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Charlie Porter: Cipher
by Paul Rauch
Trumpeter Charlie Porter's Cipher (PHP, 2025) carries with it a concept that provides clues to a treasure hunt and cash money--an interesting and different idea not broached here. Instead, the focus becomes the music contained within this, his eighth release as a leader. Porter, having spent time in both Portland and New York, has enjoyed fine ...
Mark Sherman: Bop Contest
by Jack Bowers
Following four well-received albums on which he played piano, the versatile Mark Sherman has placed the keyboard in the capable hands of Donald Vega and returned to his main instrument, the vibraphone, for the eloquent and delightful Bop Contest, Sherman's twenty-second recording in a prestigious career that has spanned nearly half a century. ...
Antonio Faraò: Kind of...
by Artur Moral
Antonio Faraò may seem a restless spirit, always on the move--a musical entity gifted with an innate, perpetual acceleration. But for certain decisions, he clearly takes his time: over eight years ago, in an interview aptly titled Antonio Faraò, l'eklektiko, the Rome-born pianist and composer--already in his fifties-- declared his interest in tackling a solo piano ...
Carmen Staaf: Sounding Line
by Dan McClenaghan
Thelonious Monk (1917 -1982) was often grouped with the bebop pianists of the late 1940s and early 1950s. But he was not bop. He was a pianistic world unto itself. Quirky, dissonant, often playful. Mary Lou Williams (1910 -1981) did not fit the bop category either. She came in before bop's advent. Her music was stylistically ...
Jamile with Miki Yamanaka and her trio plus Steve Wilson: Pursuit of a Pulse
by Katchie Cartwright
Jamile Staevie Ayres, who goes professionally by her first name, was born and raised in Cachoeira do Sul, a midsize city located a couple of hours from Porto Alegre in Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state in Brazil, and the heart of its gaúcho culture. Growing up, she gravitated toward música popular brasileira (MPB) and ...
Tatum Langley: Tatum's Swingin' Session
by Jack Bowers
Change the face (and figure) on the cover of Tatum's Swingin' Session!!!, the Chicago-based Shout Section Big Band's fifth recording, and what is left is an almost exact replica of an album cover released by Capitol Records in 1961, depicting a swingin' session led by another rather well-known interpreter of popular song surnamed Sinatra...down to and ...
Piero Gaddi Quartet feat. Bjørn Solli: Opus Two
by Neri Pollastri
Secondo lavoro del quartetto capitanato dal pianista Piero Gaddi, che qui si allarga a quintetto ospitando il chitarrista Bjørn Solli, Opus Two raccoglie otto composizioni del suo leader più una --"La legge"--del clarinettista e sassofonista Fabrizio Desideri, disegnando un affresco variopinto, sempre caratterizzato da un forte e fresco dinamismo, ma nel quale si fondono stili e ...
Hillai Govreen: Every Other Now
by Kyle Simpler
Many musicians are content to write and perform songs, while others continuously explore deeper territory. Clarinetist, saxophonist, and composer Hillai Govreen belongs firmly to the latter camp. At heart, she is a storyteller, and with Every Other Now, her debut solo release, she creates music that invites not only listening but also imagination. Govreen ...
Nancy Walker: Deeper Down
by Konstantin N. Rega
Award-winning Canadian pianist Nancy Walker finds musical camaraderie and a gentle sway on Deeper Down. Clearly a labor of love, the tracks glide by almost effortlessly. Walker's quartet includes saxophonist Tara Davidson, bassist Lauren Falls and Ethan Ardelli on drums. And it is their ability to synchronize and intuit one another that allows the music to ...
Ted Piltzecker: Peace Vibes
by Jack Bowers
With the world desperately in need of more Peace Vibes in these times of seemingly endless strife and division, vibraphonist Ted Piltzecker is happy to oblige, putting his Colorado-based “quartet" to work on the problem via a series of bright and handsome themes whose gracefulness and charm are designed to calm even the most savage beast. ...
