It’s testament to the timeless melodic excitement, seductive, funky and fiery grooves and crackling electric guitarisma of multi-instrumentalists and sound designers Dieter Spears and Brian Paris that the revamp of their extraordinary dual new age/rock instrumental project Speris is having such an impact nearly 30 years after they originally conceived and recorded it. Pop in on their dedicated website ALBUM: SPERIS - Inhaus Creative and you’ll see it plain as day: Speris is

Oneness-World , an extraordinarily hopeful and powerfully inspirational masterwork from the expansive, ever-evolving imaginations of visionary creative team and husband and wife duo Premik Russell Tubbs and Margee Minier-Tubbs, is driven by a sense of celebration about the interconnectedness of human hearts. A fascinating, richly textured 47-minute sonic journey, the album artfully and soulfully fuses elements of world music, jazz fusion, Indian and Celtic influences, dashes

With the release of Galactic Tide, Vol. 1 in 2023, veteran drummer Steve Haas and keyboardist/composer Pete Drungle’s collective The Haas Company is quickly evolving into the ever-adventurous, willing to explore anywhere (hence titles like Galactic Tide and Celestial Latitude) 2020s equivalent of the legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra. Which makes legendary fusion violinist Jerry Goodman – who played with John McLaughlin and company in the ensemble’s first incarnation – the p

In my previous writeups on the ever-innovative and adventurous avant-garde jazz composer and electric violin visionary Jason Kao Hwang, I have enthusiastically referred to the importance of having renowned jazz academic Scott Currie on hand to pen impactful liner notes that convey the intention, themes and intricate details of Hwang’s compelling free form improvisations. This dynamic works wonders once more on Hwang’s latest intriguingly titled masterwork Myths of Origin, a s

While veteran pianist Andy Nevala’s performing and recording career has included stints with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Atlanta Latin Jazz Orchestra in addition to leading his own quartet, the heart of everything in his world is jazz education. The first doctoral student in the Jazz Studies Program at the University of Colorado, he is currently Director of Jazz Studies at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama. Under his direction, the JSU Jazz Ensembl

Nearly two decades before Prince commandeered the color and earned his nickname “The Purple One” with the multi-media success of Purple Rain, there was an exciting purple aesthetic going on in 1967 – the year of Jimi Hendrix’s classic “Purple Haze,” and for those into wild, freewheeling avant-garde jazz, bassist Steve Tintweiss’ dynamic collective The Purple Why. Six years after releasing the first album from his decades old archives on INKY DoT MEDIA, he blesses the world aw

While many jazz musicians tag their projects with random cool titles unrelated to any theme, veteran mood-setting, shape shifting guitarist David Bailis titles his fourth album Running Through My Mind as an ode to his fascinating “other” life as an elite runner, 2:53 marathoner, triathlete, coach and host of Tourganic , a podcast offering his thoughts on surviving and training while on the road. Emerging as a unique voice in jazz following years of playing everything from ele

When the visionary creative team of husband-and-wife duo Margee Minier-Tubbs & Premik Russell Tubbs first released their infectious hipster, jazz and spoken word piece “The Bells,” it was the playful closing track of their inspirational global fusion masterwork Oneness-World . Released in May, it was simply another fascinating entry among many other more prominent focal points on the album – and something of a colorful outlier on a project that was about so many other more s

When a debut album is as melodically and harmonically grandeur-filled, intricately and ambitiously produced and star-studded (Munyungo Jackson, Otmaro Ruiz) as Brazilian guitarist Roberto Montero’s Todos os Tempos , there must be a ton of incredible professional history paving the way. As listeners journey on a beautiful, rhythmically diverse free-flowing ride from the lively, percussion, Fender Rhodes and vocal fueled breezes of “Igarape (Caminho de Canoa)” through the balmy

After a prolific career composing for big bands, Latin and ensembles and popular artists,  playing a key role with Puerto Rico salsa band La Sonora Pancena and forming the Steely Dan tribute band Royal Scam, veteran pianist and arranger Gino Amato put his expansive talents to use as a bandleader, arranger and co-producer (with fellow pianist Oscar Hernandez) on Latin Crossroads – an epic, uber ambitious album re-imagining and Afro-Cubanizing pop and Songbook standards leading

In a streaming focused world where cover art is often limited to thumbnail images, the artfufl comic book like painting of a street in the City by the Bay circa late 40’s offers a stirring invitation to experience the stylistically eclectic, bebop and Latin leaning excitement and soulfulness of the Steve Rosenbloom Big Band’s stellar, emotionally engaging and constantly hoppin’ album San Francisco 1948. The time traveling aspect of its title and dreamy, nostalgic title track

A four time Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Creative Engagement grant recipient, multi-talented vibraphonist, composer, arranger and bandleader Mike Freeman is renowned throughout NYC for concert productions that highlight the history of Latin music in his Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, the tradition of vibes in Latin music and the countless original pieces he’s released on his solo albums and with Mike Freeman Zonavibe since 2007. From the fast grooving, super percussive high