Articles by Max Kutner

Album Review

Slow Tiger: Slow Tiger

Read "Slow Tiger" reviewed by Max Kutner

by Max Kutner
July 21, 2026

Listening to the music of Slow Tiger is akin to an encounter with an enormous, saturated rainbow. Their self-titled debut recording offers a kaleidoscopic palette of sonic color and otherworldly energy that remains endlessly fresh and nuanced. It is handily one of the best releases this year and yet another gem to come from the burgeoning Endectomorph label in NYC. Slow Tiger began as a touring collective in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic. Keyboardist JP Schlegelmilch put a tour together ...

Album Review

James Wengrow: Emissary

by Max Kutner
July 10, 2026

On Emissary, his debut as a bandleader, guitarist and composer James Wengrow unleashes a collection of angular micro-symphonies that inhabit an abstract space while remaining meticulously detailed. Joined by a pair of brilliantly adept and aesthetically flexible musicians in bassist Mathias Højgaard Jensen and drummer James Paul Nadien, Crypsis trio can thoroughly explore, develop and present Wengrow's labyrinthine ideas in a fascinating and complex joyride of a set. The trio thrives on razor-sharp detours and constant pivots without sacrificing continuity. Even at their ...

Live Review

Brooklyn Guitar Festival 2026

by Max Kutner
June 22, 2026

Brooklyn Guitar FesitvalVarious Artists Brooklyn, NY June 12, 2026 Over the weekend of June 12-13th, the very first Brooklyn Guitar Festival took place and featured appearances from some of the most touted players around today. It was presented by Joel Harrison and Alex Skolnick, two tireless advocates for guitar-related events in the greater New York Area and also highly active performers themselves. The first evening of the festival took place at Warsaw in Greenpoint and was less of ...

Live Review

Civil Disobedience at Joe's Pub

by Max Kutner
June 20, 2026

Civil Disobedience Joe's Pub New York, NY June 11, 2026 Civil Disobedience presented a stellar show at Joe's Pub in New York City that covered a uniquely curated set of music taken exclusively from Civil Rights-era recordings on Blue Note Records. Led by bassist, activist, and composer David Ambrosio, the group is a quintet that features an all-star cast of some of the most renowned members of the greater jazz community. The impassioned, attentive dialogue ...

Album Review

Sleeping Beast: Sleeping Beast

Read "Sleeping Beast" reviewed by Max Kutner

by Max Kutner
April 24, 2026

The self-titled debut album from Texas-based trio Sleeping Beast is a fascinating document showcasing an engaging, amorphous dialogue between three patient and well-journeyed improvisors. There is a unique, abstract chemistry between Danny Kamins, Thomas Helton, and Lisa Cameron that never ceases to engage and invent. Each player displays remarkable restraint and intense consideration when deciding what to express. The character of their collective is always evident throughout this session. Houston-based Kamins, here on alto saxophone and contra-alto clarinet, has ...

Live Review

Marquis Hill Family Band at the Village Vanguard

by Max Kutner
March 27, 2026

Marquis Hill Family Band The Village Vanguard New York, NY March 19, 2026 Critically-acclaimed trumpeter and composer Marquis Hill brought his Family Band to the Village Vanguard on March 19th as part of weeklong residency marking Hill's debut as a bandleader. The late set boasted a full hour of five original pieces that bridged hip-hop grooves, hard swing, progressive R&B and more into a dazzling, fully developed spectacle of sound. The ensemble for the occasion ...

Live Review

Meg Okura and Pan-Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble at The Jazz Gallery

by Max Kutner
March 5, 2026

Meg Okura and Pan-Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble The Jazz Gallery New York, NY February 19, 2026 Freewheeling, versatile, and razor sharp, Meg Okura brought her Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble to The Jazz Gallery on Thursday, February 19th in support of both the group's newly released fifth album Isaiah and the 20th anniversary of the group's formation. The entire set--one of two this night--focused exclusively on Okura's originals from Isaiah and culminated with an appearance from special guest ...

Album Review

Seth Andrew Davis & EMAS: Cybersyn: Live From the Stray Cat Film Center

Read "Cybersyn: Live From the Stray Cat Film Center" reviewed by Max Kutner

by Max Kutner
March 4, 2026

Undeniably one of the most active and adventurous figures of the greater Midwest music and arts scene, composer/guitarist/improvisor Seth Andrew Davis has emerged as a force of creative exploration and inquiry. Currently based in Kansas City, MO, Davis has released well over a dozen albums through his imprint, Mother Brain Records (co-founded with fellow Missouri-native, Michael Eaton) and many more. In line with the experimental and improvisation-focused mission of the label, Davis' “Cybersyn: Live at the Stray Cat Film Center" ...

Live Review

Ben Stapp Solo / Frank London Electronics Trio at Loove Labs Annex

by Max Kutner
February 21, 2026

Ben Stapp/Frank London Electronics Trio Loove Labs Annex Brooklyn, NY February 8, 2026 When used as a descriptor for music, the term experimental is often bandied about as a catchall term for anything slightly beyond the scope of a listener's supposed expectations. To experiment requires an open curiosity for any possible outcomes given a uniquely mutable set of conditions decided upon by the artist. In a sense, this can imply that anything deemed experimental ...

Album Review

Billie Davies: 2455 (Music for the Future)

Read "2455 (Music for the Future)" reviewed by Max Kutner

by Max Kutner
February 3, 2026

2455: Music for the Future features the telekinetic duo of drummer/percussionist Billie Davies and trumpeter Branden James Lewis presenting a series of dreamlike improvisations united under Davies' concept of No Boundaries, Music for the 24th Century. Davies' vision and designs allow the music to shape-shift and wander at whim between dub, ambient, free jazz, musique concrète, and more. By allowing for fluid stylistic ambiguity and employing a bevy of processed sounds in their arsenal--extensive synth layering and loops, for example--the ...