Winston Matsushita

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Ardeshir: Introducing Ardeshir

by Jack Bowers
July 9, 2026

For more than 35 years, starting in the mid-1950s, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers set the gold standard for small-group hard bop jazz in the U.S. and around the world, a benchmark at which Canadian tenor saxophonist Ardeshir Pourkeramati's charismatic quintet/quartet takes dead aim on the leader's superlative debut recording, Introducing Ardeshir. This is hard bop the way it should be played, with an abundance of energy and enthusiasm bolstered by resourceful solos and razor-sharp group interplay--on ...