Blame it on my being born in New Jersey in the 1950s, but I seemed……...
Winter 2022
Publisher's Letter
Prelude
Less than a month after The Beatles released Abbey Road, George Benson entered the Rudy……...
Paul Mehling swings Gypsy jazz from the Golden Gate. Paul Mehling was on the bandstand……...
Exploring the 12-tone technique opened up a plethora of possibilities for Michael Varverakis. On his……...
From a shy teen with a desire to make music to an acclaimed, globe-traveling jazz……...
Traditions
Lessons learned on countless bandstands infuse Calvin Keys’ jazz with soul. A squat brick building……...
Contempo
With a bluesy new album under his belt, Grant Geissman talks vintage guitars and comic……...
Blu Notes
Playing both guitar and oud, Gordon Grdina finds a middle ground between composition and improvisation….…...
Magazine Features
Disc One: Guitar Picks Kurt Rosenwinkel continues to surprise. During the past year, the distinctive…
Jeff Parker explores a variety of sonic possibilities, following only the compass of rigorous individualism….…...
Inspired by Jimi Hendrix, Ronald Shannon Jackson and other adventurous players, a guitar superhero continues……...
Julian Lage discusses the influences of Bill Frisell, John Zorn, spirituality and the vintage instruments……...
During a year in which the aftershocks of the COVID lockdown were still reverberating, jazz……...
John Scofield boldly goes where no album in his long, diverse discography has gone before:……...
Auditions
I’m writing this just a few weeks before a celebration of the life and legacy……...
Originally published on Dec. 13, 2022 By Josef Woodard Jazz artists reach for transcendence in……...
Drum sets and hand drums drive the action on recent releases. “Drums” and “percussion” often……...
Pianist Connie Han’s third Mack Avenue release is inspired by Sumerian mythology from ancient Mesopotamia……...
At the top of this disc, you hear the enormous, singing sound of Rufus Reid’s……...
Pianist Angelica Sanchez and her trio make a show-stopping entrance with the opening track of……...
On his seventh album, Midnight Crisp, Japanese trumpet alchemist Takuya Kuroda continues to effortlessly meld……...
After 21 years as a piano trio — the first 13 albums with pianist Ethan……...
In 2021, as she celebrated 35 years as a recording artist, vocalist, pianist and songwriter……...
Back Home in Kansas City, the latest recording by saxophonist Bobby Watson, gets better as……...
The Verve label boasts a distinguished history of recording stellar vocalists. Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday,……...
Starting in March 2020, pianist Emmet Cohen, along with bassist Russell Hall and drummer Kyle……...
Miles Davis’ 1960s groups produced several subsequent keyboard-playing bandleaders, with Joe Zawinul (Weather Report), Chick……...
Bobby Broom dispels the notion that guitar and piano can’t get along on the bandstand….…...