Review: SPAZA Debut Release

Mushroom Hour Half Hour is a Johannesburg, South Africa-based experimental music label. A quote from South African musicologist Dr. Sazi Diamini gives a look into the label’s philosophical approach to music-making, “There is no formal process as such ….. it’s an experiment that relies on the sensitivities between the players …..” MHHH outfit SPAZA is

Review: Blacks’ Myths II

“We aim to destroy a history … that no longer serves a purpose.” – Blacks’ Myths Black Expression is at the great place right now and even though all of it isn’t for me, it is amazing to examine all of these avenues open for creatives from the African Diaspora. Whether it is listening to

Feminist Jazz Review: Lost Interview – Michelle Coltrane on Surviving Music

In 2017, I was invited a cover a myriad of events at the Red Bull Music Festival in New York City and Los Angeles. Along with interviewing the iconic music producer, Teddy Riley and legendary composer, Patrick Adams, I was called on to do a series of interviews and reviews to document the first Alice

Review: Ståhls Trio – Källtorp Sessions, Vol. 1

Anyone familiar with my musical taste knows that the vibraphone is my favorite rhythm section instrument. Bobby Hutcherson and Milt Jackson were on constant rotation as a youth and I’ll never part with their records. Yet, after the years I sought out other players who approached the board in different ways. Lionel Hampton (tha Gawd),

Review: Big Ceremony – Big Ceremony EP

A first run through Big Ceremony’s EP only really introduces the play in balance between the synthesizer and drums, and even between technology and humanity. The ten-piece record is filled with live recorded tracks all lasting under six minutes long. With the shortest piece at about 40 seconds, the phrases, rhythmic movements, and fluidity can

Feminist Jazz Review: Amirtha Kidambi Talks Gender and Composition

Amirtha Kidambi is a composer, there’s no denying that at this point in time. But there was a time where this talented musician and intellectual had to break through gender stigmas and discouragement when it came to her studying composition as a young woman. She and I talked for nearly an hour, so this interview

Playlist for the Week of June 3, 2019

Bobby Bradford & Hafez Modirzadeh – Live at the Blue Whale (NoBusiness, 2018) Various – Mushroom Hour Half Hour Presents SPAZA (Mushroom Hour, 2019) Jason Stein, Greg Ward, Eric Revis, Jim Black – Nature Work (Sunnyside, 2019) Pneuma – Who Has Seen the Wind? (Songlines, 2019) Uivo – Zebra (Bocian Records, 2018)

Playlist for the Week of May 20, 2019

Nick Sanders Trio – Playtime 2050 (Sunnyside Communications, 2019) Ben Stapp & Joe Morris featuring Stephen Haynes – Mind Creature Sound Dasein (Listen Foundation!, 2019) Michael Attias – Echoes la Nuit (Out of Your Head Records, 2019) Logan Strosahl’s Spec Ops – Sure (Sunnyside Communications, 2019)

Playlist for Week of May 13, 2019

Charles Rumback – Cadillac Turns (Astral Spirits, 2019) Harris Eisenstadt – Old Growth Forest II (Astral Spirits, 2019) Simon Nabatov, Barry Guy, Gerry Hemingway – Luminous (NoBusiness, 2018) Aron Namenwirth, Eric Plaks, Sean Conly, Jon Panikkar – Hurricane (Culture of Waste Records, 2018)