Videos

Ernesto Simpson All-Star Band and Yosvany Terry by Martin Cohen Ernesto Simpson All-Star Band and Yosvany Terry by Martin Cohen

“On October 18, 2009 renowned drummer, Ernesto Simpson brought an all-star... 

Photos

2009 Puerto Rico Heineken Jazz Festival 2009 Puerto Rico Heineken Jazz Festival

Photographer Carlos Haddock has been documenting the culture and music of New York... 

Reviews

Robby Ameen – Days in the Life (Two and Four Records – 2009) Robby Ameen – Days in the Life (Two and Four Records – 2009)

Robby Ameen is one of those first call percussionists who has been chaffing at the bit to produce something all his own. Now he has his chance, with Days in the Life and he acquits himself with excellence. Things might have very well gone awry, as so often happens when self producing the first record. This, however, does not happen with... [Read more]

John Beasley – Positootly! (Resonance Records 2009) John Beasley – Positootly! (Resonance Records 2009)

John Beasley’s Positootly! is awash with Lydian modes. That and it is clear that Beasley has listened carefully to Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. However, he is also a singular pianist who is chirpy and breaks up his dazzling melodic runs with staccato perfunctory harmonic statements that then bend the music in another surprising... [Read more]

Coto Pincheira – The Sonido Moderno Project (Self Produced 2009) Coto Pincheira – The Sonido Moderno Project (Self Produced 2009)

Coto Pincheira, as he prefers being called, has made an enthusiastic impression with The Sonido Modern Project, literally, the Modern Sound Project. This virtuoso pianist, to whom clave comes naturally, has attempted to pour this rollicking backbeat into a cauldron set alight by the vast array of Afro-Caribbean metaphors and rhythms. The... [Read more]

Brian Lynch Afro Cuban Jazz Orch. – Bolero Nights (for Billie Holliday) Brian Lynch Afro Cuban Jazz Orch. – Bolero Nights (for Billie Holliday)

For a fleeting moment -just one fleeting moment- it appears to be a bit of a stretch putting “bolero” and Billie Holiday together. There appears to be a tad too much “bolero” and not enough “Holiday” on Brian Lynch’s Bolero Nights (Venus Records – Japan 2009). Soon, however, the plaintive... [Read more]

Kalil Wilson – Easy to Love (Self Produced 2009) Kalil Wilson – Easy to Love (Self Produced 2009)

It is somewhat disconcerting how few new male vocalists inhabiting the jazz idiom practice their craft with a degree of genius and virtuosity as saxophonists and other instrumentalists. It is a conundrum why not so many new artists play the first instrument–the human voice. Some posit that poeta nascitur non fit? Alternatively, is... [Read more]

Henry Brun & The Latin Playerz – A Tribute to Duke Ellington Henry Brun & The Latin Playerz – A Tribute to Duke Ellington

A musical meeting of minds with Duke Ellington must certainly be the “Holy Grail” of many a composer and arranger no matter what language and idiom the musical tribute or acknowledgement will be played in. However, every musician who attempts that feat must invariably fall through the mythical trapdoor, like in Lewis Carroll’s... [Read more]