DISCOVERY
As a young man growing up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, guitarist Mike Miller was thunderstruck after hearing Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew. Fusion became an obsession, as he delved into the music of Chick Corea, Weather Report and John McLaughlin. In Denver, he’d play alongside fusion touchstones Larry Coryell, Bill Frisell and even Corea himself,...
A founding member of the contemporary-jazz powerhouse Yellowjackets, bassist Jimmy Haslip continues to find intriguing avenues of expression since leaving the band more than a decade ago. On his latest release, ARCecology: The Music of MSM Schmidt (Blue Canoe), Haslip and his ARC Trio team up with The John Daversa Big Band on a program...
Since her days singing backup for Tower of Power, then lending her chops to contemporary jazz and blues artists from Spyro Gyra and the Yellowjackets to John Mayall and Etta James, Marilyn Scott has established herself as a first-call talent on the L.A. music scene. For some 40 years, the vocalist and songwriter has built...
On his recent recording, Morning Star (Blue Canoe), trumpeter Thomas Heflin creates the vibe of a late-night radio program, complete with a cool-talking DJ who informs listeners that they’re tuned into station WHEF. The music touches on jazz and neo-soul that one might hear in the wee hours, starting with the introspective and hopeful title...
The inspired pairing of vocalist Mark Kibble and guitarist Steve Khan unfolds on Island Letter (Blue Canoe), a recent release by two innovators in their respective fields. A founding member of vocal powerhouse Take 6, Kibble is credited with shaping the group’s signature sound via his tenor leads and arrangements, which have become a standard...
On Respite, D. Mark Owen’s recent release for Blue Canoe, the pianist, keyboardist and composer creates cinematic soundscapes that draw inspiration from his vast and varied life experiences. One tune pulls memories of his working his way through college as a commercial fisherman, another evinces the anxiety of a working musician struggling to pay the...
An assemblage of seasoned contemporary-jazz vets, TriTone Asylum draws on its members’ collective influences and experiences to create a definitive L.A. jazz sound. The band formed in 2009, following some informal jamming by trumpeter Philip Topping, guitarist Andy Waddell and bassist Peter Sepsis, who discovered they shared similar artistic touchstones — namely Freddie Hubbard, Herbie...
U.K.-based trumpeter and composer Iwan VanHetten blends the sounds of his Caribbean heritage with well-honed contemporary jazz sensibilities on his latest recording, Parabbean Tales (Blue Canoe). And he does so in excellent company, recruiting members of the Yellowjackets past and present — saxophonist Bob Mintzer, keyboardist Russell Ferrante, bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Will Kennedy —...
Man finds harmony with machine on Rafael Greco’s Blue Canoe debut Signs of Life (Blue Canoe). The Venezuelan saxophonist and vocalist has constructed a unique and highly personal framework within the chilled-out groovescape of the Blue Canoe aesthetic, using rhythms of Caribbean music — from salsa and merengue to joropo and calypso — to prop...
Cody Carpenter’s Balance of Extremes (Blue Canoe) is a fitting title for an album that tilts the scales between the far-flung limits of the jazz-rock spectrum. The keyboardist — whose father is film director John Carpenter, of Halloween fame — had already made inroads in the synthwave and scene under the alias Ludrium, releasing three...
Jazz-fusion innovators Yellowjackets prove they have plenty to add to the game with the release of Parallel Motion (Mack Avenue), their 27th album in a remarkable 40-year career. Though the band is still capable of ripping into a hard-charging groove — as tunes like “Early” and “Onyx Manor” certainly demonstrate — there’s a spaciousness to...
Pianist Emmet Cohen was a hero of the pandemic era in jazz, launching a web series, Live from Emmet’s Place, that served as both a lifeline for jazz fans yearning to experience live jazz and a haven for musicians to convene and make music during lockdowns. What began as a loose jam session between roommates...
With the release of Come What May (Club 44) in 2021, vocalist Jane Monheit celebrated more than 20 years as a recording artist in what has become an ever-evolving jazz landscape. Despite the genre’s incessant changes, Monheit’s M.O. has remained the same: bringing an undeniable sense of swing and suavity to jazz classics and mid-century...
With a nod to the hyper-cool jazz fusion of the 1980s, pianist Connie Han has released Secrets of Inanna on Mack Avenue Music. The album, which takes its name from an ancient Sumerian goddess, seems duly inspired by the electro-acoustic stylings of Chick Corea, Gary Burton and others of the Return to Forever ilk. The...
Australian-born saxophonist and composer Troy Roberts’ fourth album with his Nu-Jive five-piece, Nations United (Toy Robot), is a multi-national affair drawing from the cultural heritage of each of its members and the countries they represent. Lead-off track “Funkafarian” introduces this concept by opening with a deep groove recalling the funk and modern jazz fusion of...
Keyboard masters Dan Cavanagh and James Miley explore new avenues for expression on Another Life (S/N Alliance) In their hands, the two-piano format — occasionally augmented by electronics — sounds like a full orchestra. Add the renowned drumming of John Hollenbeck to the mix and you’ve got yourself one of the most unique sounding trio...
“My music is blossoming,” says vocalist, trumpeter and composer Jennifer Hartswick in a press release accompanying her recent release Something in the Water (Brother Mister Productions). Listening to the track “By the River,” it’s hard to disagree. The song gleefully reflects the current moment in her evolution as an artist, building on a career that...
Michael Orenstein’s debut album as a leader, Aperture (Origin) feels like the affirmation of a promising young talent of piano jazz to come. His music matches theory, practice and invention, drawing from an impressively wide range of influences and styles. Among them, an exploration of the temporal organization of the Cuban clave on “Ode to...
Visionary keyboardist Cameron Graves created “thrash-jazz” by blending classical, jazz, fusion and heavy metal. He continues to propel this unique music forward on his new live album, Live From the Seven Spheres (Mack Avenue). The record features reimaginings of selected tracks from his previous studio outings, Planetary Prince (2017) and Seven (2021), performed with his...
For his latest project, composer Christopher James assembled a cast of some of New York’s finest first-call instrumentalists and talented orchestrators. Each of its tracks feels like a journey. The title of the record, A Rose in the Canyon (Val Gardena Music), suggests imagery that is strongly poetic. It draws attention to the evocative nature...
