Album Review
The 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 ReadingBob Schlesinger: Falling From Earth
by Joshua Weiner
Many a music project was derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but Colorado-based pianist, composer, and educator Bob Schlesinger's Falling From Earth (Self-Produced, 2025) has had a longer gestation and more interesting rebirth than most. With funding from the Pathways to Jazz fund, part of the Boulder County Arts Alliance, Schelsinger initially planned for his first release as a leader to be a trio album with legendary Bill Evans bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Billy Drummond, whose expansive career with many ...
Continue ReadingSofia Borges: The Unseen Pact
by Hrayr Attarian
German percussionist Sofia Borges explores unique time signatures in her work, drawing on an eclectic range of influences. Meanwhile, Argentinian saxophonist Ada Rave is a dynamic improviser. A deep sensitivity beautifully balances her bold, striking style. The stimulating The Unseen Pact is the result of Borges and Rave's poignant collaboration. It showcases a deep camaraderie and a shared artistic vision. “What the Earth Remembers" sets the spiritual mood for this release. Borges' sparse, thundering beats create an expectant ...
Continue ReadingMauricio Morales and Adam Hersh: Between Dreams and Twilight
by Neil Duggan
Between Dreams and Twilight marks the first joint collaboration between Mauricio Morales and Adam Hersh. The pair became friends when Hersh gave Morales a lift home from the Continental Club in Los Angeles. Their album features nine pieces: three written by bassist Morales, three by pianist Hersh and three co-written. The duo keep excellent company; they are joined by vibraphonist Warren Wolf, guitarist Mike Moreno and drummer Gary Novak. The album also features the L.A.-based Rogue Lemon String Quartet. These are all musicians ...
Continue ReadingMichael Sarian: Live at Cliff Bell's - Vol. II
by Troy Dostert
There was no reason whatsoever for listeners who enjoyed trumpeter Michael Sarian's terrific 2024 release, Live at Cliff Bell's (Shifting Paradigm Records), to feel short--changed. Capturing all the energy and excitement of a first-rate performance at the renowned Detroit jazz club from the previous year, the album traversed a wide spectrum of emotional registers and displayed the instrumental excellence which confirmed Sarian's standing as one of the premier talents of his generation. But what was left unmentioned at the time ...
Continue ReadingSacha Boutros: Sacha: Paris After Dark
by Pierre Giroux
With Sacha: Paris After Dark, vocalist Sacha Boutros, delivers an elegant and lovingly crafted tribute to a century of French and American song, drawing on the enduring traditions of both genres with the care of someone deeply familiar with their roots. Recorded with a seasoned Franco-American ensemble including trumpeter Stéphane Belmondo, pianist Franck Amsallem, guitarist Hugo Lippi, bassist Thomas Bramerie, and drummer Tony Rabeson, the album reminds us that timeless material, presented with sincerity and respect, can still sound fresh. ...
Continue ReadingJerome Sabbagh: Stand Up!
by Joshua Weiner
While much great jazz has emerged from one-off encounters among musicians, there is a lot to be said for the synergy of longstanding working bands. The former may provide more spontaneity and produce fireworks, but it can also lead to the occasional dud due to a mismatch in approach. Players in a working band, in contrast, gain a deep knowledge of each other's artistic choices, learn what works and what does not, and--by definition--must be doing something right, since their ...
Continue ReadingNick Storring: Mirante
by Glenn Astarita
Nick Storring titles his ninth album with a Portuguese word meaning “lookout," though the music rarely lets you settle into any one view. His connection to Brazil is indirect--two tracks were written before he ever visited--but the album carries the energy, textures, and rhythms of a place half-remembered, half-imagined. Instead of leaning on familiar Brazilian cues or predictable frameworks, Storring builds unusual structures and unexpected sonic pathways, conjuring streets, markets, and open skies through fleeting rhythms and delicate timbres. The ...
Continue ReadingPeter Evans: Ars Ludicra
by Fran Kursztejn
In the band's handful of releases the past decade, Peter Evans' Being & Becoming has defined itself by an unusual pattern of influence. As the former leader of superstar avant-garde quartet Mostly Other People Do the Killing, Evans has always played the agitator, the many-hats uncompromising auteur, challenging in both sonic intellect and actual practice. He lies squarely in jazz, but borrows heavily from the classical cornet repertoire, early devotional music, and as disparate sources as Detroit Techno and the ...
Continue ReadingRoy Powell - Lorenzo Feliciati - Lucrezio de Seta: Aria
by Glenn Astarita
Roy Powell has been the quiet man in the engine room for years. British by birth and Norwegian by choice, he once spent serious time as Anthony Braxton's pianist on those wild European tours where the music looked like geometry homework, and the applause was optional. He later slipped into the electric Norwegian wave, trading greasy Fender Rhodes licks with Bugge Wesseltoft and Nils Petter Molvær when Oslo was busy inventing what magazines called nu-jazz. Powell can venture as far ...
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