Where better to look for musical inspiration than to inexplicable phenomena. Trombonist and composer Curtis Hasselbring leads his jazz septet, The New Mellow Edwards plus three additional players, in a hypothetical interpretation of mysterious number puzzles transmitted on “Number...

To jazz aficionados and music explorers alike: here is a refreshing new album of electronically-infused jazz worth your attention. The Kandinsky Effect is a transatlantic trio composed of Warren Walker (saxophone/effects), Gaël Petrina (acoustic and electric bass/effects) and Caleb Dolister...

New York-based Stan Killian’s tenor saxophone voice can be described as pensive with influences of Trane, Mobley, Griffin, and Getz. His colors are rich and they burn in a quiet fire of long, unbroken lines, so it would seem Killian’s style settles best in a ballad – as it does on...

It’s all about the Brazilian rhythms for this jazz organ trio. Afternoon in Rio‘s tropical flavors include earthy samba funk, heavily accentuated samba-de-breque, bossa nova, chorinho, baio, and even some Latin rock. Says guitarist Paulo Morello: “We play Brazilian music in a unique...

Revival of the Big Band musical aesthetic certainly was a goal of Swedish composer/arranger and saxophonist Bernt Rosengren when he formed his big band in 1975. The recording here, a reissue, is of that 19-piece band made up of top-tier Swedish musicians along with American pianist Horace...

Awarded an Angel Award for best album of 2012 in the jazz and blues category, Light Year recognizably deserves attention and appreciation of a wide audience – it’s a huge success, especially for such a young group! Inner Spaces, the name of the jazz quintet, is a cooperation...

The jazz album The Mendoza Line features thirteen original tracks composed by Raleigh Dailey. The Mendoza Line, for those who are not familiar with the term, refers to a threshold of mediocrity, named after the decidedly average baseball hitter Mario Mendoza. Whether the album was titled for...

Blood Sings is an interesting jazz album dedicated to the music of Suzanne Vega. For those who are not familiar with her, Suzanne Vega is a singer-songwriter renowned for her characteristically folk-inspired music. (Vega was a leading artist during a period of folk-music revival in the early...

Le Duo plays Jacques Brel is a unique instrumental rereading of the great French singer-composer Brel’s works. The jazz project germinated with legendary producer Alan Douglas who was inspired by the American “songbooks” tradition – such as with George Gershwin and Cole...

I must confess to my predilection for well-executed reinterpretations of jazz standards. Therefore, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has had the pleasure of listening to “The Real Deal” that this album would float right to the top of my classical jazz favorites. An ad hoc...

A thirty hour bus trip in Mali. The album title, Bamako by Bus, was inspired by just such a trip Daniel Freedman – the world class percussionist – took as he ventured to explore new genres from around the world. Freedman gives us a taste of that journey in an electrifyingly...