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Kerry Politzer: Alternate Route
by Paul Rauch
Pianist Kerry Politzer had released eight albums before Alternate Route (Whirlwind, 2025), though to many jazz listeners they essentially flew under the radar. Politzer is a Portland, Oregon-based musician on the faculty at the esteemed jazz studies program at Portland State. With this, her ninth offering, more attention and accolades are bound to come her way. The album of ten original compositions not only lends a strong focus on her adept compositional and instrumental skills, it also welcomes in a ...
Continue ReadingSam Dillon: My Ideal
by Jack Bowers
Any impartial assessment of My Ideal, Sam Dillon's second album for Cellar Music (following 2018's Out in the Open), should leave no doubt that the New York-born and based tenor saxophonist has definitely hit his stride, punctuating an already strong and persuasive voice on the horn with ample self-confidence and and a bounteous wellspring of innovative concepts and ingenious phrases. In other words, Dillon is the whole package, swinging in the same league as such heralded contemporaries ...
Continue ReadingThe Heavy Hitters: That's What's Up!
by Pierre Giroux
Mike LeDonne and Eric Alexander head up a band called Heavy Hitters, which features a stellar cast of New York's jazz elite, including trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, alto saxophonist Vincent Herring, bassist Alexander Claffy and drummer Kenny Washington. They have released That's What's Up!, a live recording from Frankie's Jazz Club in Vancouver, British Columbia in December 2023 that captures the authenticity, spontaneity, and emotive power of a band firing on all cylinders. The set list is an artful blend of ...
Continue ReadingHeavy Hitters: That's What's Up!
by Jack Bowers
Heavy Hitters is a superb New York-based sextet co-led by pianist Mike LeDonne and tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander. Individually and as a team, the Hitters keep their eyes squarely on the ball, swing for the fences and, more often than not, slam the spheroid solidly out of the park. And on this typically upbeat session they do it in front of an appreciative audience at Frankie's Club in Victoria, British Columbia. A freewheeling groove permeates the concert, ...
Continue ReadingJihee Heo: Flow
by Paul Rauch
South Korean pianist Jihee Heo has been in New York City since 2009. She arrived to work on her Masters after studies in Amsterdam and has become a fixture on the Gotham club scene, often appearing with a trio or quartet sharing the bandstand with some of the city's finest players. Her new trio plus one effort, Flow (OA2, 2024), is in a way, a documentation of those club performances. Recorded by Maureen Sickler at Rudy Van Gelder's famed studio ...
Continue ReadingEric Alexander: Timing Is Everything
by Pierre Giroux
Eric Alexander's album Timing Is Everything is an acknowledgment of his mastery of the tenor saxophone, highlighting a combination of power, precision, and profound musicality. Accompanied by pianist Rick Germanson, bassist Alexander Claffy and drummer Jason Tiemann along with a handful of special guests, Alexander leads this nine-track outing with a confidence and ease that can only come from deep familiarity with the material and an unspoken rapport with his bandmates. The opening track is a ...
Continue ReadingVeronica Swift: Veronica Swift
by Mike Jurkovic
Leave it to the irascibly spirited and octane-charged Veronica Swift to release the party record of the year! From the pure joy scatting of the blast-off opener “I Am What I Am" (from Broadway's grand musical La Cage aux Folles) to the rabble rousing, mad-cap Joan Jett jam with The Ramones finale “Don't Rain On My Parade" (only available on the CD and digital versions), the incredibly talented and free-swinging Swift swings for the fences and wins the home-run derby ...
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