Jazz Articles about Steve Schermer

About Steve Schermer

Album Review

Ben Thomas Tango Project: The Hat with the Grin and the Chuckle

Read "The Hat with the Grin and the Chuckle" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 7, 2025

On The Hat with the Grin and the Chuckle, his sixth recording as leader of the Tango Project, composer and multi-instrumentalist Ben Thomas once again invites his audience to put on their dancing shoes and sway to Argentina's unique and emblematic musical genre. In doing so, he affirms that there is far more than one way to tango, eliciting all the warmth and color he possibly can within eight of his luminous and rhythmic compositions. Besides writing ...

Liner Notes

Ben Thomas: The Hat with the Grin and the Chuckle

by Hector Del Curto
July 23, 2025

Ben Thomas' music lives in a world where tradition and innovation meet with effortless grace. Deeply rooted in the authentic rhythms of Argentine tango, yet fearlessly modern in spirit, his compositions offer a rich tapestry of layered polyrhythms, inventive melodies, and surprising contrasts--all delivered with intelligence, playfulness, and deep emotional weight. From the very first notes, you're drawn into a musical landscape where humor and melancholy coexist, where rhythmic intricacy never sacrifices heart, and where the spirit of ...

Album Review

Ben Thomas: Eternal Aporia

Read "Eternal Aporia" reviewed by Jane Kozhevnikova

by Jane Kozhevnikova
June 18, 2022

For some people, tango means the dance with a stereotypical red rose between the teeth. For Ben Thomas, a percussionist and bandoneonist from Seattle, tango is much more than that: it has been an important part of his life for at least fifteen years before the 2022 release of Eternal Aporia. The album includes twelve of his original compositions mixing tango with jazz and classical chamber music. Joining Thomas on the album are Eric Likkel (clarinets) and ...

Album Review

Ben Thomas (US): Eternal Aporia

Read "Eternal Aporia" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
January 22, 2022

They say it takes two to tango. On Ben Thomas' new album, Eternal Aporia ("uncertainty; doubt"), it takes at least three, and sometimes half a dozen. That's not a bad thing, as Thomas' splendid core trio is fleshed out on three numbers by cellist Gretchen Vanover and on two others by Vanover, violinist Brandon Vance and pianist Jonathan Greer, making the tango more lustrous and enchanting than ever. Thomas himself plays vibraphone, bandoneon and percussion, leading a burnished threesome whose ...