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2025 Detroit Jazz Festival: All Free, All Jazz
by Paul Rauch
2025 Detroit Jazz Festival Hart Plaza & Cadillac Square Detroit, MI August 28-September 1, 2025 There is a story Detroit Jazz Festival President and Artistic Director Chris Collins loves to tell about an intimate conversation he had with Gretchen Valade. Valade had rescued the festival from the brink of financial demise with a generous endowment, and wanted to be very clear with Collins about her intent and wishes for the event well into the future. ...
Continue ReadingThe Messthetics with James Brandon Lewis at the Beachland Tavern
by John Chacona
The Messthetics with James Brandon Lewis Beachland Tavern Cleveland, OH September 12, 2025 Cleveland, Ohio can lay a strong claim as one of the three mother cities, along with London and New York City of punk rock and culture (note: it took an act of will not to use the word gritty in that sentence). This should not be controversial. The forces of de-industrialization, disinvestment and alienation--the same ones that now dominate the ...
Continue ReadingLABRATS at Joe Henderson Lab
by Steven Roby
LABRATS Joe Henderson Lab Hotplate Series season opener (early set) San Francisco, CA September 12, 2025 This show hit like a voltage spike to the sternum--disciplined chaos, loud purpose, no hedging. The room was already on edge before a note. Three fans who had driven down from Sacramento staked the front row and swore they had “never seen anything like the drummer." A DJ in the lobby leaned into lo-fi jazz as ...
Continue ReadingAnat Fort: The Dreamworld of Paul Motian
by Kyle Simpler
Other performers inspire every musician to some extent, but for Anat Fort, the influence of drummer Paul Motian altered her approach to performing and thinking about music. Although Motian passed away in 2011, his presence remains a motivating force in Fort's work. With The Dreamworld of Paul Motian, she pays homage not just to the man but to the mystery, lyricism, and true spirit of his music. Motian elevated the role of drumming in modern jazz. ...
Continue ReadingBilly Lester: High Standards
by Richard J Salvucci
This is a very difficult recording to evaluate. If Billy Lester is living in Italy, the Italians are lucky. Someone has to be beyond sophisticated to pull off what Lester has done. He has, in essence, taken the GAS (Great American Songbook) and, with perhaps one exception, has improvised to the chord changes over the tunes. Imaginatively. Very imaginatively. Unfortunately, it really takes a pretty deep knowledge of music theory to appreciate what Lester has done. But if you have ...
Continue ReadingSoft Machine: Floating World Live
by Glenn Astarita
Keyboardist Mike Ratledge's “The Man Who Waved at Trains" emerges as a highlight from Soft Machine's 2025 remastered album Floating World Live, representing a crucial period in the Canterbury legends' evolution during their pivotal era with guitar great Allan Holdsworth . Moreover, Drop (MoonJune, 2025), drawn from a 1971 concert, also receives the remastered treatment for 2025. “The Man Who Waved at Trains" highlights Soft Machine at their most reflective, weaving together Ratledge and Karl Jenkins' hypnotic keyboard ...
Continue ReadingEric Alexander, Yoko Yates, Carmen Bradford, David Murray and more
by Benjamin Boddie
Today's Music--Right Now! Fantastic music by Eric Alexander, Yoko Yates, Michael Wolff, Jamile, Susan Krebs, Todd Herbert, Todd Zimberg, Carmen Bradford, Airmen Of Note, David Murray, Snorre Kirk, Mike Pope, Eric Byrd, Lili Maljic, Neal Miner, Josh Lawrence, Joe Bowden, Jen Allen, Jason Forsythe, Michika Fukumori, Linda Dachtyl, Joe Farnsworth, Christian McBride, George Coleman, and more. Playlist Eric Alexander “Love Letters" from Like Sugar (Cellar Music Group) 00:00 Yoko Yates “Winding River" from Eternal Moments (Banka Records) 06:23 ...
Continue ReadingNew Music From Tucker, Jensen, Nodeland And More
by Bob Osborne
This selection of music drifts across borders and decades, tracing a path from Dara Starr Tucker's ethereal lullaby to Charles Tolliver's fiery live invocation. It's a voyage through jazz's many dialects--big band warmth, avant-garde abstraction, global fusion, and spiritual depth. Each track marks a waypoint: Bonnie Jensen's breezy swing, Henry Threadgill's cryptic miniatures, Samara Joy's playful reinvention, and The Secret Trio's Anatolian pulse. From self-released gems to Strata-East classics, these selections speak in rhythm, resistance, and reverence. Playlist ...
Continue ReadingDrum Machines and Griot Songs
by Patrick Burnette
This fortnight, Mike's cued up four newish releases with very different approaches to modern jazz. We have a couple piano trios (one of which calls in reinforcements from time to time), a duet with some space-age percussion, and a gigantic, sprawling big band project. Pat sneaks some jazz vinyl talk into pop matters.Playlist Discussion of Rachel Eckroth's album Speaking in Tongues (Adhyâropa) 5:47 Discussion of Bill O'Connell's album Touch (Jo Jo) 23:24 Discussion of Eric Bell's album Vulnerability ...
Continue ReadingBach, Bebop & Bay Area: Paquito D'Rivera’s Jazz Odyssey
by Steven Roby
Paquito D'Rivera arrived in San Francisco for an upcoming concert at SFJAZZ with a mission and a grin--one that views borders as mere suggestions. Two nights on the Miner Auditorium stage with his seasoned quintet will celebrate years of practice and spontaneous creativity, tracing a career that started with prodigy recitals in Havana and has spanned orchestras, big bands, and clubs worldwide. This interview, conducted before the concerts, revolved around Jazz Meets the Classics (Paquito Records/Sunnyside Records), a ...
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