Butcher Brown – ‘Virginia Noir’
It’s no secret that Butcher Brown gets love around here. The relative quiet around the release of their new album Virginia Noir needs to be remedied, since this might well …
Reviews
Festival International de Jazz de Montreal 2016: The Ever Beautiful Aaron Parks Trio
Aaron Parks is an altogether beautiful person, as if his aura just colors whatever he touches, particularly pianos. Billy Hart is a legend and a giant and gets to do …
Festival International de Jazz de Montreal 2016: Erik Truffaz is Kind of a Big Deal
Erik Truffaz is 56 years old. He plays the trumpet. He’s on Blue Note… France. He’s not hyped in the United States much. I only knew of him from copping …
Festival International de Jazz de Montreal 2016: Nir Felder Has Some New Stuff
I learned long ago from my mother that if you can help it, don’t work on your birthday. There are some who don’t exactly hold that sentiment. Bassist Orlando le …
Festival International de Jazz de Montreal 2016: Bilal, the Sexy Survey Course
Bilal brings it, but he always had. His Wednesday, July 6th set at Club Soda as part of the Montreal International Jazz Festival didn’t have the Patti Labelle-esque rolling on …
Gregoire Maret – ‘Wanted’
Taking the lead on harmonica is tricky. The instrument is prone to a chirpiness that doesn’t typically sustain for a whole album. However in the right hands (and with the …
Jaimeo Brown Transcendence – ‘Work Songs’
Most modern producers/songwriters seek to highlight the triumphs of American culture; Jaimeo Brown Transcendence’s Work Songs invokes the way music was influenced under the most dire of circumstances. The follow …
Warren Wolf – ‘Convergence’
For years, I have known a certain truth– don’t sleep on Warren Wolf. the master vibraphonist has snuck up on me one too many times on releases of his own. …
Psychic Temple ‘Plays Music for Airports’
Brian Eno’s 1978 album Ambient 1: Music for Airports is Capital “I” Important. It’s a landmark album for what was at the time a fledgling genre, ambient. It’s an album …
Bobby Avey – ‘Inhuman Wilderness’
Okay, let’s just be real. I have to ask. Is Bobby Avey tone-deaf? Is the young pianist, praised in certain jazz circles as an innovator and a sharp voice, just …
Psychic Temple – ‘III’
I was worried a couple years ago when Chris Schlarb, the band/cult-leader of the Psychic Temple, told me he was going in a more folk/pop direction in the next album. …
Esperanza Spalding – ‘Emily’s D+Evolution’ (Album Review)
On Emily’s D+Evolution (pronounced “D-plus-evolution”), Esperanza Spalding is a badass black punk rock frontwoman making her jazz musicianship work for her in a way that it didn’t on her last …
Julian Lage Trio – ‘Arclight’
In a conversation between Dave Douglas and Marc Ribot on the “A Noise From the Deep” podcast, Ribot explained the difference between jazz and rock artists: jazz artists always give …
Logan Richardson – ‘Shift’
It would be reductionist to call Shift a Pat Metheny album. Yes, his signaturely chameleonic guitar is one of the most pronounced sounds all throughout saxophonist Logan Richardson’s latest album, …
Ben Monder – ‘Amorphae’
Ben Monder’s Amorphae is an ECM release. It’s contemplative, expansive, tumultuously beautiful and beautifully tumultuous. It sounds positively gorgeous. It’s sparse in ways that never leave the listener wanting more …
Spocket – ‘Spocket’
Spocket’s self-titled and first release represents the best in funk rock coming from the younger side of the Chicago jazz scene. It manages to be clean and slick without being …
David Bowie – ‘Blackstar’ (Album Review)
David Bowie gave us one last masterpiece: ★ (pronounced “Blackstar”). And true to form, it leaves us with more questions than answers. I began writing this review before Davie Bowie …
H. Jon Benjamin Made A Very Quick Joke, and Middling Satire
Comedian H. Jon Benjamin is releasing a jazz album this week on Sub Pop Records. The album features Scott Kreitzer on saxophone, David Finck on bass, Jonathan Peretz on drums, …
Appropriate Nerdery: BADBADNOTGOOD at Fun Fun Fun Fest X
Their day began at 3am. The day before, BADBADNOTGOOD, the quartet of keyboardist Matty Tavares, bassist Chester Hansen, drummer Alex Sowinski, and tenor saxophonist Leland Whitty, had been rehearsing in …
Threadgill, Iyer, and Prieto Conjure Up a Storm at The Jazz Gallery
The most powerful storm I’ve ever seen was at the Big Bend National Park in the isolated elbow of Texas. A tremendous set of clouds marched toward our site in …
Mary Halvorson – ‘Meltframe’
“Glitchy” is probably the best word for the latest release from Mary Halvorson, a solo guitar album she titled Meltframe. This is not to say there’s something wrong with the …
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah – ‘Stretch Music (Introducing Elena Pinderhughes)’
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah plays three different horns on his new album, Stretch Music (Introducing Elena Pinderhughes)— the siren, the sirenette, and the reverse flugelhorn. They’re horns by his own …
Quantic presents The Western Transient – ‘A New Constellation’
One can never tell what Will Holland will do next. The producer for the last fifteen years has never ceased to amaze with the music he has made that seems …
ARK – ‘s/t’
It’s pretty amazing how such an unassuming piano trio album works so well. In their self-titled album from earlier this year, the trio known as ARK of pianist Carlos Homs, …
Future Prospect – ‘s/t EP’
There exists a certain pocket of jazz — somewhere in that R&B, funky ether, if you hit smooth jazz, you’ve gone too far — where great things can happen. In …
Nick Finzer – ‘The Chase’
Trombonist Nick Finzer’s second album as a leader is a straight-ahead jazz album with some punch to it. It’s a pleasure to hear these original compositions exhibit the traits of …
Savoy In Color – ‘Hear Today Then: Live at Zeb’s’
The big band format can be a hard sell. It’s a large machine and the moving parts frequently don’t have a lot of room. Very often, as a reviewer, I …
Benjamin Clementine – ‘At Least For Now’
It seems everyone wants to tell and talk about Benjamin Clementine‘s life story. However, no one does so better than Clementine himself on At Least For Now; so, let’s leave …
GADADU – ‘And I See Night’
Frailty can be deceptive. Something’s perceived weakness could in fact wield some hidden strength, forged from withstanding the elements. Like an insect’s exoskeleton, eggshells, or a Brooklyn-based jazz quintet, sometimes …
Ron Carter Quartet at the Montreal International Jazz Festival
The Ron Carter Quartet took the stage on Saturday, July 4 (the penultimate night of the 2015 Montreal International Jazz Festival) at the historic Monument-National, Quebec’s oldest operating theater. Carter …
Uri Caine at the Montreal Jazz Festival
Solo concerts are some of the most difficult and revealing situations for musicians, but they can also be the most rewarding and profound for both the performer and the audience. …
Eliane Elias at the Montreal Jazz Festival
Eliane Elias enjoys a reputation as a musician who can swing as convincingly as she can samba, and she did not disappoint the crowd who filled the Monument National at …
Dave Douglas’ High Risk at the Montreal International Jazz Festival
Prolific trumpeter and composer Dave Douglas was the proud father introducing his brand new baby to Montreal jazz festival fans at le club l’Astral Tuesday, June 30. His new venture, …
Snarky Puppy at the Montreal Jazz Festival
It’s hard to believe June 30th, 2015 was Snarky Puppy’s first time performing at the Montreal Jazz Festival; they filled the 2300-capacity Métropolis Theatre like a veteran act. That’s not …
Guitar Night at the Montreal International Jazz Festival
On Monday, June 29, 2015 at the 36th edition of the Montreal International Jazz Festival, I went to hear two quartets led by two of the most influential guitarists of …
‘The Bad Plus Joshua Redman’ + Kneebody at the Montreal International Jazz Festival
The collaboration between Joshua Redman (sax), Reid Anderson (bass), Ethan Iverson (piano), and David King (drums) is one of the most musically successful enterprises in recent memory. The band has …
Montreal Jazz Festival: Christian Scott at Upstairs
The crowd was already riled up by the time Christian Scott and his sextet stepped onto the stage of a packed Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill on June 28th for …
Henry Threadgill – ‘In for a Penny, In for a Pound’
On Henry Threadgill’s latest record In For A Penny, In For A Pound, the saxophonist/flautist/composer and his longstanding band, Zooid, merge the ethos and improvisation of jazz with the compositional …
Chris Dingman – ‘The Subliminal and the Sublime’
“The Subliminal and the Sublime is based on the concept that, under the surface of our apparent reality, there are subliminal layers of patterns, detail and depth. When we look …
Juan Dhas – ‘Embracing Clarity’
On his debut solo album Embracing Clarity, 21-year-old Dubai-born guitarist Juan Dhas displays a musical sensibility well beyond his years. The album consists of seven original compositions that flow, flutter, …
‘The Bad Plus Joshua Redman’ Equals Awesome
I was a bit skeptical upon first hearing of The Bad Plus Joshua Redman (Nonesuch). BP members Reid Anderson (bass), Ethan Iverson (piano), and Dave King (drums) have asserted in …
Ethan Iverson & Ron Carter Return to NYC’s Mezzrow
It was no surprise that Ethan Iverson and Ron Carter’s performance last Thursday was sold out: a partnership between one of the most innovative and contemporary pianists in jazz and …
Steve Coleman and the Council of Balance – ‘Synovial Joints’
Steve Coleman has always been a musician who could find the rhythm in anything. His compositions would seem to indicate his soul is a metronome. Steve Coleman’s work has always …
Kyle Nasser – ‘Restive Soul’
Saxophonist Kyle Nasser recently released a more than serviceable album alongside Jeff Miles on guitar, Dov Manski on piano, Chris Van Voorst on bass, and Devin Drobka on drums that …
Javi Santiago’s ‘The Year of the Horse’ EP
Pianist Javi Santiago is a graduate of the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and a product of the prestigious Brubeck Institute Fellowship Program. The young musician recently released …
Meditations on SXSW 2015
A collection of disparate thoughts from 2015’s South By SouthWest Music Festival in Austin, Texas ContentsPreludeOn the Day Of…On Bicycle InfrastructureEnding the BoycottBADBADNOTGOOD’s PocketThe Resources You Never Think OfArt and …
Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet – ‘Intents and Purposes’
Music is wide and music is expansive. It has pockets and nooks and crannies where some of us may never trod. We face it with open ears but there’s just …
Juan Pastor – ‘Chinchano’ (Album Review)
I heard a lot about Juan Pastor before I got a chance to finally hear his music. After listening to Chinchano, I can totally understand why he’s a favorite to …
Daniel Freedman’s “All Brothers” and Robert Glasper’s “G&B”
This time around I’ll look at a few different versions of some contemporary tunes, rather than older tunes. The first tune I’ll look at is Daniel Freedman’s “All Brothers,” off …
Franklin Kiermyer – ‘Further’
There are times when I receive some odd, angular, challenging album and find it so off-putting it’s downright unlikeable. I find it to be some sort of problem with jazz– …
For Your Consideration: Thundercat’s ‘Apocalypse’
It’s been two years since bassist Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner released his debut album on Steve “Flying Lotus” Ellison’s indie label Brainfeeder, The Golden Age of Apocalypse. In that time, Thundercat’s …
For Your Consideration: Kurt Rosenwinkel’s ‘Star of Jupiter’
Kurt Rosenwinkel doesn’t raise much of a ruckus. In fact, the last ruckus I remember him raising was a Facebook plea with musicians to stop raising ruckuses and get on …
For Your Consideration: ERIMAJ’s ‘Conflict of a Man’
Houston-native drummer Jamire Williams gets around a lot. He’s part of Christian Scott’s quintet. He’s part of legendary organist Dr. Lonnie Smith’s current trio. He’s head of his own group, …
The Stanley Clarke Band Does Jazz Right at the Carver
Stanley Clarke is able to bring out an interesting cross section of folks. I personally attended the Stanley Clarke Band’s June 2 performance at the Jo Long Theater of San …
For Your Consideration: Esperanza Spalding’s ‘Radio Music Society’
A couple of weeks back I wrote up a capsule review for the San Antonio Current–the prototypical alternative weekly in town –on Esperanza Spalding’s latest record Radio Music Society. You …
For Your Consideration: BADBADNOTGOOD’s ‘BBNG2’
I’ve always had a tendency to try to tether myself to crazy, inspired people. I always have a eye for these sorts of things. That’s the draw of the artisans …
For Your Consideration: Gregory Porter’s ‘Be Good’
With the sudden and astounding success of singer Gregory Porter’s Grammy-nominated debut album, Water, just fifteen months ago, there’s presumable pressure for his follow up, out this month, to do …
The Rick Rosato Quintet
The Rick Rosato Quintet existed on stage for two nights, four sets, from October 22 to October 23, at Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill here in Montreal. Well, that often …