Creating an environment that you don't just hear but enter as a secret visitor, this is the music of Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko. From the ruminative opening piano chords of the pianist David Virelles, we get the sense that we are being led to a peaceful place; a place where...

When the crooner Giacomo Gates tackles a project, you never know what to expect, but you can pretty much take it to the bank that it will be both entertaining and interesting. This tall, rugged, one-time heavy equipment operator with the sonorous baritone is not exactly what we have come...

The recently re-named Carnegie-Farian Room of the Nyack Library is a jewel of a performance space, with its aged wood and stone turn of the century interior finishes. The space becomes as much a part of the performance as do the players who...

In listening to the alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa's latest offering Gamak, I am struck by the passion for experimental immersion that is present throughout the endeavor. The music is an almost seamless integration of progressive ideas and eastern influenced musical tonalities. The publicist's...

From the opening notes of Tom Harrell's latest High Note release Number Five you are catapulted into a break neck duet between the smooth as silk trumpeter and his equally cacophonous drummer Johnathan Blake. "Dizzy Gillespie's Blues N' Boogie" roars out of the gates of this fine album with a...

As you might suspect, not all albums I receive and listen to are wonderful, let alone review worthy. As fate would have it, I recently listened to three separate albums that each, independently, piqued my interest. Curiously they all had the one unifying factor, the gutsy baritone saxophone sound of...

The saxophonist Donny McCaslin has been steadily adding to a body of work that is firmly establishing him as a powerful voice in modern creative music. As a in-demand sideman on such interesting recent efforts like Ryan Truesdale's Gil Evans...

Once again it is time for my annual Notes on Jazz listing of the Living Legend of Jazz .This is the...

Within the confines of the elegantly appointed Carnegie Room at the Nyack Library, a full house made up of the curious and the cognoscenti, came to listen and feel the music of a modern pianistic virtuoso by the name of Jason Moran.

The library was originally formed in 1879, but...

Friday evening was the last evening of a three-night event held at the Frederick P. Rose Theater for the benefit of Jazz at Lincoln Center. The event was in honor of J.A.L.C. Board Chairman, Lisa Schiff,...

Each week there seems to be at least one CD in my mailbox that features yet another female jazz singer. Some have stellar back-up bands or top quality arrangers. Few leave lasting impressions
Here are two that do.

Singer Kathy Kosins, a name...

The pianist Vijay Iyer is one of the most celebrated jazz musicians of his generation. He has garnered an endless collection of awards from the press, a cult-like following by his fans and deserved respect and recognition from his fellow musicians. With this...

On a cool, crystal clear Saturday evening in New York, the eclectic drummer Matt Wilson and his quartet were scheduled to play three sets, part of a multi-night series celebrating the release of his latest CD An Attitude for Gratitude. Having previewed the album,...

As the epicenter of modern jazz, New York City has always been a magical lodestone, irresistibly attracting talented musicians at every stage of their development and careers. The city offers an unparalleled opportunity for musicians to play and collaborate with...

As virtuoso drummer Jack DeJohnette approaches his seventieth birthday -- he will turn 70 on August 9th of this year -- he can look back at an extensive body of work that speaks for itself. Interestingly he started out as a pianist, only later...

This past Monday evening, appropriately on the anniversary of Martin Luther King's birthday, I was fortunate enough to attend a very special farewell event. The occasion could have easily been the marking of a tragedy, as it was a gathering to memorialize the recent passing of Ralph MacDonald, the percussionist/songwriter/producer...

The year 2011 was an inspirational year. I was privileged to listen to, and in some cases experience "live," some of the best and most varied musical performances that I have seen in many a year. With all the discussion of jazz dying and the graying and shrinking of the...

Perched on the mezzanine level just above the lobby of the posh Kitano hotel on Park at 38th Street is a music room of extraordinary intimacy. Affectionately known as Gino's living room, promoter Gino Moratti has been bringing top-notch jazz to the Kitano since 2006. On Friday November 18th the...

The Borough of Brooklyn has become a melting pot of all things artistic. My son, a 25-year-old writer/editor, has made Brooklyn his adopted home. He was marveling recently that so many modern day masters of contemporary writing, regularly give readings of their work around town. I often find myself reviewing...

For the last several years, the trumpeter Tim Hagans has been a ubiquitous force on the modern jazz scene, both as a powerful voice on his instrument and as a talented composer and arranger. Recently, at the season's opener for the Westchester...