Articles by Dean Nardi
Mary Halvorson: About the Ghosts in the Guitar
by Dean Nardi
No, guitarheads, recently Mary Halvorson has been inspired to put out records with her Amaryllis sextet more so than some jaggedy, lyrical shredding, but these are pretty darn good jazz records from a tight ensemble consisting of Adam O'Farrill (trumpet), Jacob Garchik (trombone), Patricia Brennan (vibraphone) and a rhythm section of Nick Dunston (bass) and Tomas Fujiwara (drums). Saxophonists Immanuel Wilkins (alto) and Brian Settles (tenor) join the aforementioned party of six on half the tracks of Halvorson's About Ghosts album, ...
Continue ReadingSivan Arbel: Oneness is the Hopefullest Number
by Dean Nardi
Israeli vocalist and songwriter Sivan Arbel has a unique composition technique, which she calls “squeezing the sponge." It involves absorbing diverse influences and transforming them into her own original and eclectic musical language. Driven by a desire to bring healing and connection through her music, Arbel's December 2024 release on Adhyâropa Records, Oneness, recorded at Kaleidoscope Sound in New Jersey, brings together the diverse elements of Moroccan grooves, Brazilian sounds, classical Indian music and her Israeli Middle Eastern roots. The ...
Continue ReadingShuteen Erdenebaatar & Nils Kugelmann: Quiet Excitement for the Unknown
by Dean Nardi
Under The Same Stars (Motéma Music, 2025) is the second in a trilogy from pianist Shuteen Erdenebaatar, taking inspiration from sun, moon and stars mythology of her Mongolian homeland. The album follows her 2023 quartet debut Rising Sun (also on Motéma) to evoke the vitality, positivity and optimism--a fitting choice for the album's bright sonic landscape. Stars-- representing hope, dreams and destiny-- inspired this duo recording with the German contra-alto clarinet and bassist, Nils Kugelmann. The mystery and emotional depth of the moon ...
Continue ReadingDean Nardi's Best Jazz Albums Of 2025
by Dean Nardi
The End-of-the-Year lists are upon us once again, and there were some special albums that spun in just-walking-the-dog heavy rotation. Specifically, when plugged into a trusty Walkman, it is the noise-dampening aspect of earphones that aids listening to and evaluating whether a particular album is worth inclusion, because in December you cannot escape the tired and true sounds of holiday/Christmas music with pitched voices playing over and over again until you want to mash a unappetizing festive fruitcake into your ...
Continue ReadingTessa Souter: Singing Her Way to Happiness
by Dean Nardi
The English/Trinidadian artist is a bona fide treasure--consummate stage presence, captivating singer, accomplished songwriter. Arriving in New York via San Francisco in 1997, Souter won a scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music in 1999 but left after one semester to study privately with Mark Murphy, who mentored her for four years in return for booking his workshops, and who remained a lifelong friend. “As a full-time features journalist for the international press, it was very hard to fit in ...
Continue ReadingLara Somogyi: Finding Her Muse in the Desert
by Dean Nardi
When one is making a pilgrimage to Joshua Tree in California--even by Zoom call--you must be careful about protecting your eyes from the blinding sunlight and keep your cap on to cover your brain. Listening to the music of Lara Somogyi from her album désert (Mercury KX 2025), one's brain is constantly heated by thoughts of striking it rich musically, thoughts that do not fade much with the late afternoon sun going down over the horizon. You may need some ...
Continue ReadingDave Anderson: Plays with Gusto
by Dean Nardi
Gusto! Vigorous and enthusiastic. Implies doing something with great spirit and energy. From the Spanish, gusto indicates taste, pleasure or liking, and that, friends, wraps and puts a bow around what you hear from New York-based soprano and tenor saxophonist Dave Anderson on his uplifting In Lieu of Flowers album (Label1, 2025). Anderson needed no warmup for the record, launching immediately into “Outer Circle," displaying the tight harmonic camaraderie between the leader and the rest of the quartet. ...
Continue ReadingGustavo Cortiñas Inspires Unity and Empathy Through Music
by Dean Nardi
The renowned French writer Victor Hugo once wrote that “music is noise that thinks." Hugo was highlighting the profound and intellectual nature of music, suggesting that while it may seem like disorganized sound ("noise"), it carries deep meaning and expresses complex ideas and emotions that can only be conveyed through this medium. Hugo also wrote of music which expresses what cannot remain silent. And on that note, we come to the project of Chicago-based drummer and composer Gustavo ...
Continue ReadingShuffle Demons: They Are for Real... Really
by Dean Nardi
On the Shuffle Demons' Are You Really Real (Alma Records 2025), the uncategorizable Toronto band knits together traditional jazz, modern funk playfulness, blues, rap and the sensuality of Prince. For an ensemble that has been a going concern for 40 years, they maintain an optimistic, let's-go-for-something-new outlook, reflected in their flamboyant retro clothing that resembles that worn by harmonizing quartets with 1950s haircuts, looking so sharp they could pierce the heart of a bureaucrat. Born out of busking on Toronto's ...
Continue ReadingTropos: Outer Space Chamber Music
by Dean Nardi
Upon first listen to Switches (Endectomorph, 2024), the remarkable album from the group Tropos, one could imagine being caught in the traffic circle at the Arc de Triomphe. The clarinet blares, the violin evokes the squeal of rubber, the drums maintain the churning sound of the motors, while the piano searches for a safe exit. Is it madness or a loosely choreographed palette of sounds? Towards the end of the record, you listen to the beautiful violin and horn duet ...
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