Linda Sikhakhane, LINDA Review Linda Sikhakhane’s LINDA: The Music Makes the Name Plural. By Ferell Aubre There is something revealing about a musician placing his own name on an album and then repeatedly making room […]
Henry Threadgill, Vijay Iyer & Dafnis Prieto, Fifteen Review Henry Threadgill, Vijay Iyer & Dafnis Prieto — Fifteen: Nothing Stays Owned for Very Long. by Nolan DeBuke The absence of a bassist on Fifteen initially […]
Ryan Barry, If I Did Not Speak Out Review Ryan Barry’s If I Did Not Speak Out: Making Ideas Consequential By Sylvannia Garutch Saxophonist Ryan Barry leads a jazz group presenting familiar forms in a […]
Sullivan Fortner, Leave That In There Review Leave That In There: Be Open to the Engagement of Sullivan Fortner by Nolan DeBuke Sullivan Fortner’s playing has the kind of technical abundance that can easily become […]
Takashi Matsunaga, Ride Five Review Takashi Matsunaga’s Ride Five: Form Without Repetition by Ferell Aubre How can two improvisers create the feeling of form without depending on literal repetition? On Ride Five, pianist Takashi Matsunaga […]
Dinner Party, Whatchu Bringing? Review Dinner Party: Whatchu Bringing? The Soul By Sylvannia Garutch Dinner Party’s Whatchu Bringing? works because it never treats jazz, hip-hop, R&B, soul, and funk as separate ingredients that need to […]
Skúli Sverrisson & Bill Frisell, For All Your Flowers Review Skúli Sverrisson & Bill Frisell — For All Your Flowers: The Motion In Quiet By Nolan DeBuke Quiet music presents a peculiar compositional problem: how […]
Rik Wright’s Fundamental Forces, Fool’s Fate Review Rik Wright’s Fundamental Forces — Fool’s Fate: Freedom Inside the Form by Ferell Aubre Rik Wright’s Fundamental Forces covers considerable stylistic ground on Fool’s Fate: contemporary jazz-rock fusion, […]
Nicholas Payton + Butcher Brown, A Supreme Blue Review A Supreme Blue: Payton and Butcher Brown Speak the Same Language By Nolan DeBuke How much of a composition can change before it stops being itself? […]
Kenny Barron Trio, So Many Lovely Things: Live in Brecon Review Keeping the Melody in Sight: Kenny Barron Trio’s So Many Lovely Things By Ferell Aubre Archival jazz releases often earn their value by uncovering […]
The Jazz Word 2021
