Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

Passerine began in the fall of 2024 when my older son left home for college and friends began to ask if I were experiencing empty nest syndrome, or half-empty nest syndrome, as was the case. Each time, my reply was a simple, “nah, I’m good…everybody’s good.” And that was true. My wife, the boys, and I were all doing relatively well after many difficult, often harrowing years of helping our first-born navigate deep and dangerous mental health struggles — struggles so severe that we’d already had …

Saxophonist Patrick Shiroishi and drummer Jason Nazary present their new album, here i am no i, on September 18th. The release marks their duo debut for We Jazz Records, adding to an expanding release catalog also including Nazary’s solo album Spring Collection (2021). here i am no i is a free-flowing body of work with continuous forward-motion, building on the acoustic duo setting and expands with electronics and voice landing somewhere beyond genre. Dedicated to jaimie branch, the album is a s…

Thelonious Monk by Francis Gooding, Mats Gustafsson, Fielding Hope, Patrick Preziosi, Andy Thomas, Arttu Tolonen, Bret Sjerven, Daniel Spicer & Wif Stenger, Miles Okazaki by Andrew Scott, Kiri Ra! by Wif Stenger, Jazz Is Dead By Tina Edwards, Dirar Kalash by Henry Boon, Dewey Redman on Impulse by Andy Beta, Water Damage by Matt Sonzala, Mikel Patrick Avery by Patrick Romanowski, The Torched Torch Singers by Alex Coles & more.

On October 23, Animative, Johnson’s third album under his own name and his first for International Anthem/Nonesuch, arrives to turn up the wattage on his artistry. More than any release to date, Animative shows why musicians and a growing community of listeners know this Chicago native and longtime L.A. resident to be one of the most imaginative electroacoustic musicians today, not to mention one of the most stunningly versatile. On Animative, the harmonically rich, loops-inflected sound Johnson…

Like a breath that expands and slowly fades away, “Del Soffio”, Aniello Perduto’s debut for Maple Death Records, takes shape as a single composition lasting just under fifty minutes, stemming from an open score performed at the prestiguous AngelicA | Music Research Center. Amid echoes of European free jazz, electroacoustic improvisation, minimalism, and contemporary music, the trio brings to life an essential and instinctive sound in which every sonic gesture is guided by mutual listening while …

On Live at the KiMo Theater Albuquerque 1979, Cecil Taylor leads a newly reconfigured Unit through a rare Western American performance of volatile grace and immense detail. Piano, alto saxophone, violin, bass, cello and multi-instrumental percussion form a shifting, luminous organism - less gladiatorial than Taylor’s 1978 bands, but no less radical in its freedom.

In Energy Center, Ed Hazell tells the essential story of Studio Rivbea, the Lower Manhattan loft where Sam Rivers and Bea Rivers made radical music possible on its own terms. Drawing on new research, photographs, posters and an unrivalled sessionography, the book restores 24 Bond Street as a home, school, rehearsal room and self-determined cultural engine.

Limited edition CD & download album from Danny Thompson’s group fusing jazz with folk music. The triple CD comes in an 8-panel digisleeve with 28 page booklet detailing the complete history of the band and illustrated with photos and images mainly from Paul Dunmall’s archives. When asked “is it jazz or folk?” about his band Whatever, Danny Thompson replied “well, it’s Whatever!” Hence the name. When Danny started Whatever, a trio with reed player Tony Roberts and guitarist Bernie Holland, and in…

Welcoming Tori Kudo back to A Colourful Storm with a new edition of Maher Shalal Hash Baz's Faux Départ, a document of a stateside tour that culminated in a recording session at the legendary Dub Narcotic Studio with a one-time ensemble of Greg Saunier and Chris Cohen (Deerhoof), Andrew Maxwell, McCloud Zicmuse, Arrington de Dionyso, Takashi Ueno, Saya Ueno, Naoki Otani, Akiko Hotaka, Masaaki Endo and Naoki Otani. Always spontaneous, never rehearsed. Music in and of this world, seemingly teeteri…

Following their debut “Jazz Report From The Hood", which proved a major success and brought attention to Omasta as one of the most distinctive groups emerging from the contemporary jazz scene, the musicians return with their second album, “Hits Different”. The record develops the language established on their debut, pushing it into new territory and shifting the perspective from that of the protagonists themselves to that of a narrator telling the story. In just one year, Omasta went from an eme…

Nat Birchall goes back to the source. Not Coltrane this time, but the record that led him to Coltrane in the first place. In 1973 a schoolboy in Lancashire ordered a triple LP from his local record shop after reading about it in Black Music magazine. It was Grounation, by Count Ossie & The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari - hand drums, chanting, poetry, and the tenor saxophone of Cedric 'Im' Brooks, soulful and untamed, heard years before Birchall ever put on a John Coltrane record. When he finall…

Obscure 1979 album of excellent fusion, jazz-funk and easy listening on Pathos, previously released in 1975 as Evolution Now by Ector Davis. Never re-issued on either LP or CD.

Martin Pyne’s new release, the double album Trios, focuses on his unique approach to the vibraphone. The album places his playing in the context of two contrasting trio lineups. In Vampire Coast Trio Martin is joined by one of his favourite drummers, Johnny Hunter, along with the extraordinary double bass player Michael Bardon. Together they make music with a truly transparent texture, full of both space and sonic detail together with richly lyrical melody and counterpoint. Martin says, “Michael…

Rare 1981 album on New Trolls' Magma label with very diverse music (easy listening, cosmic, ragtime, etc.) mainly played on electric and electronic keybords with lots of great synthetic sounds, composed by I Signori Della Galassia's Luigi Mosello and Giuseppe Aleo with Luigi Barisone. Never re-issued on either LP or CD. With original innersleeve.

Definitive 2LP compilation on Teichiku by the pioneering Japanese jazz and ryūkōka singer. With obi.

Original Japanese edition on MPS of the 1978 album with lush multi-tracked vocal arrangements of classic songs. With insert and obi.

Obscure 1982 album on Gypsy Records with lovely keyboard-centered easy listening music "expressly composed by Gian Stellari and Guido Robuschi for Symbol International magazine for the friends of Rolls Royce - Ferrari - Riva. Never re-issued on either LP or CD.

Obscure and very enjoyable 1972 album of romantic Hawaiian mood music on Bang!! Bang!! by Oreste Dottini.

1975 re-issue on Express of the 1973 Japan-only album by Argentinian tango singer and guitarist. With insert and obi.

1968 album on Victor with mood guitar cover renditions of Japanese pop hits by the celebrated guitar player. Glamour cover.

1969 red vinyl 2LP compilation on Capitol's "Deluxe Double Series" with several lavishly orchestrated all-time hits. Glamour cover, with obi.

1974 double album on CBS/Sony with the label's in-house orchestra playing beautifully arranged instrumental versions of Japanese pop hits. Glamour cover.

Original Japanese edition with different cover of the 1960 album with lush instrumental orchestral versions of classic Italian and French songs. Glamour cover.

1968 album on Columbia with mood jazz cover renditions of Japanese pop hits by the celebrated saxophone player backed by the label's in-house orchestra. Glamour cover, with obi.

1970's album on My Pack with groovy jazz funk cover renditions of international pop/rock hits by the celebrated drummer. Glamour cover, with obi.

1968 album on Crown's "Golden Series" with mood jazz cover renditions of Japanese pop hits by the celebrated saxophone player. Glamour cover, with obi.

Japan-only edition with different track-list and cover on Philips "Love Sounds" series of the 1972 album Après Toi with powerful orchestral arrangements of international pop/rock hits. Glamour cover, with obi.

Japan-only 1973 compilation on Philips with exotic orchestral arrangements of latin music hits. Glamour cover, with obi.

1974 album on Durium with mood jazz cover renditions of popular international tunes by the celebrated saxophone player with distinctive glamour cover.

1975 album on Durium with mood jazz cover renditions of popular international tunes by the celebrated saxophone player with distinctive glamour cover.

1976 album on Durium with mood jazz cover renditions of popular international tunes by the celebrated saxophone player with distinctive glamour cover.

1982 album on Durium with mood jazz cover renditions of popular international tunes by the celebrated saxophone player with distinctive glamour cover.

A Delicate Stiletto comprises of 10 songs from Herb’s ‘vintage years’. Only 4 of the songs have been officially released before, back in 2006 and the other 6 have been hiding out in Herb’s lounge cabinet for 25 years. Imagine an even more whiskey soaked Dean Martin walking out of the cinema after watching a David Lunch marathon. Entering the nearest seedy night club and going hell for leather on the carpeted stage as a disco ball shines and glistens in the bloodshot eyes of a hundred seated goth…

After a nine-year hiatus, Marteau Rouge  — Pauvros, Foussat, Sato — made a comeback for a one-off concert, this time alongside Daunik Lazro, one of their long-standing friends.

Japan-only album on red vinyl on Odeon's "Popular Deluxe Series" with perfect lounge arrangements of international hits. Glamour cover, with obi and original innersleeve.

1977 Japanese re-issue om EMI/Odeon of the 1964 album with easy-listening orchestral versions of baroque and classical compositions. Glamour cover, with obi.

Japan-only 1972 album on Globe of easy-listening renditions for trumpet and lush orchestrations of pop and classical hits by the celebrated Italian trumpet player. Glamour cover, with obi.

1970 album on Teichiku by the prolific and influential Hawaiian music Japanese group. Glamour cover.

Japanese edition on Polydor of the 1968 album of Hawaiian-style easy-listening by Belgian studio band. Glamour cover.

1967 2LP Japanese compilation on Victor with versions of classic Japanese pop songs by tenor sax giants with their ensembles, with beautiful glamour cover.