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Warren Wolf: Smoove Vibes
by Pierre Giroux
There is something quietly disarming about Smoove Vibes. It is the kind of album that does not shout its ambitions but simply settles into the room with you. Warren Wolf working from his basement, handles an impressive range of musical duties, including vibraphone, marimba, drums, keyboards, vocals, and sampled elements that shape the music from its rhythmic foundation to its final polish. You can hear him thinking like a band, not just a soloist, building each arrangement piece by piece ...
Continue ReadingChris Aschman: Volcanic
by Jack Bowers
Although multi-instrumentalist Chris Aschman's third recording may be a shade less than Volcanic, it does deliver some heavy punches marshaled from its roots in the funk/rock/fusion format. Aschman, who plays trumpet and steel pans, is clearly on board with that, as he wrote all save one of the album's seven numbers and arranged every one. Aschman's viewpoint is visible as well in his choice of the quartet's drummer, Henry Plumb, who more than anyone makes sure the rock-heavy ...
Continue ReadingBrandon Sanders: Lasting Impression
by Pierre Giroux
Brandon Sanders' 2025 release, Lasting Impression, is a heartfelt reaffirmation of the core values that have shaped jazz drumming for generations. Instead of chasing novelty for its own sake, Sanders grounds the album in straightforward clarity that honours the legacy of those countless craftsmen who viewed swing as a personal responsibility. From the opening bars, he demonstrates he is a drummer dedicated to supporting the ensemble and allowing the music to breathe. The stellar band, assembled for this purpose, includes ...
Continue ReadingMauricio Morales and Adam Hersh: Between Dreams and Twilight
by Neil Duggan
Between Dreams and Twilight marks the first joint collaboration between Mauricio Morales and Adam Hersh. The pair became friends when Hersh gave Morales a lift home from the Continental Club in Los Angeles. Their album features nine pieces: three written by bassist Morales, three by pianist Hersh and three co-written. The duo keep excellent company; they are joined by vibraphonist Warren Wolf, guitarist Mike Moreno and drummer Gary Novak. The album also features the L.A.-based Rogue Lemon String Quartet. These are all musicians ...
Continue ReadingLoren Schoenberg and His Jazz Orchestra: So Many Memories
by Jack Bowers
Jazz polymath Loren Schoenberg reverses the hands of time on So Many Memories, unveiling sixteen never-before- recorded charts written by the renowned melodist Eddie Sauter in the late 1930s for the Red Norvo-Mildred Bailey Orchestra. To paint his canvas, Schoenberg enlisted students and recent graduates of New York's Juilliard School of Music to be his orchestra, with guest artist Warren Wolf sitting in on xylophone for Norvo, the jazz world's acknowledged master of that instrument before he moved later in ...
Continue ReadingLionel Hampton, Terry Gibbs, Bobby Hutcherson & Warren Wolf
by Joe Dimino
On this special Christmas Day episode of Neon Jazz, we're unwrapping an hour dedicated to the true masters of the vibraphone--those incredible artists who made this instrument sing like no other. This celebration was sparked by an unforgettable performance by the brilliant Warren Wolf at The Blue Room, nestled in the historic 18th and Vine district of Kansas City, MO. We kick things off with Warren Wolf's “Saturn's Child" from his 2024 masterpiece History of the Vibraphone. From there, the ...
Continue ReadingChristian Sands: Embracing Dawn
by Mike Jurkovic
Way back in the mottled history of the 1950s and '60s, record biz guys in sharkskin might kick down a DJ's door and bark: “You gotta to hear this single!" But who truly listens to and what exactly is a single these days? Add in the disturbing though elusive truth that any single can take any physical or temporal shape and the evidence just points to one thing: First impressions have doomed many a pundit. If ...
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