Posts by Jim Hynes

Kindred spirits pianist and composer Vijay Iyer and the iconic creative trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith have forged a telepathic and deeply spiritual connection through their three-plus decades of intermittent collaborations. Defiant Life is their second duo recording for ECM, following 2016’s A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke. Iyer states – “This recording session was conditioned […]

Bone Bells is the third collaboration between pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and electric guitarist Mary Halvorson, two kindred spirits who continue to evolve their collective sound. Courvoisier has now begun writing the duet pieces specifically with Halvorson in mind.  As in their previous works, this is clearly a split effort as the pianist composed four pieces […]

Alabaster DePlume is unlike any artist of today. He’s a singer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, and philosopher all at once. He recites his poems over a backdrop with some of the UK’s best jazz musicians, including John Ellis, Donna Thompson, Mikey Kenney, Macie Stewart, and Ruth Goller. Yet the music, though filled with improvisation, is at best genreless. This is […]

Recorded in an 18th-century farmhouse in Maine, these songs from singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kris Delmhorst (KD) about the ghosts of the past and present seem to fit the setting. She paints the kind of detailed character sketches that may haunt your dreams, too. She writes with exceptional detail yet stays pretty even-keeled emotionally. The emotions […]

Few vocalists can bring the sheer power and passion of Mike Farris. With his first album since 2018’s Silver & Stone, Farris continues to move further away from strict gospel by doing what he does best: merging his collective musical influences into one amazingly infectious stew of rock ‘n soul in The Sound of Muscle […]

We’ve been here before. The entirely acoustic Southeastern was a career turning record for Jason Isbell, one that defined and celebrated his sobriety and shed light on his marriage to Amanda Shires. Since then, Isbell, now deemed by many as the best songwriter of this generation, has packed houses with his electric band, the 400 Unit, […]

Trilogy 3 is the third and likely the last installment of live shows with Chick Corea’s legendary trio of bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade.  The 2-LP set includes just eight lengthy tracks, five of which are from Paris in 2020, one from Spain, and 2019 dates from Japan and Burlington, Vermont. Streaming will […]

What goes around, comes around. Alto saxophonist Steve Lehman got his start as a sideman in visionary Anthony Braxton’s touring ensemble from 1999- 2007 for a host of festivals and recordings, including a tribute to the music of Andrew Hill (Nine Compositions (Hill) 2000). In that spirit, and to repay his mentor, Braxton, Lehman’s trio […]

You may know pianist/keyboardist Elliott Galvin from his work with the saxophonists Binker Golding and Mark Lockheart, or with Emma-Jean Thackery, Shabaka Hutchings or UK band Dinosaur, or even others. He is known as a trailblazer and high-level improviser on the UK scene, having released four solo albums before this one, The Ruin, which marks his […]

Octogenarian drummer and NEA Jazz Master Billy Hart continues to make inspiring music, whether with his own quartet or as a sideman in several groups. Just is the third album and first since 2013 for Hart’s quartet of pianist Ethan Iverson, tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, and bassist Ben Street. The gap between albums just points to […]

Upon the release of their first album, Magnolia, it was tempting to consider it piano trio jazz in the conventional swinging or even avant-garde sense, it is not, nor is it an imitator of the early The Bad Plus sound or the kind of R&B you associate with the major group comprising pianist Steve Okonski and […]

It’s rather hard to believe that the jazz supergroup Artemis has been together, albeit in different configurations, for nine years. The label ‘all-female jazz supergroup’ was used almost universally when they first emerged. Yet, in some ways, that diminishes the power and the status they have attained, having been voted the finest working group in […]

After a six-year hiatus, The Young Mothers returns with their long-awaited third album, Better If You Let It. The band is a genre-agnostic supergroup influencing music in Austin, New York, Chicago, and Scandinavia. They began when Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten moved to Austin, TX, in 2009,  a melting pot of music styles that encouraged him to form […]

John Prine was able to craft strong messages in rather constructed songs. Although singer-songwriter Paul Thorn carries Prine’s torch, let’s not yet crown him Prine’s successor. Prine stands alone, and Thorn would be way too humble to consider such. But let’s credit him for absorbing Prine’s inspiration and delivering messages in his singular fashion. Thorn […]

Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band is one of the most exciting acts on the blues scene today, exciting both hardened blues fans and younger music fans. The band name lets you know that he doesn’t take himself too seriously, which is always good.  The “Big” comprises just three people: the Reverend on vocals and finger-picked […]

The title Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams reads as a most likely fit for The Drive-by Tuckers’ Southern Rock Opera. Still, nothing save for Patterson Hood’s distinctive voice, and perhaps one song resembles the sound of Hood’s main band on his fourth and first solo effort in over 12 years. Defying almost any expectations, this project […]

It seems that 30-year-old singer-songwriter Jesse Welles, a DIY-er at heart,  just burst on the scene from nowhere. The Nashville transplant grew up in Ozark, Arkansas, a town with a population of 3,590 that boasts a turkey plant, an engine plant, one or two gas stations, and a couple of restaurants. From those humble beginnings […]

Heralded pianist Sullivan Fortner, widely considered one of the best of his generation, steps out for a somewhat surprising project,  acknowledging his musical roots in New Orleans. However, don’t be too concerned, as his trademark ballad fare and exploratory excursions are represented. He has been nominated for three GRAMMY Awards, including in the Best Jazz Instrumental […]

For over four decades now, bassist John Patitucci has proved his mettle with some of the most iconic artists in the history of jazz.   “Spirit Fall,” harkens to the classic saxophone trios of the late ‘50s and ‘60s featuring Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Joe Henderson. That’s not to say there have not been […]

Sun Ra Arkestra bandleader Marshall Allen is the second artist in history to deliver a solo album at age 100.  That, as much as the long-running legacy of the Arkestra, of which Marshall has been a member since 1958, explains the huge buzz and anticipation for “New Dawn,” which began to take shape just two […]