by Nick DeRiso Even a passing fan can purchase with some confidence the touchstone jazz recordings of the last century. But what next? How to explore deeper into the legacy? SomethingElse! is here to help, with an ongoing guide to what we like to call “if/then” jazz listening … IF YOU LIKE … Charles Mingus’ The Black Saint and the [...]

by S. Victor Aaron A guy who has helped to pioneer a fluid yet supple sound for the trombone, participated in so many classic records and performed as a member of so many prominent jazz ensembles should be a first ballot entry into the jazz Hall of Fame, if such a thing were to exist. But the only trombonist to [...]

“The Magic Hour” by Louisiana-born trumpeter Wynton Marsalis was that sweetest of swinging homecomings – like time spent laughing with old friends on a front porch. We have Marsalis returning finally to small-band work – where he once sparked the kind of mainstream interest in a jazz trumpeter enjoyed long ago by the likes of Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis. [...]

by S. Victor Aaron This installment of Quickies takes a glance at three new offerings from HighNote Records. HighNote Reocrds, in case you didn’t know, has been around since 1996, a creation of former Muse Records founder and Prestige Records exec Joe Fields. As a longtime veteran of the whole jazz record biz, Fields had been able to stock his [...]