Articles by Jack Bowers
Gregory Groover Jr.: Old Knew
by Jack Bowers
Even though he has surely heard this more than a few times, Gregory Groover is a pretty hip name for a jazz saxophonist. Not so much for the pastor of Boston's Charles Street AME Church, the position held by the Groover for whom he is named, Gregory Sr., who no doubt grooves in his own way. Gregory Jr. plays high-energy tenor on Old Knew, the second recording under his name, wherein he leads a sturdy quintet through its paces on ...
Continue ReadingRafael Enciso: Crossfade
by Jack Bowers
On Crossfade, his debut recording as leader, bassist Rafael Enciso wrests as much rhythmic and harmonic mileage as possible from what is basically a quartet date, using tenor saxphonist Dayna Stephens to add color and depth to one of his ten original compositions, organist Jahari Stampley to amplify two others. Elsewhere, Enciso and his companions paint with broad musical strokes, breathing life into his impressions of a “Waterfall," “Solstice," “Skipping Stones" and “Whirlpool," the last showcasing Enciso's resonant ...
Continue ReadingWanees Zarour: Silwan
by Jack Bowers
There are times when not knowing what to expect can be helpful. Wanees Zarour, a Palestinian-American artist who now calls Chicago home, plays the buzuq and oud, stringed instruments from the Middle East, and couples them on Silwan with his skills as a composer to produce melodic and colorful images of his homeland interspersed with contemporary jazz. As Zarour observes on the inner jacket, “This album is about places, built with stones older than the stories written to erase them." ...
Continue ReadingJohn Clay: About Time
by Jack Bowers
New York-based drummer John Clay's latest album is appropriately titled About Time. For a drummer, of course, every phrase, every measure, every game plan is in essence about time, and Clay keeps exemplary time on each of the album's 10 numbers, as do the other members of his splendid quintet. Clay pilots a burnished rhythm section whose building blocks include pianist Enrique Haneine and bassist Sean Conly. Together, they lend staunch support to the ensemble's front-liners, trumpeter Shunzo ...
Continue ReadingNoah Garabedian: Quartets and Solos
by Jack Bowers
If ever an album were in need of liner notes--or at least some further clarification--it is this one, Quartets and Solos, by New York-based bassist Noah Garabedian's quartet; or quintet, if one includes album producer Samuel Adams' special effects and programming. The playlist consists of 13 songs. According to a press release, they alternate “between eight conceptually stand-alone quartet compositions...and sharply focused solo features written specifically for each musician (including Adams)." There are two such showcases for every ...
Continue ReadingDomo Branch: Hand of Gifts
by Jack Bowers
Even though Oregon-bred Domo Branch is traversing an enviable path as a drummer and composer, he hasn't forgotten how he got where he is and those to whose wisdom and guidance he owes a large measure of his success. On Hand of Gifts, his second recording as leader of his own group, Branch salutes his high school band director, Thara Memory, not only by performing one of his compositions, “Our Man Bogle," but by writing one of his own, “A ...
Continue ReadingThe Flying Horse Big Band: Unbridled
by Jack Bowers
On Unbridled, its ninth album to date, central Florida's admirable Flying Horse Big Band “meets veteran tenor saxophonist George Garzone" on four of seven numbers, starting with John Coltrane's exemplary jazz standard, “Giant Steps," arranged by the band's music director, Jeff Rupert. Garzone is showcased again on Michael Philip Mossman's handsome arrangement of Rupert's seductive “Pharaoh's Daughter," Lalo Schifrin's genial “Reflections" (neatly scored by Mark Taylor) and Slide Hampton's clever arrangement (borrowing phrases from “Giant Steps") of Coltrane's ...
Continue ReadingJack Bowers' Best Jazz Albums Of 2025
by Jack Bowers
2025: Another year which proves that jazz is not only alive and well but flourishing in its own little corner of the musical world. The number of splendid new recordings by groups large and small was as plentiful as ever and, even better, spanned the globe from the U.S. to Europe, Asia to Latin America, and Africa to Australia. It was a privilege to hear and review fresh performances of contemporary jazz from big bands old and new including Pete ...
Continue ReadingWanees Zarour: Silwan
by Jack Bowers
There are times when not knowing what to expect can be helpful. Wanees Zarour, a Palestinian American artist who now calls Chicago home, plays the buzuq and oud, stringed instruments from the Middle East, and couples them on Silwan with his skills as a composer to produce melodic and colorful images of his homeland interspersed with contemporary jazz. As Zarour observes on the inner jacket, “This album is about places, built with stones older than the stories written to erase ...
Continue ReadingTed Unseth and the Americana Classic Jazz Orchestra: 20th Anniversary Concerts
by Jack Bowers
The 20th Anniversary Concerts performed by Ted Unseth's Americana Classic Jazz Orchestra were recorded in 1993, when the orchestra's guest artist, alto saxophonist Benny Waters, was a spry 91 years old. And for those who would like to see as well as hear Waters and the orchestra, the audio CD is accompanied by a briefer video that encompasses eight numbers from the concerts, which were held at Bandana Square in St. Paul, Minnesota. The “classic jazz" played by ...
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