Posts by Jim Hynes

On May 25, 2025, the recently anointed NEA Jazz Master Marshall Allen turns 101. It’s been a fantastic year for the iconic leader of the Sun Ra Arkestra. He delivered his first solo studio album, New Dawn, earlier this year, in addition to being awarded by the NEA. On the cusp of his 101st birthday, […]

Neither the photography on the front and back jacket nor the title of Chris Cheek’s Keepers of the Eastern Door directly bespeak a jazz album, but are certainly intriguing. First, the title takes its name from the Mohawk people, the easternmost tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy who had that name for their role as guardians […]

The semi-annual Exit Zero Jazz Festival, its twenty-fourth edition, was held May 16-18, 2025 in the nation’s oldest ocean resort, Cape May, NJ, featuring many of the top performers in jazz, emerging stars and veterans alike with a sun-splattered, ocean-facing deck that hosted both interviews and youth performances. The main venue, Convention Hall, was practically sold out on […]

Both Keb’ Mo’ and Taj Mahal have been playing their music for over half a century. Taj is approaching seven decades. We throw the term ‘legend’ rather casually these days, but these two have long attained that status. A successful collaboration almost inevitably leads to a second, so we are here eight years later from 2017’s TajMo to Room […]

Two female, redheaded raspy blues vocalists from Texas come to mind. One is practically immortal, Janis Joplin. Yet another Texan has been ripping bluesy guitar licks and belting out the blues vocally for over three decades. She is Carolyn Wonderland, who was often compared to Joplin early in her career for her raw, powerful vocals. As […]

Dywayne Thomas Jr., aka MonoNeon, marches to his beat and can take any direction. I’ve seen him burn up the stage at Newport Jazz with a decibel-breaking, raucous performance. That same MonoNeon, though, as he did on his 2024 Quilted Stereo, delivers a batch of highly accessible songs on You Had Your Chance…Bad Attitude. In his own […]

When seeing BEATrio in concert, drummer Antonio Sanchez, who positioned himself as the project’s leader,  rather offhandedly quipped, “Banjo, harp, drums…what the hell is that?” It may be one of the most unlikely trio configurations ever witnessed. Still, the audience responded to their live performance with one of the warmest, enthusiastic responses I’ve ever heard.  […]

Brandon Woody is the new trumpet voice in jazz who simultaneously sounds new and old. You’ll hear he is steeped in the tradition of such greats as Freddie Hubbard while bringing a fresh approach. Present also are the inextricable links to culture that infuse the music of artists such as Ambrose Akinmusire and Immanuel Wilkins. […]

The highly versatile vocalist Joan Osborne, who excels as both a songwriter and song interpreter, returns with the live album, Dylanology, eight reimagined, well-known Bob Dylan songs. Her road band and her arrangements add plenty of fire to most of these tunes, and she invited guests Jackie Greene, Robert Randolph, and Amy Helm for additional […]

The last time this quartet was together was on Polish pianist Marcin Wasilewski’s trio recording 2020’s Arctic Riff (ECM), where the masterful reeds playing elder, Joe Lovano, was the invited guest. This time, Lovano takes the lead on Homage (ECM) with this same backing trio, which has been intact as a unit since 1993. They are, in […]

Being signed to the long-running, premier blues and roots label, Alligator, is the ultimate goal for so many bands. The family band from Memphis, Southern Avenue, has attained that goal and is as natural a fit as any. The ‘sister band’ now includes not just two but three gospel-raised Jackson sisters with newcomer Ava, who […]

Tenor saxophonist and bass clarinetist David Murray’s Francesca (Intakt), was lauded by most outlets as one of the top jazz albums of 2024. Murray returns with that same quartet for just the second time for his Impulse! debut, Birdly Serenade. Supporting Murray are pianist Marta Sanchez, bassist Luke Stewart, and drummer Russell Carter. Murray, who […]

The fiddle-banjo duets of Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson in “What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow is a statement of defiance, a reunion, and a bold assertion of freedom all at once, without being the least bit overt. The two former members of the trio Carolina Chocolate Drops haven’t played together on record […]

Singer-songwriter Valerie June, who began her career as a blues singer, has moved pretty far away from that with her fourth album, Owls, Omens, and Oracles. Call it Americana, but there are heavy tinges of pop and indie, with lighter hints of gospel and neo-soul. Here, she explores the many aspects of love but celebrates the joy of […]

Gerald Clayton’s Ones and Twos is a two-part project; the first installment is revealed here. Clayton calls it an experiment inspired by the art of turntablism where the A side can be played simultaneously with the B side, that moment in the club when the DJ transitions from one song to the next when you […]

Rather than provide detailed reviews of these never-before-released and/or reissued jazz recordings, we will summarize each in alphabetical order by artist, focusing on 18 titles, including others released close to Record Store Day. This group is a little short on never-before-released material and heavier on reissues. Most of these sets have terrific liner notes, historic […]

Earlier in his career, singer-songwriter-guitarist Seth Walker came across as a bluesman adorned in Americana clothing. He’s since evolved into one who lays down warm, infectious, relaxing grooves that integrate many strains of music for soothing listening. That approach is so evident on his latest Why the Worry. In short, he is one soulful cat […]

Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Jefferson Ross dedicated each song on his brilliant 2022 Southern Comfort to one of the South’s eleven states. Ross has emerged three years later with an even more eclectic collection of songs, still coming to grips with the American South but with a more existential approach. He juxtaposes his observant worldview with his unshakable […]

Janiva Magness is not only among the top blues vocalists but also an uncompromising song archeologist. She digs deeper than most song interpreters, realizing that she has to see herself in the story if she’s going to sing it. Across her sixteen preceding albums, she has written material too, but mostly, she is the blues […]

When you’re an established institution like Alison Krauss & Union Station, you can take 14 years off and pick up again as if you never left. Heck, The Rolling Stones had an 18-year hiatus. Of course, Krauss kept herself busy touring with Robert Plant, and the members of Union Station are a team of band […]