Jazz Articles
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Matt Ulery: Mother Harp
by Mike Jurkovic
With 15 albums of adventurous composition and daredevil artistry behind him, Chicago-based bassist-composer-bandleader Matt Ulery is, as they say back home, no slouch. And on his 16th, the raucously-inflamed and infectious Mother Harp, he follows his rock 'n' roll heart to the finish line and beyond. Mother Harp is a bevy of crazy-good stuff packed with a punk-rock punch you do not hear authentically or authoritatively anymore anywhere these days. Today it all sounds categorical, as if AI ...
Continue ReadingGeorge Freeman, Ermelinda Cuéllar, Bennie Moten & Lonnie McFadden
by Joe Dimino
We're kicking off the 902nd episode in style--with none other than the King of Kansas City Jazz himself, Lonnie McFadden. We drop the needle on a fiery cut from his 2018 album Live at the Green Lady Lounge, and it sets the tone just right. During a recent chat with Lonnie, he gave us the lowdown on the upcoming Count Basie 90th birthday bash, lighting up KC on International Jazz Day. And guess what? The party doesn't stop there--he's hosting ...
Continue ReadingMarilyn Crispell, Thommy Andersson, Michala Østergaard-Nielsen: The Cave
by Mike Jurkovic
A temporal fragility warmly embraces as the The Cave opens with the title cut. And since a vast portion of the world's troubled population holds a childhood fear of caves and the potential human criteria that bound rowdy from them, things could get tricky. But they do not. Marilyn Crispell, in what could be another defining moment in a lifetime of bold defining moments, holds those anxieties at bay, and does so throughout this stunning testament. “My Spirit ...
Continue ReadingNick Hempton-Cory Weeds: Horns Locked
by Jack Bowers
It has been far too long since anyone had the pleasure of eavesdropping on a two-tenor duel as heated and expressive as the one between Canadian gurus Nick Hempton and Cory Weeds on the suitably named Horns Locked. As the album's opening number, James Moody's fast-chugging “Last Train from Overbrook," unfolded, the memories came flooding back: hazy snapshots of Gene Ammons, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt, Wardell Gray, Johnny Griffith, Lockjaw Davis and their counterparts who made battling tenors a classic ...
Continue ReadingFreddie Hubbard: On Fire: Live from the Blue Morocco
by Thierry De Clemensat
If Resonance Records did not exist, it would have to be invented, for it fills the hearts of jazz lovers with such joy that they eagerly anticipate each new release, especially one as extraordinary as this. On Fire: Live from the Blue Morocco is a previously unreleased recording of the legendary jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, captured in 1967 at the Blue Morocco jazz club in the Bronx, New York. Featuring an all-star lineup; Bennie Maupin, Kenny Barron, Herbie ...
Continue ReadingVasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis Quartet, the Abbie Finn Trio, the Neil Cowley Trio and more
by Colin Muirhead
Featuring new music by Knats, Georgia Mancio & Alan Broadbent, Fergus McCreadie, Andrea Vicari, plus previews of gigs by the Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis Quartet, the Abbie Finn Trio, the Neil Cowley Trio and more. Playlist Knats “Miz (feat. Anatole Muster)" from Knats (Gearbox Records) 00:00 Vasilis Xenopoulos and Paul Edis Quartet “The Coast" from Feels Like Home (Ubuntu Music) 06:33 Abbie Finn Trio “Sheila's Song" from Stotties for Three (Self-released) 13:01 Georgia Mancio & Alan Broadbent ...
Continue ReadingSona Jobarteh at the Herbst Theater
by Harry S. Pariser
Sona Jobarteh Herbst Theater 2025 SFJAZZ Season San Francisco, CAApril 4, 2025 Sona Jobarteh is quite a busy woman. In addition to leading her own band and creating her own albums, she frequently makes guest appearances on recordings, speaks as an activist before the United Nations, lectures at universities, and has organized the impressive Gambia Academy which provides education about the country's culture, traditions and history in addition to the standard curriculum. Her ...
Continue ReadingGuitarist James Leibow,Andy Timmoins, Jukka Haavisto, Joppo Matikanein, Varun Das, Jan Gunner Hoff, Chick Corea, Moonlight Sky
by Len Davis
New music from guitarist James Leibow with Dave Weckl and Tom Kennedy, Andy Timmons Recovery, Finnish bassist Jukka Haavisto Live At Eclipse Club and drummer Joppo Matikanein with Crossing. New York drummer Varun Das, Serbian pianist Vasil Hadzimanov, Azerbaijan saxophonist Rain Sultanov, and German pianist Jan Gunner Hoff with Gary Husband. Chick Corea Elektric Band, Japanese fusion with Mitsuru Sutoh and Prism and we finish with some excellent fusion with Slovenian band Moonlight Sky. Playlist James Leibow “Torque" ...
Continue ReadingKneebody: Dr. Beauchef, Penguin Dentist
by Mike Jacobs
If you hadn't already become acquainted with Kneebody in 2005, this track--even without the quirky idiosyncratic title--plainly announced to the music world what unique conceptual paradigm-busters the young collective promised to be. ...
Continue ReadingKaisa's Machine: Moving Parts
by Troy Dostert
On the third release with her trusted ensemble, Kaisa's Machine, rising star Kaisa Mäensivu displays a mature compositional voice, creating seven beguiling tracks that make excellent use of her superb colleagues. The Finnish bassist has for some years split her time between Helsinki and New York City, and the album's concept is loosely centered on the challenges and opportunities of bilocation--but the music itself is remarkably cohesive and taut, with a group dynamic that indeed reflects machine-like precision, even if ...
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