By John Murph
Meshell Ndegeocello’s first two Blue Note albums – The Omnichord Real Book (2023) and No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin (2024) – have persuasively reasserted her status as an unparalleled force in modern music, earning her the first two GRAMMY Awards to honor her own... read more
By Tony Minvielle
One of LA’s best kept musical secrets, Kiefer has been described as a musician who doesn’t play keys with his fingers, but with his soul, which just about sums up in as simple terms as possible the artistry of this truly gifted individual who has re-defined that happy... read more
By Bob Blumenthal
It was inevitable that saxophonist Branford Marsalis would be approached with the idea of paying tribute to John Coltrane in centennial celebration of Coltrane’s birth. “I thought it was a great idea” he says,” but I wanted to take a road less travelled.” He was drawn... read more
Nothing about it made sense. With their screaming virtuosity, utterly eerie mindmeld, and shrugging irreverence toward their own astonishing gifts, DOMi & JD BECK seemed beamed in from another dimension, and our familiar existence contorted itself to their presence. The year that they more or... read more
Tap root in the blues of Mississippi
Ears, mind, heart pulled toward the East.
Sails unfurled,
I navigate the waters in search of One.
CL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-961i8IWYU
Providence
As we tossed around names for the newly formed trio of Charles, Zakir and Eric —... read more
The first thing that hits you about FATHERS, the self-titled Blue Note debut by an all-star collective of groove-savvy producer-musicians, is how utterly perfect everything sounds. Not perfect as in sterile or clinical or even flawless, but perfect as in completely satisfying — digging into that... read more
By Evan Haga
Most musicians, even brilliant jazz improvisers, prioritize the present when recording and releasing new work. What kind of reviews is this record going to get? Will my fans like it? Is it going to sell?
But with his stirring new Blue Note album, The Myth We Choose, the pianist... read more
By Dan Ouellette
There’s long been a notion that Sonny Rollins, the tenor saxophone titan, never achieved in a recording studio what he was able to in his thrilling live performances. It had nothing to do with lackluster efforts on Sonny’s part. It’s more that he flourished in front of an... read more