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Article: Album Review

Fractal Sextet: Fractal Sextet

Read "Fractal Sextet" reviewed by Mike Jacobs

by Mike Jacobs
March 23, 2023

In the over two-decade-old “movement" that's come to be known as Swiss Minimalism, guitarist Stephan Thelen has pushed himself to the fore, both with his group SONAR and in solo projects. In recent years, he's been astonishingly prolific (releasing five albums from 2021-2022 alone). With recent group work in Sonar being expanded to include guitarist David ...

Article: Play This!

Michael Shrieve: Palace Of Dreams

by Mike Jacobs
March 17, 2023

From the dual-project, double album Two Doors (CMP, 1995) that features drummer Michael Shrieve manning the drum kit in two different trios, it's arguably the Deep Umbra disc with bassist Jonas Hellborg and guitarist Shawn Lane that is the brighter half of that binary star. Shrieve may indeed get top billing here but like so many ...

Article: Play This!

Nu Deco Ensemble + Aaron Parks: Chronos

by Mike Jacobs
March 13, 2023

First appearing on Aaron Parks' joint venture with Matt Penman, Joshua Redman and Eric Harland, James Farm (Nonesuch, 2011), Miami's adventurous Nu Deco Ensemble takes AP's composition “Chronos" out for an expanded spin, with the composer himself as guest performer. From the 2019 digital-only release Nu Deco Ensemble + Aaron Parks: Live From Miami.

Article: Play This!

Jim Beard: Grace In The Bubble

by Mike Jacobs
March 8, 2023

Though he's a great enough musician to be exactly what many a recording or live situation calls for, “Grace In The Bubble" is emblematic of the mixture of technical proficiency, compositional acumen and playful quirk that Jim Beard invests into his solo outings. If Beard's idiosyncratic whimsy was perhaps tucked away a bit on his stunning ...

Article: Play This!

Peter Epstein, Brad Shepik, Matt Kilmer: Temoin

by Mike Jacobs
March 2, 2023

The nimble “Temoin" is one of the many piquant delights this unusually formatted trio (sax, guitar, frame drum) puts forth on Lingua Franca (Songlines, 2005), The absence of upright or electric bass creates a tangibly wider sonic space for their ethnically-tinged, odd-metered romps and highlights their wonderfully telepathic interplay. At times subtle, at others spicy, the ...

Article: Film Review

Inside Scofield

by Mike Jacobs
January 29, 2023

John Scofield Inside Scofield I'm Filming Productions 2022 With jazz being an increasingly marginalized art form (at least in the commercial sense), any news of serious documentary work about one of its more iconic practitioners is likely to garner an immediate hallelujah from the chorus. Perhaps this is doubly so when ...

Article: Liner Notes

The Trackers featuring Gary Husband & Alf Terje Hana: Vaudeville 8:45

by Mike Jacobs
January 26, 2023

What appears next on a resumé as weighty as Gary Husband's is always a matter of musical interest. Even with long and satisfying associations with legends like John McLaughlin and Allan Holdsworth, the talented drummer/keyboardist continually seeks different worthy and intriguing paths to explore--whatever his vehicle of expression. So when his latest project is co-led by ...

Article: Catching Up With

David Crosby: A Revitalized Creativity

by Mike Jacobs
January 19, 2019

David Crosby has had--and is still having--quite a long and storied career. While many musicians obviously have had those too, music doesn't always come out on top for many at this late stage of the game. It has though for Mr. Crosby--quite conspicuously. All About Jazz had a conversation with the seemingly unstoppable music ...

Article: Interview

Jeff Berlin: Making Jack Songs, Making Amends, Making A New Path

by Mike Jacobs
November 21, 2022

Chances are, if you know Jeff Berlin's name, you know at least some of the bassist's now-classic work with such seminal jazz/rock/fusion mainstays as Bill Bruford or Allan Holdsworth. If so, you may also know of his 10 albums as a leader or some of his many other sideman, supergroup and touring credits. If you're still ...

Article: Album Review

Little Feat: Waiting For Columbus Live Deluxe (8 CD) Box Set

Read "Waiting For Columbus Live Deluxe (8 CD) Box Set" reviewed by Mike Jacobs

by Mike Jacobs
November 12, 2022

Aside from the Grateful Dead (and possibly Rush), there's perhaps no band that can boast a more die-hard fan base than Little Feat's. It seems that embracing a group with prime instrumental and songwriting skills, that authentically incorporates rock, country, blues and New Orleans funk, with some jazz and even fusion touches, that were the darlings ...