Articles by Dan McClenaghan
John Vanore & Abstract Truth: Easter Island Suite
by Dan McClenaghan
The spirit of Oliver Nelson and the thousand ghosts of Easter Island loom large over John Vanore & Abstract Truth's Easter Island Suite. The Nelson side of the equation has its roots in trumpeter Vanore's attendance at a Nelson-directed summer program at Indiana University, which led him, as a student, into deeper explorations of Nelson's work, including 1961 classic Blues and the Abstract Truth (Impulse!). Hence, the name of his ensemble: John Vanore & Abstract Truth. As for Easter Island--the ...
Continue ReadingJussi Reijonen: Sayr: Kaiho--Live In Helsinki
by Dan McClenaghan
Finnish-born guitarist Jussi Reijonen says, “For there to be motion, there needs to be stillness as its counterpoint and vice versa, since through their dance, each defines the other." Music unfolds over time. Reijonen has released a pair of albums in 2025: Sayr: Salt | Thirst (Unmusic)--a studio solo set employing a late--1940s Gibson LG-2--and now Sayr: Kaiho: Live In Helsinki, with the Arabic oud trading places for the guitar at times. Both sets are deep immersions into ...
Continue ReadingPaul Colombo Group: Mabrouka
by Dan McClenaghan
Guitarist Paul Colombo is blessed in his collaborative album, Mabrouka, with a group of imaginative and inspired sidemen, including, most notably, keyboardist Ron Thomas. This is Colombo's sophomore outing, following Rio Crystal (Vectordisc Records, 2021), and Thomas, bassist Andy Alonso and drummer Chris Loser make return appearances on Mabrouka. Add guest slots by flutist Tom Strohman and organist Andy Roberts, along with acoustic bassist Steve Meashey on six tunes. The set is tagged, accurately, as a “contemporary jazz ...
Continue ReadingKerry Politzer: Alternate Route
by Dan McClenaghan
A first impression as pianist Kerry Politzer's ninth album spins: This is an artist adept at bringing a band together for a one-day studio outing to play a bunch of her forward-leaning compositions to turn out a vibrant, crisp-sounding set. Obvious also, on tune # 1--"Before It's Too Late"--is that guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel has a special genius for pairings with pianists. He proved that with his contribution to Jo-Yu Chen's Stranger (Okeh Records, 2014), and he is in the mix ...
Continue ReadingDan McClenaghan's Best Jazz Albums Of 2025
by Dan McClenaghan
The albums on this Best of the Year list were picked on the run, as the months unfolded. Sometimes, second-guessing comes into play at the time of compilation. Not this time. All of these recordings are worthy of being called the Best of 2025. Andrew HillA Beautiful Day, Revisited Palmetto Records Iro HaarlaUnder the Firmament Willa Silva Records
Continue ReadingDavid G White: While You Were Sleeping
by Dan McClenaghan
Guitarist David White made a splash on Origin Records with his Big Neighborhood band. Neighbors was released in 2005 on the label, followed by 11:11 in 2007. He picked up a Grammy nomination. Both albums pushed boundaries--White cites a wide range of influences: singer/songwriter James Taylor, Latin jazz, Led Zeppelin, McCoy Tyner, bebop and free jazz. Big Neighborhood was a quartet--a saxophone and a rhythm section. For While You Were Sleeping he distills things to the trio format. He ...
Continue ReadingFlirtibird and the Black Thong
by Dan McClenaghan
The Taquito Tuesday thing took off like a rocket down at the Oceanic Brew Pub. It was, from the perspective of the kitchen, an ass buster, one sheet pan of those little rolled tacos after another going into the oven. Fortunately--for the owners, Roy and Rafaela--they had hired Hobgood, a guy who had spent 40 years of his 57 years on Earth working in kitchens. The orders kept coming in, and Hobgood, working like a devil, kept putting them out. ...
Continue ReadingJakob Dreyer: Roots and Things
by Dan McClenaghan
Bassist Jakob Dreyer searched for a new sound for his third album as a leader. He has, for his previous two releases, expressed his art via the standard quartet--sax, bass, drums and piano. For Roots and things, the piano is replaced by Sasha Berliner's vibraphone, joining the leader's other new-to-the-fold sidemen, saxophonist Tivon Pennicott and drummer Kenneth Salters.A vibraphone in the group is an inspired choice. The instrument is seeing a 2024/2025 resurgence. Blue Note Records, in particular, ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii Quartet: Burning Wick
by Dan McClenaghan
Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii is prolific. She has released well over 100 albums in a 30-year career, including a notable stretch in 2018 when she released an album a month. Solo piano outings, duo sets--including several with her husband, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura--trios, quartets, and larger ensembles of every size and shape. A general rule with Fujii: the larger the ensemble, the louder and more brazen the sounds. Her big bands are often particularly riotous. But her small ensembles ...
Continue ReadingMasabumi Kikuchi: Hanamichi--The Final Studio Recording Vol. II
by Dan McClenaghan
Japanese pianist Masabumi Kikuchi (1939 -2015) enjoyed a decent profile via his albums under his own name--30-plus discs--and from his work with drummer Paul Motian and bassist Gary Peacock in his Tethered Moon group. But he deserved more. He was an original who worked in an inspired--if somewhat quirky--journeyman fashion until he bloomed in his late career with a pair of excellent albums on the ECM Records label--Sunrise (2009), a trio outing with bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Paul Motian; ...
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![Full Moon [Feat. New York Voices, Mark Egan]](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/a07a6f1d5edcd6c801f0e1c3b527da37.jpg)
