By NPR In their first Manhattan meeting since January, pianist Andy Milne, bassist John Hébert and drummer Clarence Penn reconvened in the piano salon of Yamaha Artist Services. They perform tunes from their 2020 Sunnyside release The reMission. WBGO’s Greg Bryant interviews the artists midway through the performance. Watch this video here.
By Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz There’s a rocky history surrounding jazz-classical hybrids. But, in truth, that has little to do with any potential incompatibility. Instead, it’s usually misguided maneuvering and/or an excessive show of dominant traits from one side or the other that mars said unions. When done right a wedding of those worlds … Read More
By Jason Crane, The Jazz Session Trombonist and vocalist Natalie Cressman has released an album and a single with Brazilian guitarist Ian Faquini, and a second album is nearly complete. In this interview, Cressman talks about immersing herself in the Portuguese language; the subtlety of her duo playing with Faquini; virtual music during the pandemic; … Read More
By Matt Micucci, Jazziz The Kaleidoscope Quintet, co-led by saxophone legends Dave Liebman and Joe Lovano, make their Dot Time debut with this live album, originally recorded in 2013, on which the musicians’ distinctive voices come together as one. Read this article here.
Textura As a Berklee College of Music freshman, eighteen-year-old Teodross Avery joined its Thelonious Monk Ensemble, which might help explain why, nearly thirty years later, the saxophonist sounds so comfortable inhabiting the man’s music on Harlem Stories. Read the full review here.
By Chris Ingalls, PopMatters Dustin Laurenzi is a busy man with a list of musical projects that would make the average artist cower in intimidation. But unlike many overachievers who tend to spread their musical talents too thin, virtually everything the Chicago-based tenor saxophonist takes on is a thrilling journey. Read this review here.
By Jim Hynes, Making A Scene! Trumpeter and composer Chad McCulloughreleases Forward, his eighth as a leader. McCullough leads a quartet made up of three of Chicago’s best: pianist Rob Clearfield, bassist Matt Ulery, and drummer Jon Deitemyer. Renowned producer Ryan Cohan augments the affair by contributing additional programming and part-writing to Forward; creating ambient layers for McCullough’s lyrical compositions and augmenting the … Read More
By Jim Hynes, Making A Scene Trumpeter Alonzo Demetrius and his working band The Ego deliver, as you would guess from the title, a socially conscious album, recorded live this past May from Boston’s Berklee School of Music. Read this review here.
By Preston Frazier, Something Else! Guitarist, composer and educator Alex Wintz’s Live to Tape, set to arrive on Nov. 6, 2020, is is his first on Outside Music. It’s a compelling display of Wintz’s chops, taste and improvisational powers. Working with bassist Dave Baron and drummer Jimmy Macbride. Read this review here.
by Shae Fontana, Bleu Bop This Friday, October 23rd, Finnish trombonist and composer, Kasperi Sarikoski, will release his sophomore effort as a band leader on his new album 3 + 1. Released via Outside in Music, the album is a perfect soundtrack to these strange days. It is nostalgic, wistful, lonesome, and hopeful in its tone. The album … Read More
