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Bruna Black: Vã Revelação
by Richard J Salvucci
Bruna Black is yet another one of those performers who started as something other than a singer but got there as soon as she could. Supposedly, she was a semi-pro basketball player, although that is not easy to run down. She certainly is a singer and a good one. Her repertoire in this recording is all ...
Kjetil Mulelid Trio: And Now
by John Eyles
Although the all-Norwegian Kjetil Mulelid Trio has been in existence since 2016, And Now is only the group's fourth album to date. The trio's previous three albums, Not Nearly Enough To Buy A House (2017), What You Thought Was Home (2019) and Who Do You Love The Most? (2022), all released on Rune Grammofon label, were ...
Roberto Magris Europlane for Jazz: Freedom Is Peace
by Jack Bowers
After twenty years making beautiful music elsewhere, the members of Italian-born pianist and composer Roberto Magris' stellar sextet, Europlane, have reunited to record a second album, Freedom Is Peace, a sequel to the ensemble's impressive debut, Check-In (Soul Note, 2005). As before, snugly swinging bop-centered jazz is the order of the day; and as before, Magris ...
Kiki Valera: Vacilón Santiaguero
by Richard J Salvucci
In Cuban Spanish (and, for sure, there is no generic Spanish in Latin America), vacilón means, well, one hell of a good time. And that is what you can expect from this punchy collection, a great time a la Santiago de Cuba, the capital of one of Cuba's southeastern provinces. It is the land of Bacardí ...
Edition Redux: Broadcast Transformer
by Mark Corroto
Ken Vandermark has long made it a priority to dedicate nearly all of his compositions to other artists. From painters and photographers to writers, poets and fellow musicians, his influences span a wide artistic spectrum. Film, in particular, has been a significant source of inspiration for this long-time Chicago resident. While Vandermark has composed two commissioned ...
Paul Kendall: My Shining Hour
by Jack Bowers
If you were to randomly draw the names of most charming and best-loved American popular standards" out of a hat, chances are you could not fare much better than Pennsylvania-based baritone saxophonist Paul Kendall has by design on My Shining Hour, a splendid album whose playlist encompasses no less than eight singular and seductive melodies from ...
Nanami Haruta: The Vibe
by Dan McClenaghan
The news of a trombonist fronting a small jazz ensemble brings the name J.J. Johnson (1924-2001) to mind. He pioneered that form of jazz expression. Before he stepped onto the scene the big brass horn stayed mainly in the background, eclipsed by trumpets and saxophones. Many have followed in Johnson's footsteps: Curtis Fuller, Steve ...
ES Trio: The Foreign In Us
by Hrayr Attarian
German saxophonist and clarinetist Edith Steyer is a consummate improviser. Her spontaneously created work defies genres, blending jazz, ethnic, and Western classical influences. On April 6, 2023, Steyer appeared at the Elastic Arts venue in Chicago together with two of the city's most distinctive musicians, pianist Mabel Kwan and percussionist Michael Zerang. The material from this ...
Alex Coke & Carl Michel Sextet: Situation
by Jerome Wilson
This is the third album by the Alex Coke & Carl Michel Sextet and, on it, they continue to refine their integration of jazz, country and classical styles into a more expansive and complex whole. Their use of vibraphone, pedal steel and harp, in addition to the more common instruments of guitar, saxophone and bass, gives ...
Rob Mazurek Quartet: Color Systems
by Alberto Bazzurro
In parallelo con lavori che spaziano dal solo all'orchestra, Rob Mazurek, uomo-musica ormai giunto sulla soglia dei sessanta ma non per questo meno vorace e curioso di un tempo, ci regala questo album in quartetto (e che quartetto!) imperniato su sei brani comprensivi di altrettante dediche (del resto non è una novità). La sua tromba cementa ...


