Music
The Jazz Passengers, Reunited (Justin Time Records)
Given that jazz can easily slip into the realm of the too serious, the return of the Jazz Passengers with their gonzo attitude and slightly off-kilter tunes is to be […]
Joe Lovano’s Us Five: Jazz Fest Focus
Joe Lovano is an old school jazzman. He came up in New York City in the 1970s paying his dues with everyone from Woody Herman to Chet Baker to the […]
Midnite Disturbers: Jazz Fest Focus
The idea for the Midnite Disturbers came at drummer Stanton Moore’s kitchen table. He and fellow drummer Kevin O’Day had been tossing around the idea of forming an all-star brass […]
Pete Fountain and Tim Laughlin: The Fat Sound
Once away from the strip malls and family businesses that alternate on Highway 90, the road to the Hollywood Casino in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi winds through the swampy woods […]
Rotary Downs, Cracked Maps and Blue Reports (Rookery)
From the opening slow rising track through the march-like rhythms and resigned vocals that close this compact disc, Rotary Downs’ new Cracked Maps and Blue Reports hits on all cylinders. […]
Fred Anderson, 21st Century Chase (Live at Anderson’s 80th Birthday Bash at the Velvet Lounge) (Delmark)
Saxophonist Fred Anderson is one of the great elder statesmen of improvised music. He has been playing, teaching, or sponsoring it for the last three-plus decades at his Chicago barroom, […]
Shane Theriot, Dirty Power (Shose)
It takes a special player to put out a record of guitar and band instrumentals and make it memorable. Guitarist Shane Theriot keeps his listeners paying attention on Dirty Power. […]
Mike Dillon’s Go-Go Jungle, Rock Star Bench Press (Hyena Records)
Mike Dillon’s Go-Go Jungle’s new CD, Rock Star Bench Press, combines a lot of different styles that would be almost too in-your-face except for the inherent lightness of his preferred […]
Various Artists, American Routes with Nick Spitzer: Songs and Stories from the Road (American Public Media)
On the two-disc set, American Routes with Nick Spitzer: Songs and Stories from the Road, producer and interviewer Spitzer offers some of the more interesting interviews from his internationally distributed […]
Alex McMurray: Train Whistles and Flies’ Wings
Although New Orleans has a reputation as a brass/jazz/funk playground, it has been a home to songwriters since the beginning of the 20th Century. From Clarence Williams to Jelly Roll […]
