Multiple Reviews
Old and New Bottles: A Pair of Essential Releases from Joe Henderson
by C. Andrew Hovan
Especially among those who knew him well, Joe Henderson was a true Renaissance man. Born into a large family in Lima, Ohio, he made his way to New York City by way of Detroit--a fertile proving ground for jazz musicians in the 1950s and '60s. While studying at Wayne State University, he counted Donald Byrd, Barry Harris, and Yusef Lateef among his collaborators. His brother, Leon Henderson, also left a small mark on the Detroit scene through his work with ...
Continue ReadingBranciforte & Barbieri: Ghosts in the Machines
by Geno Thackara
Here we have a couple very different varieties of electronics: two deep dives into sound-sculpting that remain determinedly human, however technological or spooky things get. Joseph Branciforte & Jozef Dumoulin ITERAE Greyfade 2026 When describing the thinking behind ambient music, Brian Eno famously said that it should be “as ignorable as it is interesting." If anything, the continual challenge is to do the opposite: practically anyone can create something easy to ignore, but ...
Continue ReadingGuitar and Bass Reviews featuring Josh Achiron
by Jerome Wilson
These are short reviews of recent guitar or bass-led albums. Dave Stryker Blue Fire--The Van Gelder Session Strikezone Records 2026 Guitarist Dave Stryker fulfilled a long-time dream by recording this album with his longstanding organ trio at the legendary Rudy Van Gelder studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. The studio enhances everyone's sound. Drummer McClenty Hunter's cymbal work really sizzles and Jared Gold's organ is a strong presence whether brooding in the background ...
Continue ReadingRick Vito And Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart & Guy Davis: Blues Brothers Indeed
by Doug Collette
Not all blues musicians play blues material exclusively. In fact, some of the most notable practitioners in the genre enhance their reputations by traveling far afield for eclectic selections that freshen their fundamental point(s) of reference. Rick Vito's Slidemaster is just such an effort, while by contrast, the triumvirate of Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart and Guy Davis reaffirms how satisfying is the rediscovery of roots. The unplugged segment in the homestretch of the former's album is only the most ...
Continue ReadingGordon Grdina: Prolific Versatility
by Doug Collette
Gordon Grdina's restless creativity furthers his prolific nature. As a result, in recent years he has issued new albums in twos and threes and this 2026 triad follows couplets of 2021 and 2024 including solo work and efforts with various ensembles he leads such The Marrow and Square Peg. Grdina reaffirms his willingness to experiment and extemporize with this triplicate, all the while demonstrating technique on par with his imagination: clearly he is inspired by his collaborators' sense of adventure ...
Continue ReadingMore Muse-ical Masterpieces Reissued By Time Traveler Recordings
by Joshua Weiner
Shortly after the label was sold to Fantasy in 1971, Prestige Records producer Joe Fields founded Muse Records to document the next phase in jazz. Selections from the Muse catalog are now being given audiophile-quality vinyl reissues by producer Zev Feldman, whose new imprint, Time Traveler Recordings, extends his what he calls his “jazz detective" work for the Resonance, Elemental, and Blue Note labels. Feldman was able to work from the original Muse master tapes, which were thankfully in good ...
Continue ReadingTwo very different albums from Urs Leimgruber
by John Eyles
In 2021, Urs Leimgruber was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a serious chronic illness of the lungs, which causes ever-worsening shortness of breath and is ultimately fatal. A lung transplant offered the only possible way of avoiding this outcome, and, in March 2025, he underwent this complicated and dangerous operation. It was a success, and now another human's respiratory organs are enabling him to breathe and to express himself as a musician again. Two and a half months after his ...
Continue ReadingJon Irabagon: Self-Motivated And Inner-Directed
by Doug Collette
Self-motivated and inner-directed as he is, saxophonist/composer Jon Irabagon has navigated his career path with his very own sense of logic. And, peculiar as that may seem to some, his body of work is like a memorable improvisation, resolving itself at various junctures, just when those various vagaries would seem to preclude such action. So it is with Focus Out and Saturday's Child--while the latter might seem to render the former too conventional for its own good, the duo title ...
Continue ReadingYosef Gutman Levitt: Day and Night
by Geno Thackara
You could say that Yosef Gutman Levitt makes a musical version of land art--that '60s-'70s movement that involved making images or sculptures fitted to existing landscapes, and often using the earth's own materials. The bassist likewise uses a worldly range of tones with no need to fit them into any particular roles, simply letting the sounds grow and flow until it feels like another layer of nature itself. This adjacent pair makes a yin and yang of two beautifully complementary ...
Continue ReadingIn the Land of Giants: OJCs from Thad Jones and Red Garland
by C. Andrew Hovan
The late 1950s marked a particularly fertile period in jazz. Big bands still commanded audiences, while smaller combos often blended veterans of the swing era with the rising architects of modern bop. Musicians such as Thad Jones, Frank Wess, Illinois Jacquet, and Coleman Hawkins moved fluidly among ensembles, thriving in a moment before the stylistic fault lines of the mid-1960s hardened into full-blown “style wars." Prestige Records capitalized on this rich talent pool, frequently assembling ad hoc all-star groups for ...
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