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Rebecca Martin, SHE

This one should set the record straight on an artist who needs to be better known outside the jazz world. With SHE, the folk/pop/jazz/fill in the blanks…singer-songwriter has released a poignant album both intimate and relatable at the same time. Many years in the making, this solo record feels like a timely document of Martin’s art as a first-rate songwriter, wordsmith and vocalist. The opener…

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Billy Mohler, The Eternal

Dark, propulsive, resonant, visceral, these are the some of the words that come to mind to describe Billy Mohler’s bass tone on his new release The Eternal, a powerful quartet album featuring Devin Daniels on alto saxophone, Jeff Parker on guitar and Damien Reid on drums. As the most die-hard readers of this blog (is there any die-hard reader out there?) will know by now, I’m partial to the…

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Kris Davis Trio, Run The Gauntlet

On her new album Run The Gauntlet, Kris Davis celebrates the women pianists that have had the most influence on her creative journey and life. Arguably an unsung hero of avant-garde jazz piano in her own right, Davis’ new offering demonstrates how groundbreaking and influential her music has been in the last three decades. The list of pianists the Canadian-born composer pays tribute to on this…

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After Brad

He is often described as the best pianist of his generation, and rightly so. Brad Mehldau is a name every music enthusiast should at least have heard of as we inch closer to 25th mark of the 21st century. To jazz fans, he is colloquially known as just Brad, in the lineage of his forebears Miles, Trane, Bill, all the back to Louis, Bird, Duke, Ella, Billie, and all the great champions of the music…

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KNOWER FOREVER, KNOWER

Knower Forever, Knower Do you know “knower”?  I’ll rephrase, ever heard of Knower, the band?  Ok, this post is long overdue. Usually suspicious of anything hyped up by social media algorithms, I must confess I initially disregarded the powerhouse duo of Genevieve Artadi and Louis Cole. I wish I hadn’t. If anything, this music will keep your spirits up and get you out of that comfy chair, rocking…

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Check out this album and let me know what you think.

PILC/MOUTIN/HOENIG, YOU Are The Song When it comes to jazz instrumentation, the piano trio has to be the most hackneyed outfit, at least to the critics and jaded listeners. What this trio brings to the genre turns the argument upside down in a compelling and definitive way. More importantly, they elevate it to a new standard that still celebrates the lineage of the music as they keep pushing the…

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IF IT WASN’T FOR THAT E STRING

Hello dear readers, this is old stuff but I just wanted to share it with you again. Thanks for reading.

Digging through the archive today, I pulled up this post from 2014 and marvelled at how much of it still applies. I could have written it yesterday. Minus a few differences, such as a different instrument and a bass buggie to replace the old hospital cart wheel (bass buggie ride or die! ). There is a lot more to say about it for sure but I can’t resist the urge to resurrect this old post…

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Anyhow, Leland Whitty

As one third of the genre-bending Canadian jazz band Badbadnotgood, multi-instrumentalist Leland Whitty showcases his compositional skill in a solo album exuding spaciousness and alluring introspection. If you’re already a fan of Badbadnotgood, you will find much to like on Anyhow. That Whitty is single-handedly calling the shots as a composer, arranger and performer here is presumably as close…

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CHES SMITH - INTERPRET IT WELL

CHES SMITH – INTERPRET IT WELL

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BADBADNOTGOOD

Yes, you read that correctly. And capitals all the way. When it comes to funny band names, this one is probably as mischievous and attention-grabbing as it gets. It’s still a mystery why the algorithms of the Internet took so long to nudge that band up on my radar. But at the end of the day, it speaks to the genre-bending quality of the music the band has offered so far. So, what is this band? To…

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Heart-Shaped Box (Nirvana Cover)

Heart-Shaped Box (Nirvana Cover)

“Fistula” by Kurt Cobain This started out as a bass vamp I was shedding on and forgot about years ago. It turns out to be a double bass and acoustic guitar tribute to Nirvana’s glorious tune by two long-time friends in confinement. That’s how unpredictable music can be. Kudos to my friend Julien Ledru for rising to the challenge.

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Dan Blake, Da Fé

Dan Blake, Da Fé

If it wasn’t for its title, which relates to the question of faith in our own ability to effect positive change and references the “auto da fé” from the Spanish Inquisition era, saxophonist Dan Blake’s new album would still be a fairly bold artistic statement. Urgent times call for urgency in music and the saxophonist is outspoken in his ecological and social activism. “If only we could STOP and…

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Matthew Shipp Trio, The Unidentifiable

Matthew Shipp Trio, The Unidentifiable

Matthew Shipp’s music can be hard to describe, even for his die-hardest fans. That The Unidentifiable was released in 2020 is arguably as much a comment on the ongoing worldwide predicament as a last-ditch effort to somehow define his idiosyncratic art. On a personal note, I’ve gone through phases with Shipp’s music. Way back in the mid 2000s, I was initially attracted by his off-kilter,…

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Wired - Friday the 13th edit version

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Laura Palmer on lockdown Here is what happens when a bassist is locked down and gets obsessed with David Lynch's…

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Tomoko Omura, Branches Vol.1

Tomoko Omura, Branches Vol.1

Violinist and composer Tomoko Omura has released a record of songs that deliver on a tough challenge: merging the traditional music of her native Japan with the hip grooves of contemporary jazz. The band features a quintet of like-minded peers, with Jeff Miles on guitar, Glenn Zaleski on piano, Pablo Menares on bass, Jay Sawyer on drums, and herself on violin.

Endeavors like this can be…