to our unaided hearing …
Reviews
Captain Supernova’s ‘The Voyage Never Ends…’ Album Reviewed
In his early writings, philosopher Søren Kierkegaard utilized various pseudonyms to present distinctive viewpoints and to interact with each other in complex dialogues. Throughout its history, jazz musicians have also …
Kassa Overall’s ‘I THINK I’M GOOD’ Album Reviewed
The human brain is incredibly powerful. It controls every function of our bodies, allows us to reason, and permits us to both create and appreciate art. To do so, it …
Stream Antoine Berjeaut’s ‘Moving Cities’ Album Featuring Makaya McCraven and Junius Paul
Trumpeter and producer Antoine Berjeaut hails from the Paris Superior Conservatory of Jazz Music. He leads the group Wasteland featuring Mike Ladd, and is an active member of the Surnatural …
Pianist and Vocalist Lauren Lee’s ‘Windowsill’ Album Reviewed
Lauren Lee’s new album, Windowsill, emerged from a six-week residency in the Swiss Alps, where the young jazz pianist and vocalist wrote new music inspired by the peaceful scenery. The …
‘Louis Armstrong Live In Europe’ Reviewed
As Nextbop prides itself on presenting jazz of the present moment and the future, at first glance it may appear unusual for the site to review music recorded over sixty …
Ben Williams’ ‘I AM A MAN’ Album Reviewed
On February 1, 1968, a malfunctioning garbage truck fatally crushed two black Memphis sanitation workers – Echol Cole and Robert Walker. Their passing was in many ways directly the fault …
Tomas Fujiwara’s ‘7 Poets Trio’ Album Reviewed
When one thinks of jazz trios, the combination found on 7 Poets Trio is probably not what comes to mind. Then again, when looking at the members of this trio, …
Tyshawn Sorey & Marilyn Crispell’s ‘The Adornment of Time’ Reviewed
A single fully-improvised piece of over an hour in length, percussionist Tyshawn Sorey and pianist Marilyn Crispell’s The Adornment of Time is a challenging work. It is not simple, danceable, …
Trumpeter Dave Douglas’ New Album ‘Engage’ Reviewed
Not one to shy from politics, Dave Douglas’ Engage tackles a variety of hot button topics ranging from gun control to immigration. To address these issues, the bandleader assembled a …
Dan Weiss Trio Plus 1’s New Album ‘Utica Box’ Reviewed
Utica Box unfolds. It requires patience. There’s a mood to build to and reward that building of tension. Dan Weiss is shooting for a lot of this with his latest …
Miles Davis’ ‘Rubberband’ Album Reviewed
Mostly recorded in 1985, at the height of Miles Davis’ most critically maligned era, Rubberband is unlikely to be appreciated by one who generally disfavors the artist’s 1980s oeuvre. However, …
Yes! Trio’s New Album ‘Groove du Jour’ Reviewed
I was introduced to Aaron Goldberg through his Worlds album; I heard him play at the Newport Jazz Festival in 2008 and got really hung up on his version of …
Javier Santiago’s New Ropeadope Album ‘B-Sides: The Phoenix Sessions’ Reviewed
It cannot be said that Javier Santiago plays the keys without a sense of lyricism and tension. It cannot be said that Santiago doesn’t compose songs with powerful arcs that …
Trumpeter Yazz Ahmed’s Ropeadope Debut ‘Polyhymnia’ Reviewed
It’s no secret to those that follow jazz that London is one of the places to be right now. The English capital has an exciting young scene. Bahraini-British trumpeter Yazz …
Portico Quartet – ‘Memory Streams’ (Album Review)
After the last couple years of albums from London’s Portico Quartet — 2017’s Art in the Age of Automation and 2018’s companion piece, Untitled (AITAOA #2) — it’s hard to …
Drummer Andrew Munsey’s Debut Album ‘High Tide’ Reviewed
Debut records can make or break an artist, but it seems that drummer Andrew Munsey already has it figured out. Munsey has worked in the past as a sideman and …
Steve Lehman Trio + Craig Taborn – ‘The People I Love’ (Album Review)
There’s a funny thing about round numbers and commemorations. People add extra value to big signpost years in the narrative of things, to make them somehow make more sense in …
Harpist Brandee Younger’s Latest Album ‘Soul Awakening’ Reviewed
Although Soul Awakening officially carries a 2019 release date, it was finished much earlier. Having been recorded in 2012 and completed in 2013, Harpist Brandee Younger’s fourth album as a …
Zach Brock | Matt Ulery | Jon Dietemyer – ‘Wonderment’ (Album Review)
Violinist Zach Brock, bassist Matt Ulery, and drummer Jon Deitemyer first started playing together in 2005 in Chicago. It was a musical companionship that made sense and held to various …
BIGYUKI, Nate Smith’s KINFOLK, and Butcher Brown Perform at the 2019 Montreal International Jazz Festival
July 2nd was a busy albeit fulfilling evening at the 2019 Montreal International Jazz Festival, beginning with a BIGYUKI and Nate Smith + KINFOLK double-bill at the Monument National and …
Aaron Whitby – ‘Cousin From Another Planet’ (Album Review)
Aaron Whitby has been a session player for years, backing folks like Randy Brecker, Natalie Cole, George Clinton, and his wife Martha Redbone. In this time, his own voice as …
Makaya McCraven Performs at the 2019 Montreal International Jazz Festival
Drummer Makaya McCraven is the only musician to receive Nextbop’s Album of the Year on two separate occasions, first in 2015 for his sophomore effort In the Moment then again …
The Comet Is Coming – ‘Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery’ (Album Review)
In recent years, Shabaka Hutchings has arguably become the face of the London jazz scene. This status has not arrived without merit, as the tenor sax/bass clarinetist has recently led …
Linda May Han Oh Performs at the 2019 Montreal International Jazz Festival
Linda May Han Oh’s prolific career never ceases to amaze, and her ability to keep raising the bar every step of the way is nothing short of remarkable. Widely regarded …
Yaron Herman Performs at the 2019 Montreal International Jazz Festival
When we first launched our humble little website, way back in 2009, a shortlist of artists served as our main inspiration to bring jazz music to the masses, notably to …
Linda May Han Oh – ‘Aventurine’ (Album Review)
Every time bassist Linda May Han Oh releases an album, it’s always filled to the brim with beat and soul. Her compositions have the complex ideas one would expect of …
James Brandon Lewis – ‘An UnRuly Manifesto’ (Album Review)
Each James Brandon Lewis album feels like an examination. There’s some idea he has stumbled across and the tenor saxophonist and his team are going to comb over every detail …
Anton Eger – ‘Æ’ (Album Review)
Drummer Anton Eger has always been a fascinating ball of energy. His work as a drummer, particularly with the trio Phronesis, is constantly moving, replete with ideas that never seemed …
Rose Ann Dimalanta Trio – ‘It’s Time’ (Album Review)
On the new album It’s Time, the Rose Ann Dimalanta Trio serves as musical chefs who sprinkle healthy dashes of jazz, soul, R&B, pop and funk into each song to …
Blue Standard – ‘A Good Thing’ (Album Review)
Toronto-based duo Blue Standard, made up of pianist Jesse Whiteley and vocalist Raoul Bhaneja, are a pleasant pair. Their approach to jazz standards, as displayed in their debut album A …
Sam Harris – ‘Harmony’ (Album Review)
There’s something about the natural build of Sam Harris‘ songs on his new album, Harmony. The pianist who has work with Ambrose Akinmusire, Melissa Aldana, Logan Richardson, and others has …
Braxton Cook – ‘No Doubt’ (Album Review)
The idea of Braxton Cook making an R&B album isn’t all that surprising. The seeming ease with which he plays the saxophone always had an amiable quality to it. But …
Dan Tepfer – ‘Natural Machines’ (Album Review)
For 4 ½ years, pianist Dan Tepfer has been using modern technology to rethink the idea of the prepared player piano. His applying the coding program SuperCollider to respond to …
‘In Common: Walter Smith III, Matthew Stevens, Joel Ross, Harish Raghavan, Marcus Gilmore’ (Album Review)
In Common is an album co-led by tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III, guitarist Matthew Stevens, vibraphonist Joel Ross, bassist Harish Raghavan, and drummer Marcus Gilmore. It’s an album with a …
Makaya McCraven – ‘Universal Beings’ (Album Review)
We’ve been here before, in awe of the drumming, bandleading, and exploration of Makaya McCraven. His last full-length album, In the Moment was a well-curated collection of sounds that emerged …
Jason Palmer – ‘At Wally’s Volume 2’ (Album Review)
When one thinks of music in Boston, “jazz” may not be the first word that comes to mind. This is understandable – the amount of venues where one can frequently …
Aaron Parks Little Big – ‘Aaron Parks Little Big’ (Album Review)
Aaron Parks makes music that tells stories. There’s a narrative quality to his compositions that seem to carry a throughline to some beautiful truth about the universe. It’s hard to …
Kiefer – ‘Happysad’ (Album Review)
The West Coast, and more specifically, the LA-based jazz scene, has had a bit of a resurgence in the past decade. While the Brainfeeder label has dominated the headlines, Kiefer …
Psychic Temple feat. Cherry Glazerr – ‘Houses of the Holy Vol. 1’ (Album Review)
It had been a little while since guitarist/vocalist/producer/bandleader/”cult”leader Chris Schlarb and his rotating group of musicians, the Psychic Temple, released some new work since last year’s folky, genre bending IV. …
Binker and Moses – ‘Alive in the East?’ (Album Review)
Tenor Saxophonist Binker Golding and drummer Moses Boyd are part of the exciting young London jazz scene that has been taking the genre by storm lately with projects by artists …
Now Vs Now – ‘The Buffering Cocoon’ (Album Review)
Keyboardist Jason Lindner is a weirdo. The top of his head is bald but he cuts the back of sides of his hair in crazy parts; he frequently wears a …
Phronesis’ New Album ‘We Are All’ Reviewed
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 …
Big Heart Machine – ‘Self-Titled’ (Album Review)
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 …
Miles Okazaki – ‘Work (Complete, Volumes 1-6)’
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 …
Jesse Fischer – ‘Flipped II’ (Album Review)
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 …
fOUR – ‘X.IT’ (Album Review)
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 – ‘Wires’ (Album Review)
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 …
Basher – ‘100% Humidity’ (Album Review)
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 …
Blacks’ Myths – ‘s/t’
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 …
Justin Brown – ‘NYEUSI’
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 …
Broken Shadows – The North Door – June 20, 2018
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 …
Jungsu Choi Tiny Orkester – ‘Tschuss Jazz Era’
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 …
Brad Mehldau Trio – ‘Seymour Reads the Constitution!’
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 …
Henry Threadgill 14 or 15 Kestra: Agg – ‘Dirt… And More Dirt’
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 …
‘Slim Bone Head Volt, Vol. 2’
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 …
Portico Quartet – ‘Untitled (AITAOA #2)’
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 …
Introducing Zach Rhea
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 …
Soulive – ‘Cinematics Vol. 1’
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 …
Glenn Zaleski – ‘Solo Vol. 1’
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 …
Similar Fashion – ‘Portrait Of’
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 …
Quin Kirchner – ‘The Other Side of Time’
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 …
Immortal Onion – ‘Ocelot of Salvation’
Polish piano-bass-drum trio Immortal Onion are a young group, early twenties. They’ve got mastery of their instruments and they have a sound that’s of their time. That’s how youth invents– …
Jaimie Branch – ‘Fly or Die’
Although Jaimie Branch has been playing music for a while now, having been part of the Chicago jazz scene before her recent move to Brooklyn, Fly or Die is her …
Tomas Fujiwara – ‘Triple Double’ (Album Review)
Tomas Fujiwara has been active for well over a decade now, with his first recorded date as a sideman being on Matana Robert’s The Calling back in 2006. Just a …
Sam Newsome & Jean-Michel Pilc – ‘Magic Circle’ (Album Review)
Jean-Michel Pilc plays the piano as if there were drums present, particularly in times when there isn’t. His left-handed beat is infectious, almost as much as his loquacious right hand. …
Mammal Hands – ‘Shadow Work’ (Album Review)
For some reason, there is a special place in my heart for European jazz music, a breed of its own often misrepresented in North American circles. Even here at Nextbop, …
(U)nity – ‘(U)nity is Power’ (Album Review)
The band (U)nity, co-lead by pianist Axel Laugart and percussionist Amaury Acosta, are legit and have been for a minute now, but with the release of their first proper album, …
Matt Mitchell – ‘A Pouting Grimace’
On A Pouting Grimace (Pi Recordings), Matt Mitchell’s fifth outing as a leader, the pianist has created, along with producer David Torn, an otherworldly musical ecosystem through a uniquely orchestrated …
Gerald Clayton – ‘Tributary Tales’ (Album Review)
After a four year wait, fans will be pleased to hear that Tributary Tales, while surely taking a page out of the same book as its preceding album, A Life …
Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet’s ‘Jersey’ Album Review
🍞 Home / Jazz Music Artists / Jazz Drummers / Mark Guiliana / Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet’s ‘Jersey’ Album Review People fawn over Mark Guiliana. They should– he’s a spectacular …
Cecile McLorin Salvant – ‘Dreams and Daggers: Live at The Village Vanguard’ (Album Review)
With the release of her last album For One To Love, Cecile McLorin Salvant put the focus on her pen, with almost half of the tracks being original compositions. Light, …
Nicole Mitchell and Haki R. Madhubuti – ‘Liberation Narratives’
While jazz and poetry are two artistic media that frequently gravitate around one another (hell, they even share an appreciation month in the United States), there aren’t so many instances …
Aaron Parks – ‘Find the Way’
Aaron Parks has never left us. It’s been a while since he has released a major album as a leader, but he’s been around. Upon his return to the for …
Ambrose Akinmusire – ‘A Rift in Decorum: Live at the Village Vanguard’ (Album Review)
I’m writing this review 39,000 feet in the air, flying back home to Texas after spending the last week meandering through the streets of New York City. The more I …
Psychic Temple – ‘IV’
Over the years, I’ve found myself eagerly devouring each album guitarist/vocalist/bandleader/cult leader Chris Schlarb releases with his group, Psychic Temple. His progressive melding of jazz, folk, and hazy rock has …
Rotem Sivan – ‘Antidote’
It’s hard to find new words to describe the brilliance of guitarist Rotem Sivan. His previous albums, 2015’s A New Dance and 2014’s For Emotional Use Only, highlighted his shining …
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah – ‘Centennial Trilogy: Diaspora’
Diaspora, the second album of trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah’s Centennial Trilogy of albums he’s releasing this year, is softer than its predecessor, Ruler Rebel. It’s warmer, more somber, more …
Brandon Seabrook’s ‘Die Trommel Fatale’
If you ever want to get thrown for a loop, make something large and then take something away, some ingredient that adds a little bit of flash and go without …
Diego Barber – ‘One Minute Later’
In the credits of his new album, One Minute Later, out now on Sunnyside, Diego Barber as listed as playing the classical guitar. Based on this album, this seems true …
Dave Chisholm – ‘Instrumental’
Dave Chisholm is multi-talented. He’s a deft trumpeter and composer– expressive, expansive, illustrative with an idea of direction and arch. He is also a graphic artist with a good sense …
Kurt Rosenwinkel – ‘Caipi’
Few things can put a smile on your face this year quite like Kurt Rosenwinkel’s latest Brazilian-influenced album, Caipi, out now on Sunnyside. The man has been an inspiration to …
Arthur Hnatek – ‘Lualuna Tai – With DKSJ’
An album like Lualuna Tai, the four song EP composed by drummer Arthur Hnatek (who has backed the likes of Tigran Hamasyan, Erik Truffaz, and Dhafer Youssef) and performed with …
Anne Mette-Iversen – ‘Round Trip’
Bassist Anne Mette-Iversen’s new quintet album, Round Trip, is described as a set of tunes designed “to return to the starting point via a different road”, and the tunes on …
Phronesis, Julian Arguelles, & the Frankfurt Radio Big Band – ‘The Behemoth’ (Album Review)
The secret of any great piano-bass-drums trio is creating a massive sound from the three elements. These three instruments hold great potential, for soft elegies or bonkers jaunts. Get the …
Taylor Haskins – ‘Gnosis’
Gnosis sounds like the future. Of course, this will sound like an odd statement when time passes and fashions change — when synthesizers phase back out of style, only to …
Matthew Stevens – ‘Preverbal’
What is the actual difference between adventurous, guitar-based contemporary jazz music and instrumental post-rock? Depending on the day, I can get down just as much to Explosions in the Sky …
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah – ‘Ruler Rebel’
Since time perpetually moves forward, all movement is technically forward movement. Everything is a form of progression. Experience gives texture to signature, though the elements of signature — those attributes …
Miles Okazaki – ‘Trickster’
Miles Okazaki’s compositions sound like he’s creating an elaborate portrait from mosaic, octagon-shaped tiles. His style of play is dense, weaving around in his phrases with so many loops and …
Daniel Herskedal – ‘The Roc’
For those unfamiliar with his work, Daniel Herskedal is a Norwegian jazz musician regarded as one of the most talented jazz tubaists on the scene today. I know what you …
Thundercat – ‘Drunk’
Early on his latest album, Drunk, on the song “Bus in These Streets” (written alongside Louis Cole), bassist/singer/personality Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner notes that he’s “out here doing the most”. Thundercat’s …
Extended – ‘s/t’
A piano trio, a good one, can come from anywhere. The cleverness, the connecting, the perfect sense of anchoring, the snappiness that makes the piano-bass-drums trio such a classic sound …
Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau (Album Review)
Mandolinist Chris Thile and pianist Brad Mehldau have been playing together for a little while now. I got to see them play together in Austin back in 2013 and was …
KADAWA – ‘s/t’
KADAWA — the trio of guitarist Tal Yahalom, bassist Almog Sharvit, and drummer Ben Silashi — are a very good guitar trio, like jarringly good. They describe themselves as an …
Matt Mayhall – ‘Tropes’
Tropes is an easy ride of an album. It hums along as shifting mood pieces. Drummer/composer Matt Mayhall in his debut release has made a particularly chill album that isn’t …
Aleif Hamdan – ‘Emblem’
Youthfulness is pretty easily recognizable in work. Sometimes it comes through in a roughness. Sometimes, it comes through in an antsiness, as if the boundless energy that comes with youth …
Cameron Mizell – ‘Negative Spaces’
One can hear a lot of different influences in guitarist Cameron Mizell‘s Negative Spaces. He can ride along with gentle curves like John Scofield, he can smartly noodle like Bill …
George Burton – ‘The Truth of What I Am > The Narcissist’
George Burton represents what many of Jazz’s most exciting figures hoped the genre would become: precarious, dynamic, revolutionary…unable to be contained. Few personify this aesthetic better than Charles Mingus. Not …
Derrick Hodge – ‘The Second’
Derrick Hodge lives in a world that most modern jazz musicians can only dream to be a part of. A world where he can afford to take creative risks and …
Steve Lehman – ‘Selebeyone’
Sélébeyoné, released two months ago under Pi recordings, does two things really well: it is a better hip-hop album than most of the jazz-centric rap releases and it’s an excellent …
Ben Wendel – ‘What We Bring’
If there’s something to Ben Wendel’s signature sound on the tenor saxophone, it has to be one of a circuitous nature. His style of play always seems to loop back …