Jazz Articles
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Michael Waldrop: Native Son
by Bill Milkowski
Following two successful big band projects--the swinging and swaggering Time Within Itself and Origin Suite--drummer-composer-bandleader Michael Waldrop has brought things down to a more intimate level on Native Son. In some ways a return to his first album as a leader, 2002's Triangularity, a sterling piano trio outing which he reissued in 2019, Native Son finds Waldrop in an interactive piano trio setting, augmented by veteran percussionists Brad Dutz and former Weather Reporter Jose Rossy. Together, the percussive ...
Continue ReadingJames Moody: 80 Years Young - Live at the Blue Note, March 26, 2005
by Todd Coolman
It's an absolute thrill to share the memories of an unforgettable night--James Moody's 80th birthday celebration at the legendary Blue Note in New York City in 2005. This was the grand finale of a weeklong celebration that had already featured amazing performances from jazz giants like Jimmy Heath, Ray Barretto, Mike Longo, and George Wein. This live recording featuring Jon Faddis, Paquito D'Rivera, Slide Hampton, Randy Brecker, Roberta Gambarini and Cedar Walton is a true tribute to the extraordinary talent ...
Continue ReadingEd Palermo: Prog vs. Fusion: A War of the Ages
by Jack Bowers
Well, if it walks like a big band and talks like a big band...chances are it's a big band, even though, in the case of Ed Palermo's New York-based 18-piece ensemble, it neither walks nor talks much like any other big band on planet earth. On Prog Vs. Fusion, Palermo casts aside many established harmonic principles in favor of fomenting and supervising a colossal struggle between the powerful forces of progressive rock and fusion. In doing so, ...
Continue ReadingJo-Yu Chen: Rendezvous - Jazz Meets Beethoven, Tchaikovsky & More
by Frank Housh
New York-based pianist and composer Jo-Yu Chen treats the great composers like most jazz musicians treat the Great American Songbook: a familiar musical foundation upon which to build a musical style. Chen trained at Juilliard but was seduced by jazz's siren song. Her first four albums: Obsession (Sony Music, 2011), Incomplete Soul (Sony Music, 2012), Stranger (Sony Music, 2014) and Savage Beauty (Sony Music, 2019) featured her compositions before she engaged the classical canon with Schubert & Mozart: ...
Continue ReadingKristina Koller, Stan Getz, and The Peddlers
by Jerome Wilson
This program features saxophones, organs, and pianos among other instruments. Musicians heard include Kristina Koller, Stan Getz, Phil Haynes, Sullivan Fortner, and the Peddlers. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Bergen Big Band “Canto Mai" from Seagull (Grappa) 00:58 Dave Meder “The Lake and the Mountain" from Unamuno Songs and Stories (Outside In) 5:15 Host Speaks 12:42 Jessica Jones ...
Continue ReadingJack Chambers: Rethinking Duke Ellington
by Jack Kenny
Jack Chambers is professor at the University of Toronto and teacher of music and language. His jazz writings include the prize winning biography Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis (Da Capo Press, 1998) and Bouncin' with Bartok: The Incomplete Works of Richard Twardzik (Mercury PR, 2008). Sweet Thunder: Duke Ellington's Music In Nine Themes (Canam Books, 2019) was Chamber's first book on Duke Ellington. His 2025 book, A Tone Parallel to Duke Ellington:The Man In The Music (University ...
Continue ReadingShai Maestro: Solo: Miniatures & Tales
by Neil Duggan
Shai Maestro fired the imagination when he joined Avishai Cohen's trio when only 19 years old, contributing to four well-received albums. In 2010, Maestro formed his own trio and released a string of albums as leader before moving to ECM Records with two excellent trio albums, The Dream Thief (2018) and Human (2021), which enhanced his reputation as a major influence in contemporary jazz. Along the way he has worked with Oded Tzur, Theo Bleckmann and Ben Wendel. He continues ...
Continue ReadingAri Hoenig: Tea For Three
by Artur Moral
In the concise liner notes for this release, Ari Hoenig states that this is the first time he has kept the same lineup for two consecutive recordings. No shock there: From the album's opening bars, it is clear we are not just dealing with another trio, but with the convergence of three exceptional musical personalities whose creativity, level of connection and dialogic interplay deserve repeated opportunities to be captured in a studio setting. That is not to say the first ...
Continue ReadingTom Wakeling: West by Northwest
by Jack Bowers
West by Northwest is another in a recent series of splendid small-group concert recordings, this one by bassist Tom Wakeling's close-knit quartet, taped in February 2024 for a receptive audience at the Ravenscroft Center in Scottsdale, Arizona. Wakeling had teamed for a number of years with pianist Angelo Versace and drummer Dom Moio. When trumpeter Jason Carder signed on, expanding the group's size from trio to quartet, Wakeling writes, “we all knew instantly we'd found the magic ...
Continue ReadingJordan VanHemert: Survival of the Fittest
by Gary Fukushima
For most of his life, Jordan VanHemert has been on a quest of growth and mastery as a saxophonist, composer and musician. But equally important have been his efforts to contextualize some of the difficulties of his life experiences within the deeper themes of his DNA, discovering in the process resilience, optimism and joy. Jordan's music is meant to convey empathy and solidarity to others who have also faced challenges in their lives. This album, Jordan's fifth as a leader, ...
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