Album Review
Atlantis Quartet: Live at Berlin
by Kyle Simpler
Since arriving on the scene in 2006, the Minneapolis-based Atlantis Quartet has established itself as a vital voice in modern jazz. With five albums already under their belt, the group continues to honor tradition while exploring new sonic territory. Live at Berlin captures their remarkable group chemistry during an engagement at the city's newest jazz venue, Berlin. Atlantis Quartet features four of Minnesota's most exciting jazz musicians: saxophonist Brandon Wozniak, guitarist Zacc Harris, bassist Chris Bates and drummer ...
Continue ReadingJohn O'Gallagher: Ancestral
by Dan McClenaghan
Saxophonist John O'Gallagher keeps moving east in his search for musical expression. Born in Anaheim, California, before relocating to New York City and living there for thirty years, he finds himself (in 2025) in Lisbon, Portugal. He boasts a played with/recorded with resume to knock the proverbial socks off (Joe Henderson, Tony Malaby, Maria Schneider, Kenny Wheeler, and more). He also dived John Coltrane's late period explorations--Interstellar Space (Impulse!, 1974) and Stellar Regions (Impulse Records, 1967), From this Coltrane-ian immersion, ...
Continue ReadingJan Bang - Arve Henriksen: After The Wildfire
by John Eyles
Jan Bang is a musician, composer and record producer who was born in August 1968, in Denver, Colorado, but grew up in Kristiansand, Norway. Arve Henriksen is a trumpeter, vocalist and composer who was born in March 1968, in Stranda, Norway. For the 42nd Skopje Jazz Festival in 2023, Bang and Henriksen were commissioned to work together on new music. The result was After the Wildfire. It was first performed at the Festival with Bang on live sampling and electronics, ...
Continue ReadingCarlos Garnett: Cosmos Nucleus
by Pierre Giroux
When Cosmos Nucleus first appeared in 1976 on Muse Records, it was the kind of album that seemed to evoke various idioms. It was a bold statement that drew strength from jazz's spiritual core while speaking in the electrified dialect of funk and fusion. Tenor saxophonist Carlos Garnett, a Panamanian-born firebrand who had sharpened his skills alongside Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, and Art Blakey, conceived this project as both a personal revelation and a cosmic exploration. Nearly fifty years later, ...
Continue ReadingMartin Nodeland: Tributaries
by Konstantin N. Rega
Martin Nodeland is coming into his own with smooth compositions drawing on contemporaries as well as self-exploration on Tributaries. The Norwegian guitarist crafts a tightly woven sound that keeps the album together without succumbing to lethargy. Joined by Will Vinson on alto sax, pianist Martin Sandvik Gjerde, bassist Alexander Hoholm, Raymond Lavik on drums and tenor saxophonist Erlend Vangen Kongtorp, Nodeland makes collaboration look easy. The release features eight originals with some catchy melodies luring the listener in here and ...
Continue ReadingPat Thomas: HIKMAH
by Mark Corroto
Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery--except, perhaps, when pianist Pat Thomas takes on the music of jazz legends. In those cases, what emerges is not imitation at all, but transformation. On albums such as Plays the Music of Derek Bailey & Thelonious Monk (FMR, 2008) and Pat Thomas Plays The Duke (New Jazz and Improvised Music Recordings, 2022), Thomas engages directly with the work of others, yet always sounds entirely like himself. He is, in every sense, the ...
Continue ReadingWDR Big Band featuring John Goldsby and Bob Mintzer: Big Band Bass
by Artur Moral
What better way to bid farewell to a long, fruitful relationship than with a mutual gift? That is the decision John Goldsby and the extraordinary WDR Big Band made after 30 years of intense collaboration. Extended partnerships are perhaps not too frequent in today's jazz landscape, even in the more conducive orchestral realm: well-known are the lengthy associations, uninterrupted and almost exclusive, of Harry Carney with Duke Ellington And His Orchestra (over 46 years!) or Freddie Green with the Count ...
Continue ReadingLisa Hilton: Extended Daydream
by Neil Duggan
Lisa Hilton's success story continues with her 31st release, Extended Daydream. Her considerable body of work makes frequent chart appearances and measures streams in millions. She appears in various group formats, but on this occasion, the focus is on her quintet. That quintet is based around her longtime trio with bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Rudy Royston, augmented with the return of tenor saxophonist JD Allen, who has appeared on eight of Hilton's previous albums, along with another ...
Continue ReadingJimi Hendrix: Bold As Love ( 4CD + Blu-ray)
by Doug Collette
Recent history suggests the Jimi Hendrix estate would seem to be approaching the iconic guitarist's three original studio albums in reverse order. Electric Ladyland (Reprise, 1968) was issued in suitably extravagant form in 2018, fifty years after its original release. Now, Bold As Love (Reprise, 1967), simultaneously follows and predates the previous entry in the man's oeuvre, perhaps as means to suitably memorialize the 1967 debut in coming months. Four CDs (or five LPs) plus Blu-ray constitute a ...
Continue ReadingDexter Gordon: More Than You Know (1981)
by Neil Duggan
More Than You Know is a previously unreleased live recording by jazz legend Dexter Gordon. It is the first in the GleAM Records series dedicated to the giants of jazz. The recording features saxophonist Gordon performing with his early 1980s quartet: Kirk Lightsey on piano, David Eubanks on bass and Eddie Gladden on drums. Dating from July 1981, it was recorded at the Villa Imperiale, Genoa, Italy and has the full backing of Gordon's estate. Having played with ...
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