Articles by Keith Flint

Album Review

Jason Robinson: Blue Salience: For Yusef Lateef

Read "Blue Salience: For Yusef Lateef" reviewed by Keith Flint

by Keith Flint
October 18, 2026

From a single note a song takes form. From a single seed a tree grows. Consider Yusef Lateef's own words from “Where Are The Goodies?" Spheres: Stories by Yusef Lateef (Fana Publishing, 1976), “To find out in a hurry whether the roots are where the rich dirt is, look up at the tree and see if the branches are soulful." His writing was as evocative of spirituality and human communication as it was given to compositional foundations and creative ideation. ...

Interview

Miles Okazaki's Monkathon: The Complete Thelonious Monk–Live

by Keith Flint
October 10, 2026

Guitarist Miles Okazaki, originally from Port Townsend, Washington, has become an integral figure in New York's creative music scene. Over the course of his career, he has toured and recorded with such artists as Kenny Barron, John Zorn, Steve Coleman, Miguel Zenón, Henry Threadgill, Patricia Brennan, Dan Weiss, Matt Mitchell, Mary Halvorson, and Darcy James Argue. His current projects include the trio Trickster and a large-scale ensemble, which released Boomtown (Pi Recordings) in June.On October 10, 2026, filmmaker ...

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Welcome The Morning With Ahmad Jamal’s The Awakening

by Keith Flint
October 6, 2026

Waking to a melody playing in one's mind is a common occurrence. Sometimes a simple line stands alone as an isolated, fleeting remnant of a previously loved song. At other times, a recurring line, verse, chorus, or entire piece lingers or revisits throughout the day. A notable personal example is the aptly titled track “The Awakening," which begins The Ahmad Jamal Trio's album of the same name. Beginning with its highly recognizable, compact, four-note melodic-cell introduction, the piece ...

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A Percussion Paradise Inhabited By Searing, Soaring Sensations

by Keith Flint
September 19, 2026

From its solo conga introduction to its exuberant ensemble finale, Donny McCaslin's “Soar" leads listeners along a path of tension, anticipation, and release. The pleasures of the performance are immediate, yet its full gratification is tantalizingly delayed: rhythm first, then added texture, then a gathering rush of sound as each musician finds a place in the unfolding drama. Immanuel Kant's 1764 Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime invited readers to deeply consider subjective ...

Album Review

East of West: Velella

by Keith Flint
August 13, 2026

Blurring boundaries, dissolving distance, and creating coherence, Velella, the 4th studio album by the Brisbane, Australia trio East of West exhibits the group's distinctive style. The trio is led by Bosnian-born composer Goran Gajić (double bass), with Philip Griffin on oud and laouto, and Malindi Morris on percussion. Collectively, these musicians produce a compelling blend of Balkan-influenced rhythms and melodic motifs. Both the album and its title track derive their name from the species Velella velella (by-the-wind sailor), a ...

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Melissa Aldana's Sensory Journey Transports Listeners… Elsewhere

by Keith Flint
July 25, 2026

There is little wonder why Melissa Aldana was nominated in 2019's 61st Annual Grammy Awards for her extraordinary solo on “Elsewhere." The Chilean saxophonist and composer creates a gallery of sound on this piece from her album Visions, inspired by the life and work of the artist Frida Kahlo. Bassist Pablo Menares leads listeners into the track with a steady, trance-inducing, ostinato accompanied by Tommy Crane's metrical rim clicks and light cymbal rhythms, from which Aldana's initial spare tenor sax ...

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Corcovado Looms Large Over South American Rhythm

by Keith Flint
July 19, 2026

Corcovado refers to the “Hunchback" mountain in the Tijuca Forest near Rio de Janeiro. Similar to the granite peak itself, this track emerges above its surroundings on the album Cannonball's Bossa Nova (Capitol Records, 1963). Immediately following guitarist Durval Ferreira's three introductory chromatic chords, Cannonball Adderley's alto saxophone glides above and gently overlays the rhythm section of Sergio Mendes (piano), Octavio Bailly Jr. (bass), and Dom Um Romão (drums). Written by Antônio Carlos Jobim, at a distinctive 127 ...