Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify The self-titled 2024 debut of Matt Wilson’s Good Trouble drew inspiration from the late civil rights icon John Lewis to craft an album that responded to our tumultuous times by encouraging positivity as a remedy for divisiveness. On the band’s heartfelt follow-up, “Love is the Whole Thing, We …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify The story of the new album by Ulysses Owen Jr. and Generation Y began when the drummer sat down in the studios for a “For the First Time” challenge, reimagining the rock band Nirvana’s song “In Bloom” without ever having heard the original. The session’s massive success, amassing …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify “Feels Like Destiny” is a pivotal creative statement for pianist and producer Skinny Hightower. Rooted in the spiritual warmth of ‘70s soul and funk shaped by the sophistication of jazz fusion, the album finds Skinny writing with renewed confidence and purpose. Drawing from the musical lineage of Stevie …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify Grammy-winning pianist and composer Zaccai Curtis returns with “Sonoluminescence, “Vol. 1.” The record marks a distinct turn in Curtis’ artistic evolution which finds him evolving from an Afro-Cuban focus into a wider sonic landscape, rooted in the textures and grooves of 1970s jazz and funk while pushing confidently …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify Russ Anixter is an arranger, orchestrator, and bandleader whose music exists at the intersection of jazz, rock, free improvisation, and orchestral craft. A graduate of Manhattan School of Music, where he studied jazz composition with Manny Albam and Rich DeRosa, Anixter further developed his orchestral expertise through more …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify When they first took the stage at NYC’s Augie’s Jazz Bar (now Smoke Jazz Club), organist Larry Goldings, guitarist Peter Bernstein and drummer Bill Stewart would never have imagined that 35 years later they’d not only still be working together, but that they would be considered by many …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify Bassist, composer and arranger John Clayton presents his eighth album as a leader, “The Two-o Duo Project,” featuring vocalist Rene Marie and John’s son Gerald Clayton on piano. Rooted in the intimacy of duo playing, the record spans a wide range of material across cultural eras. They draw …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify After recording more than two dozen albums over a remarkable six-decade career, Brazilian pianist, composer and arranger Antonio Adolfo continues to access what seems to be an inexhaustible well of creativity. Throughout his career, he has drawn deeply from Brazil’s vibrant cultural legacy, transforming it through his distinctive …
