Jazz Articles about Brian Stark

About Brian Stark

Album Review

The Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective: Cortadito

Read "Cortadito" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
November 17, 2025

The Afro-Caribbean Collective is a high-energy nonet led by Puerto Rican-born guitarist Jose Guzman. On Cortadito, the ensemble's fourth album, the accent as always is on the lively rhythms and charming melodies of Guzman's home country and nearby equatorial locales. There is one immediate problem, as Guzman writes that his composition “Orchard Downs" is the opening number, whereas the album's jacket places his “Holande Pa Uste" in the lead-off spot and lists “Orchard Downs" as the finale. From ...

Album Review

Andrew Binder: Conspiracy Deliracy

Read "Conspiracy Deliracy" reviewed by Geannine Reid

by Geannine Reid
August 14, 2024

Andrew Binder's Conspiracy Deliracy builds a themed program that combines modern jazz sensibilities with the intriguing world of conspiracy theories. At the core of the album are Binder's compositions, which find inspiration in today's popular music and combine that with jazz and classical compositional techniques. Each piece explores various conspiracy theories, from the imaginative to the ridiculous. “Squatch Watch" reimagines John Coltrane's “Giant Steps" through a lens of myth and mystery, enriched by the writing style of Wayne Shorter. “Birds ...

Album Review

Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective: Fiesta at Caroga

Read "Fiesta at Caroga" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
March 29, 2024

Whenever the word “Afro-Caribbean" appears in an album's title, there are sure to be plenty of bold and exciting rhythmic passages, and Fiesta at Caroga, recorded by the Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective at the 2022 Caroga Lake (New York) Music Festival, is no exception to the rule. The Collective, founded by guitarist Jose Guzman, is comprised for the most part of music professors at several central Illinois universities. As for the music itself, it leans heavily on such ...