Jazz Articles about Dru Heller

About Dru Heller

Album Review

Double bassist/composer Sue Cahill's Evanstonia kicks off with one of those olde-tyme a-ratta-tat-tat and a-ratta-tat-tat courtesy of drummer Dru Heller (Don Byron, Greg Osby) that can sweep a listener off into one of those musical moments that lock in at the moment, escort attention elsewhere for a while, then return one safely to the moody environs and everyday routine.Evanstonia is a mellow bit of magic. It is never truly meant to challenge, but it is hardly derivative and ...

Album Review

Wil Swindler: Space Bugs

Read "Space Bugs" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
February 23, 2023

Space Bugs is essentially multi-layered yet readily accessible chamber jazz admirably performed by saxophonist/composer Wil Swindler's Colorado-based Eleventet—a finely woven banquet for the ears that was handsomely recorded in May 2022 before an appreciative audience at Denver's Mighty Fine Productions. Gil Evans springs to mind when listening, as do Pete Rugolo and late- career Bob Brookmeyer. As a composer, Swindler writes that he has “always been between worlds," loving “the pristine intervals and warm timbres of orchestral ...