Most Popular Posts of 2018

Op-Ed: A Feminist Urge Is Driving the Shape of Jazz to Come, written by Hillary Donnell Solidarity with New York Musicians [Updated Post] Interview: Trumpeter Jacob Wick Artist Feature: Jessica Ackerley In Conversation with Scottie McNiece, Co-Founder of International Anthem Recording Co., written by Jordannah Elizabeth Interview: Sam Weinberg Artist Feature: Samantha Riott Artist Feature:

Best Records of 2018

Luke Stewart – Works for Upright Bass and Amplifier (Astral Spirits) Stephanie Richards – Fullmoon (Relative Pitch) Mary Halvorson – Code Girl (Firehouse 12) Weasel Walter – Skhiizm (ugEXPLODE) Sarah Bernstein’s Unearthish – Crazy Lights Shining (Phase Frame Music) Jeremiah Cymerman – Decay of the Angel (5049) Fay Victor’s SoundNoiseFUNK – Wet Robots (ESP-Disk’) Andrew Barker

Best Live Concerts of 2018

(Chronological Order) VAX: Patrick Breiner, Liz Kosack, Devin Gray – Brooklyn Conservatory, January 21 Mary Halvorson Trio – The Stone, February 2 Patrick Shiroishi Nonet – Ham & Eggs (Los Angeles), March 12 Don Dietrich & Camille Dietrich – JACK, April 13 Viv Corringham & Nicola Hein – Outskirts, May 6 Anais Maviel & Luke

Playlist for the Week of November 19, 2018

John McCowen – Solo Contra (International Anthem, 2017) Francois Houle, Alexander Hawkins, Harris Eisenstadt – You Have Options (Songlines, 2018) Kyle Bruckmann’s Wrack – … Awaits Silent Tristero’s Empire (Singlespeed Music, 2014) Maxime de la Rochefoucauld – Automates Ki (Plastique Records, 1997) Dustin Carlson – Air Ceremony (Out of Your Head Records, 2018) Vibrating Skull Trio – self-titled (unknown, n.d.)

Review: Artaud – Cábala

Cábala tells the story of two horses, one that runs to be wild, free, and limitless, and the other who is old and dying but is calm because he knows he will be joining the earth. Although written in the description of this record, it is clear through the two pieces that Artaud, the Peruvian

There’s a Mingus in My Life

The year was 1994. I’d already been collecting records for several years and making beats since the late 1980s. I was pretty fortunate as a 14-year-old to have had so much rich musical exposure at that point. This was before Hip-Hop had gotten terrible and early enough that you could still find relatively rare Jazz

Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool Documentary Retrospective

According to the Center for Disease Control, somewhere between the years of 1988 and 1990, the rate of HIV-AIDs infection among African Americans first exceeded those of whites and would remain so until today. At the dawn of the 1990s, Black america would find itself in the midst of a full blown health crisis with

While We Still Have Bodies at Two Concerts in Sep 2018

While We Still Have Bodies is one of the most developed freely improvised ensembles to emerge in Brooklyn over the past decade. This band is comprised of Michael Foster (saxophones), Ben Gerstein (trombone), Sean Ali (bass), and Flin van Hemmen (drums). As stated, their music is entirely improvised and each time I have seen them

Review: Aquiles Navarro-Tcheser Holmes Duo at In Gardens Series, Sep 8, 2018

I have been familiar with trumpeter Aquiles Navarro and Tcheser Holmes for several years now. Their work in Irreversible Entanglements, a quintet featuring Moor Mother, Keir Neuringer, and Luke Stewart, has seen them touring internationally since 2016 and releasing one of the foremost records of 2017. Navarro and Holmes have been working on their duo

Review: Cataclysmic Commentary

Hit ‘play’ and the first track on Audience Participation is consistent with its name. Cataclysmic Commentary’s debut record was released in March. The band is comprised of Ben Cohen on saxophones, Eli Wallace on keyboards, and Dave Miller on drums. “Surprise Kitten Explosion 5000” draws us into a space of free sound, wild and vibrant.