Results for "Geno Thackara"

Thelonious Monk: Monk's Mood

by Geno Thackara
May 3, 2025

Thelonious Himself (Riverside, 1957) was a perfectly suitable title for a solo album showcasing the quirky essence of Thelonious Monk. It may forever be a mystery as to why he and/or producer Orrin Keepnews saw fit to add other players for the very last track, but whether it was out of place or not, we can ...

Three Short Trips with Torben Westergaard

by Geno Thackara
April 30, 2025

Insert cliche here about how good things can come in small packages. While the world continues insistently churning with digital chatter and ADHD, Torben Westergaard has been leaning toward the simple and concise with a string of snack-sized (yet wildly eclectic) EPs. If you know the bassist's history or personality, though, you can guess that this ...

Daniel Herskedal: Movements of Air

by Geno Thackara
April 18, 2025

Quick--when you think of instruments that sound airy, what comes to mind? Piccolo, mandolin, some kind of synthesizer or possibly the theremin? Most of us would take quite some time before guessing the tuba. It takes some imagination to look past its conventional low lines and thumps, but Daniel Herskedal is just that kind of thinker. ...

The Wee Trio with Fabian Almazán: Climb

by Geno Thackara
April 17, 2025

Tom Teasley's Duo of Duos

by Geno Thackara
April 7, 2025

Tom Teasley Lunch Break (featuring Dave Ballou) Self Produced 2025 Considering that there's such a thing as talking drums, it is no surprise to hear how they can also whisper or sing or shout--at least in a skilled pair of hands, which is exactly what we have here. With a well-rounded ...

Steve Morse: Highland Wedding

by Geno Thackara
April 5, 2025

Ronny Wiesauer: Figures and Shapes

by Geno Thackara
April 3, 2025

Amidst his occasional outings with combinations of other players, Ronny Wiesauer keeps drifting back to a personal niche that is reliably comfortable and comforting. When settled in alone with a guitar, he spins pastoral meditations with the easy-flowing smoothness of a daydream--this is contemplative territory sometimes reminiscent of Ralph Towner or Pat Metheny, though without making ...

Miles Davis: Doo-Bop-A-Lu-Wah: The Musical!

by Geno Thackara
April 1, 2025

Easy Mo Bee is a fellow who does not like to leave things unfinished. Like any good producer, he is restlessly willing to shape and hone a work until things are fine-tuned down to the smallest details--a fine quality in rap recording, where a person really needs a sharp ear for slick beats and hooks. But ...

Yosef Gutman Levitt's Joy in Collaboration

by Geno Thackara
March 18, 2025

Maybe Yosef Gutman Levitt just never needs to sleep. Amidst the demands of life and family, the worldly bassist somehow consistently manages to produce three or four albums a year, largely of original material, and each distinct enough that it never seems to be coasting on a formula. It also helps to have a globe-spanning cast ...

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones: Blu-Bop

by Geno Thackara
February 11, 2025

This group's recipe does have some blues and bop buried in there somewhere, sure, although they also pack it with several houses' worth of kitchen sinks while twisting your mind and their fingers into pretzels. This one has still aged surprisingly well, even with echo-toned banjo and the frisky beats of a custom guitar-turned-MIDI-percussion device. Well, ...