Results for "Mike Jacobs"

Nguyen Le: Encanto

by Mike Jacobs
October 14, 2023

It's a rare thing to have two bassists playing together on one track let alone two at the top of opposite ends of the acoustic/electric bass spectrum, but that's exactly what guitarist Nguyen Le managed on his enthralling tune, “Encanto." From Le's album Bakida (ACT, 2000), he is joined by bass titans Carles Benavent on electric ...

Tim Garland: Sama'i For Peace

by Mike Jacobs
October 11, 2023

Ever completely miss an album that has a bunch of guys that you expressly keep an ear to the ground for? Well, it even happens to music writers. Just in case you missed out too, here's a fine track from Tim Garland's One (Edition, 2016) featuring Jason Rebello, Asaf Sirkis and Ant Law. ...

Adam Holzman and Brave New World: Iron Curtain

by Mike Jacobs
October 7, 2023

Keyboardist Adam Holzman may be known more these days for his work with the sometime Porcupine Tree progressive mastermind Steven Wilson but the biggest thing on AH's resume prior to his working with Wilson was his stint as keyman for one Miles Davis. Dropping the needle on “Iron Curtain," this all becomes crystal clear as it's ...

Eran Har Even: Rise

by Mike Jacobs
October 6, 2023

As the title might suggest, the music on guitarist Eran Har Even's album 20/21 sprang from the depths of the pandemic years, when musicians somehow found ways to live and express themselves in the absence of being able to perform live. The opening “Rise" as well as others from this album are indelibly marked by the ...

Naughty Professor: Kings

by Mike Jacobs
October 5, 2023

It seems that over the last few years, the New Orleans-based collective Naughty Professor has built up a reputation that has a lot of musicians ambling on down to the Crescent City to sit in with them. Their one/two punch of an ultra-tight rhythm section coupled with a sharper-than-a-tack horn section makes it easy to understand ...

Gretchen Parlato: Turning Into Blue

by Mike Jacobs
September 30, 2023

Étienne Mbappé & The Prophets: Johnji

by Mike Jacobs
September 24, 2023

Joe Zawinul and the Zawinul Syndicate: Zansa II

by Mike Jacobs
September 21, 2023

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society: Missing Parts

by Mike Jacobs
September 19, 2023

Like a few others (such as Maria Schneider and John Hollenbeck), Darcy James Argue seems bent on expanding the musical envelope of the big band via the instrumentation, repertoire and approach of his Secret Society. Though this piece from their 2013 Brooklyn Babylon project was designed to be heard in tandem with the highly stylized visuals ...

Ben Wendel High Heart: Drawn Away

by Mike Jacobs
August 11, 2023