Articles by Geno Thackara
Geno Thackara's Favorites of 2025
by Geno Thackara
To look at the commentary on the year's big stars and famous releases, one would almost think 2025 had been a lackluster year in music. Lucky for us that the jazz world is constantly full of things much more interesting. Fergus McCreadie The Shieling Edition Records The breakout trio only continues breaking out in ways fresh and unexpected. While the folk-rooted bounce in their step is always there, this outing adds a more ...
Continue ReadingKonrad Ciesielski: Koniec
by Geno Thackara
Konrad Ciesielski looks like a man of contradictions: an extreme-metal drummer who also plays some Southern stoner rock on the side, loud and powerful yet fluidly graceful, finally making a solo debut and titling it Koniec (The End). In a somewhat sideways step from his past history, this is a sweeping musical panorama that feels downright vast in scale. Yet by the end of this virtual movie-for-the-ears, all those things do not even feel like contradictions. The picture is simply ...
Continue ReadingTorben Westergaard: Feliz Navidad
by Geno Thackara
Beyond the usual holiday songs played to death all the time, and the endless gimmicky covers of same, it's too easy to forget the spirit of goodwill intended to be at the center of the season. Trust Torben Westergaard to (thankfully) throw away the tinsel and let that simple sentiment speak for itself... maybe with a dash of Brazilian sunshine to make the good wishes that bit more cheerful. ...
Continue ReadingBeauty in Loss
by Geno Thackara
Saying goodbye to loved ones is never easy, but putting it into art helps in a way nothing else does and often leads to something beautiful. Even between two very different musicians and very different sounds, there is a recognizable emotional thread that stays the same from Moldova to midwest America. Brian EatonLike a Root Out of Dry Ground Eatin' Records 2025 As the old philosophical saying goes, you can never step into ...
Continue ReadingSeamus O'Muinechain's Worlds of Sound
by Geno Thackara
We all know how the world is, unfortunately, full of people who talk endlessly while saying nothing. More rare and refreshing are the opposite kind, who can speak very little and yet still say a whole lot with a few words. With an evocative sound somewhere between folky and quasi-ambient, pianist Seamus O'Muineachain is like the unassuming dinner guest who never needs to clamor to be heard, but can chip in a keen insight when a little space opens up. ...
Continue ReadingScary Pockets & Frankfurt Radio Big Band: Sweet Child O' Mine
by Geno Thackara
Take a quirky group that specializes in cleverly funkified pop and rock covers with a rotation of top-shelf guest stars. On top of the novelty and fun factor, what's a nice way to elevate the recipe another step? Sharing the live experience with a big brassy band may be their best answer to date. ...
Continue ReadingTheo Travis: The Relegation of Pluto
by Geno Thackara
If Theo Travis's Double Talk has a particular strong suit, it's quadruple talk. They excel at moody atmospheres (see the odd guest appearance by Robert Fripp), but are just as happy to roll through a flat-out fusion jam--the kind that even makes it worth putting up with some mid-aughts video quality. ...
Continue ReadingFergus McCreadie: The Shieling
by Geno Thackara
Music themed around landscapes and natural beauty is common enough, but it is much more rare for the sheer wildness of nature to come through as much as it does for the Fergus McCreadie Trio. His evolving niche of folk-jazz seems to lean a bit more toward the folky side of that equation with every outing--hearing these hands caper across the piano keys is like watching a wide-screen film camera sweeping across a rugged stretch of hills splashed in sunlight. ...
Continue ReadingPat Metheny & Brad Mehldau: Summer Day
by Geno Thackara
"Summer" is a frequent shorthand for “loud and bright," but the span of the day can include a whole lot of tones more subtle and colorful. This is the scene Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau paint on this highlight of their mostly-duo debut recording (Nonesuch Records, 2006), weaving a broad palette of tones like a sky changing colors at sunset. ...
Continue ReadingBack Door: Vienna Breakdown: The Recordings 1971-1976
by Geno Thackara
It was a whole different world back then, me lad. A person could not simply plug in a couple gizmos and record an album in their bedroom--well, not a very good-sounding one at any rate. It was fairly rare for an early-'70s combo to wing it on their own (or at least with a friendly venue owner's help) without company or label support. Those who know the name Back Door, though, know that their whole career was practically built on ...
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