by Pico As much of a transformational figure as he was, Scott LaFaro wasn’t the only brilliant bassist who had played in Bill Evans’ trio; Eddie Gomez held that esteemed seat for longer than anybody, from 1966 to 1977. Like LaFaro, Gomez was virtually an equal harmonically as the legendary pianist, and shared Evans’ passion for rich melodicism, a passion [...]

by Nick DeRiso Cassandra Wilson, who consistently defies convention as this restless chanteuse, doesn’t disappoint with Silver Pony — issued today on Blue Note as the long-awaited part-in studio, part-live followup to her celebrated Loverly. She has the vocal phrasing, the dusky intellect, of Charlie Parker and the elastic intuition of Betty Carter. Yet, Wilson is no throwback. She writes [...]

by S. Victor Aaron When Jon Irabagon signed with the mighty Concord Records after bagging the 2008 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition for saxophone, you might assume that he would have left behind his wild side to become a more “serious” player. But his continued involvement in the gangsta jazz group Mostly Other People Do The Killing quickly dispelled any [...]

by S. Victor Aaron Miles Davis is takin’ it to the streets. In late spring of 1972, Davis broke a two year hiatus from the studio to act upon his most daring idea of his 45 year recording history: to create music that finally is completely absent of any jazz aesthetic and replace it with “street” sensibilities. An idea to [...]

by Pico Acoustic bassist Harvie S has appeared on over 350 recordings for a very good reason. He has an unshakeable sense of swing, a flawless tone and otherworldly dexterity on his instrument. For a example of his amazing technique, just eyeball the video I embedded in a recent review of a Carol Morgan record. I can only shake my [...]

by Pico Samuel Torres’ life journey from a boy with dreams of being a full-time musician, to becoming a full-time musician, to becoming a successful one, takes another turn with the release last week of his second album, Yaoundé. Born and raised by a hard working a supportive single mother in Bogotá, Columbia, Torres’ perseverance as a percussionist paid off [...]

by Pico If I were to tell you that I’m going to discuss the sax playing skills of a certain Dutch lady, you might think I’m talking about Candy Dulfer. Not hardly. Tineke Postma (pronounced TEE-na-ka POST-ma), from Heerenveen, The Netherlands, is an alto and soprano saxophonist who has a much deeper commitment to the straight jazz, and while going [...]

by Pico Greatness begets greatness. That is almost universally true in jazz, where so many of the best players of a generation got their start playing for the best players of a prior generation. Miles Davis is one the best examples of a major figure to whom many other major figures owe their success and reputation to. Chick Corea is [...]

by Pico I’ve often wondered what a record made by a couple of guys who’ve made a distinguished living scoring films, TV shows, even CD ROM education games would sound like. Actually, I haven’t, but with yesterday’s release of Dave Siebels with Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, I’ve got my answer, anyway. Dave Siebels is a Hammond B3 Organ player [...]

by Pico Miles Davis is takin’ it to the streets. In late spring of 1972, Davis broke a two year hiatus from the studio to act upon his most daring idea of his 45 year recording history: to create music that finally is completely absent of any jazz aesthetic and replace it with “street” sensibilities. An idea to jettison most [...]