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Joe Magnarelli: Decidedly so
by Pierre Giroux
Joe Magnarelli's Decidedly So strongly reaffirms the enduring virtues of straight-ahead jazz, recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's Studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, where these qualities have long been valued. Brought to life in March 2025 before a small but attentive audience, the session benefits from a rare blend of relaxed confidence and deliberate swing that can only come from musicians who know exactly who they are and what they cherish. Joined by trombonist Steve Davis and a top-tier rhythm section ...
Continue ReadingJoe Magnarelli: Concord
by David A. Orthmann
Throughout a career spanning over four decades, much of it spent in the trenches of New York City's notoriously competitive jazz scene, trumpeter/flugelhornist Joe Magnarelli has established a distinct identity within the broad parameters of the bop and hard bop idioms. Concord, Magnarelli's third release for the venerable SteepleChase Productions imprint, arguably his finest work in the studio, contains his virtues in spades. The disc's ten tracks serve as a reminder that, for all these years, he has not been ...
Continue ReadingSam Dillon: My Ideal
by Jack Bowers
Any impartial assessment of My Ideal, Sam Dillon's second album for Cellar Music (following 2018's Out in the Open), should leave no doubt that the New York-born and based tenor saxophonist has definitely hit his stride, punctuating an already strong and persuasive voice on the horn with ample self-confidence and and a bounteous wellspring of innovative concepts and ingenious phrases. In other words, Dillon is the whole package, swinging in the same league as such heralded contemporaries ...
Continue ReadingWycliffe Gordon: What You Dealin' With?
by C. Andrew Hovan
Privy to the entire history of jazz trombone via the technological age in which we live, Wycliffe Gordon seems to have utilized this information in such a way that his own playing displays elements from various periods and a technical competence that is indeed remarkable. “I was most familiar, at first, with guys who played with Louis Armstrong, namely Trummy Young or Kid Ory and later on Jack Teagarden," says Gordon about the early years in his development. “Later I ...
Continue ReadingDida Pelled: A Missing Shade Of Blue
by Dan Bilawsky
In a way, A Missing Shade Of Blue is a throwback to an earlier era, when Grant Green, “Brother" Jack McDuff, Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith, and numerous others were bringing the guitar and organ together to create beautiful music for the people. Yet this record doesn't necessarily fit with the work of those artists. Why, you ask? Well, for one, we live in a different time. But the era isn't necessarily the crux of the matter. The scope of ...
Continue ReadingAdam Shulman Septet: West Meets East
by C. Andrew Hovan
Quiet as it's kept, too many of today's finest jazz artists are given short shrift by an industry that seems to value product of a fleeting nature over true craft and a reverence for the jazz legacy. This makes it particularly challenging for a talent like Adam Shulman to break through to a wider audience. A fixture on the Bay Area scene since 2002, the pianist has a knack for accompanying singers such as Paula West and often performs as ...
Continue ReadingJihee Heo: Are You Ready?
by Paul Rauch
Since arriving in New York from Incheon, South Korea, via studies in Amsterdam, pianist/composer Jihee Heo has made a name for herself through a broad spectrum on the jazz scene in Gotham. Heo's debut album, Passion (Heonah Music, 2015), featured strong compositions and arrangements for large ensemble, with experimental elements sprinkled in the mix. With her new release, Are You Ready? , she breaks down her artistic voice to the piano trio, employing dynamic drummer Rodney Green, and bassist Marty ...
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