The power of a single long-ago hit TV show to fashion our perception of a multi-faceted artist is staggering. Since becoming legendary for his synth-driven theme and dynamic scores for “Miami Vice,” that’s been Jan Hammer’s never-ending cultural calling card. His great...

In the 90s when composer/guitarists like Ottmar Liebert and Armik were blazing their lilting yet fiery trails in Nouveau Flamenco music, the phrase seemed like a clever way to epitomize the growing genre. Had those who coined it seen further into the future and realize...

The name Sam Jones might not spark instant recognition among modern jazz fans, but his countless all-star associations will. Best known for his work with Cannonball Adderley from 1959-65, the influential bassist and composer’s resume also features a long stint with Osc...

In this age of digital consumption and streaming, it feels more and more like brilliant CD packaging concepts are a dying art form – which makes the imagery on veteran guitarist Lou Volpe’s adventurously arranged, crisply played and eminently soulful, bluesy and swingi...

In the sensibilities of a master vocal interpreter and storyteller like Diane Schuur, great jazz is a matter of transferring passions from the genius of the songwriter to the singer’s own personal life experiences and then out towards a universal experience we can all...

The timeless nature of jazz ensures that there’s no literal sonic era-specific “stamp” on any recording. An album recorded 20, 30…even 60 years ago can sound as good and have as much emotional impact as a session recorded last month. This wondrous reality works to the...

Checking out a new indie band for the first time is often a gateway to innumerable musical pleasures, and sometimes these extend beyond the experience of immersing - and in the case of Alabama based dream pop-punk-psychedlic-experimental rock Witch’s Wall, being comple...

With the release of his powerful, no holds barred song “The Coronavirus,” Darrell Kelley perfectly meets our unique, challenging moment in history by addressing our strange new day to day reality and its attendant fears and social protocols.

Teaming with his producer/co...

When first discovering a vibrant, visionary new artist, there’s always the tendency to connect his or her artistry to others who have captured our musical hearts in the past. When I started to listen to composer, pianist and drummer Masa Takumi’s multiple shades of ama...

A sonically expansive, ever evolving 27 years since making his debut back in his lead flute playing days with Afternoon in Sedona, Nicholas Gunn is releasing his extraordinary 20th album Pacific Blue into a very different world than he could have imagined existing whil...

Sometimes the best pathways to understanding the intention and necessity for innovative artists to make experimental/avant-garde/purely improvisational free jazz can be found in the liner notes of an offbeat project like MZM, which combines the talents, offbeat procliv...

In his fascinating liner notes for Solar Wind, a trippy, offbeat and purely improvised avant-garde collection combining the collective history, intuitive talents and just about anything goes mindset of of Robert Dick (flutes, piccolo, voice), Joelle Leandre (contrabass...