archive
Music Reviews
Anti-Virtuoso Piano, Delicate And Despoiled
May 29, 2012 Masabumi Kikuchi's fully improvised album Sunrise features late, like-minded drummer Paul Motian.
Music Reviews
Jenny Scheinman's 'Mayhem' Hard To Pin Down
April 18, 2012 Scheinman's quartet features players raised on and accustomed to performing all kinds of music.
Music Reviews
Clark Terry: Not Just A Jazz Jester
March 21, 2012 From a new series, Kevin Whitehead reviews a pair of '60s LPs from the distinctive trumpeter.
Music Reviews
Forgotten Gems From The Dave Brubeck Quartet
March 12, 2012 In December, Columbia released a box set of the 19 studio albums Dave Brubeck's quartet recorded between 1955 and 1966. Besides familiar titles like Time Out and Dave Digs Disney, there were a host of all-but-forgotten albums. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says a few of them are well-worth tracking down.
Music Reviews
Matt Wilson: Trios, Quartets And 'Don Knotts'
February 7, 2012 Like a comedian, the drummer knows something about offhand dexterity and split-second timing.
Music Reviews
Jimmy Owens Navigates Monk's 'Brilliant Corners'
January 26, 2012 Owens mostly dresses Thelonious Monk's tunes for uptown wear — Monk the Harlem jam-session swinger.
Music Reviews
François Houle And Benoît Delbecq's Dream State
January 11, 2012 The latest duo recording from the clarinetist and pianist is like a slow-motion sleepwalk.
Music Reviews
'Three Views' Of Trumpeter Dave Douglas
December 14, 2011 Douglas' three very different quintet albums sound very good together, says critic Kevin Whitehead.
Music Reviews
Thelonious Monk And More: 'Jazz Icons' On Screen
December 6, 2011 A new DVD set catches a rare solo Monk gig, plus sets by John Coltrane, Johnny Griffin and others.
Music Reviews
Miles Davis' Great, Often Bizarre 1967 Quintet
November 17, 2011 Kevin Whitehead says this Davis quintet was consistently amazing, not least on its last big tour.
Music Reviews
Two South-American Jazz Fusions (No, Not That Kind)
November 14, 2011 Kevin Whitehead looks at genre-bending new albums by Pablo Aslan and São Paulo Underground.
Music Reviews
Julius Hemphill's 'Dogon A.D.' Still A Revelation 40 Years On
November 4, 2011 The out-of-print and much-coveted album combines a dramatically spare sound with a heavy backbeat.
Music Reviews
Tyshawn Sorey: Making 'Oblique' Patterns Move
October 11, 2011 Under Oblique — I's zigzag lines, Sorey's drums barrel along like a runaway tractor trailer.
Music Reviews
Unearthed Sessions From A Saxophonist Who Dropped Out
October 5, 2011 Doin' the Gigi showcases Gigi Gryce as a swinging saxophonist and writer of quirky melodies.
Music Reviews
Deep Blue Organ Trio Jazzes Up Stevie Wonder
September 5, 2011 The Chicago-based Deep Blue Organ Trio combines a Hammond organ with a guitar and drums. The group's fourth album Wonderful! pays tribute to the Stevie Wonder songbook. Critic Kevin Whitehead says more jazz musicians should cover Wonder, because his tunes are "jazz waiting to happen."
