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Scenes from the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival
by Matt Hooke
The greatest gift any music festival can give a listener is the chance to think about a genre differently and the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival did just that between February 16 and February 18. Most concert goers attend a show to hear a specific artist they are already familiar with, but the beauty of a festival is that it can expose you to many different styles in the span of a weekend. Across several stages at the Hilton Hotel ...
Continue ReadingLynne Arriale: Being Human
by Mike Jurkovic
In need of some serious uplift? Try Being Human, a sure high water mark for pianist/composer Lynne Arriale. Locked into that too often wayward network of connections between heart, brain and her vividly emotive lyricism, Arriale's seventeenth artistic statement serves as a conduit to our shared hopes, dreams, thoughts, prayers, and best wishes for a better world. Lithesome and balletic, with a feminine mystique and facility that's essential yet hard to define, Being Human throws a warm light ...
Continue ReadingTal Wilkenfeld: Cosmic Joke
by Mike Jacobs
Though Australian bass wunderkind Tal Wilkenfeld may have indeed left jazz behind in favor of a more singer/songwriter-type rock approach, the music she put forth on her debut album Transformation (Goldelux Productions, 2007) still leaves an impression and a hope she will one day return to it. Superlative writing and playing from the then 20-year-old and a band featuring Wayne Krantz, Keith Carlock, Seamus Blake and Geoffrey Keezer to boot. ...
Continue ReadingRory Gallagher: I Wonder Who
by Ian Patterson
The blues was always close to Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher's heart. He covered tunes by Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Melvin Jackson, Otis Rush, Blind Boy Fuller, Rosco Gordon, Bo Carter, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Son House. He also recorded with Muddy Waters, Albert King and Albert Collins. This Muddy Waters song from the million-selling live album Irish Tour '74 (Polydor, 1974) finds Gallagher in the sort of blistering form that made him an inspiration to the likes of Brian ...
Continue ReadingFredrik Nordström: Big Band Stories
by Mark Corroto
To describe this record as an intimate big band recording is not to state an oxymoron. Saxophonist, composer and arranger Fredrik Nordström has taken this large-scale format (17 musicians) and made a very personal statement. Big Band Stories is a bit of a departure for the Swedish saxophonist best known for his work in quintet, octet and his Dolores Quartet which released Dolores: One (2021) and Dolores: Two (2021) on his own Bluenord Record label. Nordström did produce ...
Continue ReadingJohn McLaughlin with the One Truth Band: Guardian Angels
by Scott Lichtman
John McLaughlin's “Guardian Angels" must be on the ultra-short list of “most iconic jazz/fusion songs clocking in under 1 minute." The song takes us back to the time when experimental fusion artists were exploring jazz/rock, classical and world music. “Guardian Angels" is a nugget of shape-shifting guitar arpeggios and time signatures, unified by L. Shankar's entrancing violin melody. It's so catchy that once you hear it, you're likely to remember it for decades--like this reviewer has. Fifty-one seconds is all ...
Continue ReadingEva Novoa: Novoa / Gress / Gray Trio, Vol. 1
by Mike Jurkovic
A vivid sense of drama and its intrinsic, minute shadings of light upon dark places animate pianistEva Novoa's work. Barcelona bred and keening with Brooklyn bravura, Novoa swaps the fore and backgrounds with uncompromised glee. Expressionistic, Impressionistic, and forthright, she aligns and upsets the edges to her liking. That, along with the crackling, crosstown chi of bassist/modular synthesist ((Drew Gress}} and drummer Devin Gray makes music like “Miss Celebrity," “Sushi at 6," in fact the whole of Novoa/Gress/Gray Trio, Vol. ...
Continue ReadingJoVia Armstrong, Adam Birnbaum and Vincent Hsu
by Jerome Wilson
This particular show is a bit on the quiet side, but it still features several varied jazz performers including JoVia Armstrong, Ralph Towner, Vincent Hsu, Dave Brubeck, and Adam Birnbaum. 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 Andrea Keller Quartet “For Bernie" from Galumphing 'Round The Nation (Jazzhead) 00:55 Rob Dixon/Steve Allee Quintet “Mind Mirror" from Standards Deluxe (Self Produced) ...
Continue ReadingSean Mason, Juka Eskola, Timo Lassy, Elan Mehler & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
If the episodes of a radio show could have a capital, the capital of this one would have to be New Orleans, where almost all the roads coming out of the songs in this playlist lead, one way or another. Happy listening! Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Juka Eskola, Timo Lassy “Cross-Atlantic Connection" Nordic Brew (Dox) 0:16 Host talks 6:11 Nicole Johänntgen “Lac Léman" Labyrinth (Selmabird) 7:45 Host ...
Continue ReadingDavid Ambrosio's Civil Disobedience at The Roads Bistro
by Mark Robbins
The Roads Bistro--a new restaurant / listening room--has recently opened in Virginia Beach, VA. Located in a strip mall across the street from the Tidewater Community College, one would be surprised to learn it's the current home of some of the best food and best jazz in the area. Owner, Michael Baldwin, has defied the odds and fulfilled his dream of opening a club. Music is performed nightly with Tuesday reserved for a jazz jam but other nights can also ...
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