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Bokante: History
by Chris May
Snarky Puppy leader Michael League does not like the band being called a jazz ensemble. He describes it as a “a pop band that improvises a lot, without vocals." But anyone listening to jazz through the aural equivalent of a wide-angle lens would likely keep Snarky Puppy in the picture. League's spin-off group ...
The Pacific Jazz Group: Pacific Jazz Group
by Jack Bowers
West Coast jazz from the mid-twentieth century makes a comeback on this earnest album by the Pacific Jazz Group, whose music owes its genesis to the Pacific Jazz label, which recorded many of the Coast's best and brightest stars during that historic and bounteous era. The idea was set in motion by pianist Dred Scott, one ...
John Dikeman / Pat Thomas / John Edwards / Steve Noble: Volume2
by Mike Jurkovic
If ever oh ever there was a more ornery conversation between four highly-charged, time-defiant individuals, Volume2 sets the mark. Arguing, as great men do, about all things seen and unseen, secular and sublime, consummate free jazzers saxophonist John Dikeman, pianist Pat Thomas, bassist John Edwards and drummer Steve Noble circle the wagons once again at London's Cafe ...
Big Band Italia: Blue Sun
by Nicholas F. Mondello
Big Band Italia's “Blue Sun" is intriguing listening. Saxophonist/co-leader Gianni Bardaro's tune could best be described as a modernised Oliver Nelson track exploding on steroids. Bruno Luise's arrangement is complex and challenging in terms of time signature and textures and it is performed superbly by this cadre of Italy's foremost jazz musicians--with guest artists trumpeter Randy ...
Tony Allen: Jazz Is Dead 18
by Chris May
Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad's Jazz Is Dead continues its mission “to exalt the legacies of iconic musicians who have shaped the fabric of jazz across generations, genres and continents." The label's summer 2023 album features the late great Tony Allen. Jazz Is Dead 18 presents the Nigerian jazz and Afrobeat drum legend, who passed ...
Israel Tanenbaum & the Latinbaum Jazz Ensemble: Impressions
by Jack Bowers
If you are fond of happy music from south of the equator, longtime producer/arranger Israel Tanenbaum had you in mind when mapping out Impressions, his first recording as leader after years of helping others achieve their musical dreams. Performed by a first- class ensemble, Impressions spans the gamut of seductive Latin rhythms, from guaracha, salsa and ...
Héctor Lavoe: La Voz
by Rob Garratt
Craft Recordings have been on a roll of late, following 2021's excellently presented Ornette Coleman boxset, Genesis of Genius, with 2023's Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds series and imminent Sonny Rollins set Go West!: The Contemporary Records Albums. So it is only natural that jazz-inclined audiophiles will start turning their attention to what other treasures the LA-based ...
Keith Fiala: Let Go
by Nicholas F. Mondello
"Let Go" from trumpeter/composer Keith Fiala is a track that is a near-perfect blend of groove, effects, orchestration, and solos. After a brief textural intro of cascading trumpet and a segue into a smooth jazz vibe, the tune offers an infectious easy-to-hum-along melody laid down by a doubling of horn and keys. The ...
Enrico Pieranunzi & Bert Joris: Chet Remembered
by Chris May
Chet Remembered is the second disc the pianist Enrico Pieranunzi has recorded with a big band in as many years. Both are what used to be called “concept albums." 2022's offering, Blues & Bach (Challenge), was made with the Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana, and celebrated the compositions of John Lewis, mainly those Lewis recorded with the Modern ...
Richard Glassby: Travels
by Pat Youngspiel
On his second recording, Travels, Scottish drummer Richard Glassby makes a giant leap forward from his debut Eclipse (self-produced, 2020), catapulting his take on the post-bop idiom to a whole new level, with a little help from pianist Pete Johnstone, tenor saxophonist Matthew Kilner and bassist Ewan Hastie. While his last album saw the drummer playing ...
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