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Kevin Whitehead

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07:02

Jason Moran: 'Ten' Years Later.

Moran's new album, Ten, is like a stack of progress reports -- on his personal growth as pianist and as a composer, on the development of a trio with stable personnel for a decade, and on how jazz itself has progressed over the last 10 years.

Review
05:02

Anat Cohen: 'Clarinetwork' At The Vanguard

A regular performer at the Village Vanguard, Anat Cohen paid tribute to her early clarinet hero Benny Goodman in 2009, in honor of his 100th birthday. On Clarinetwork, her quartet plays tunes associated with Goodman, or at least songs he recorded while backing Billie Holiday.

Review
07:21

Chick Corea: Two Sides Of The Same Coin

In a transitional period between different groups with Miles Davis and Anthony Braxton and his fusion band, Return to Forever, Chick Corea recorded a series of solo piano improvisations in 1971. Those recordings and a 1983 follow-up have been reissued in a three-CD box set.

Review
06:30

Sam Newsome: A Soprano Sax 'Soliloquy.'

Soprano saxophone can be an unforgiving instrument. It's hard to play in tune, and many players get a pinched or nasal tone like it has a bad cold. Its biggest proponents — Steve Lacy, Lol Coxhill — do influence Sam Newsome, but he stakes out his own turf with eerie-sounding, hoarse and hollow split-tones.

Review
06:08

Paul Motian: Two From An Anti-Drummer.

Jazz drummers leading their own bands often feature intricate rhythms and brisk, driving momentum. Paul Motian, with his slow tempos, loose timing and tunes that go with rainy days, is so self-effacing, he's almost an anti-drummer. A little rustle of brushes and the faint boom of a bass drum may be all he'll use to nudge the music on.

Review
05:22

Drummer Dana Hall Goes 'Into The Light'

Hall doesn't often hog the spotlight on his debut album, Into the Light. He doesn't need to; he plays more stuff behind other musicians than some drummers do in a solo. Hall stays busy back there, exhorting and swinging the band, playing contrary rhythms, shifting his patterns and punctuating everybody else's solos.

Review
04:19

Jazz Ensemble Empirical Recalls Eric Dolphy.

Out 'n' In, the latest album from Empirical, is a tribute to the late musician Eric Dolphy. The record contains six original pieces that adopt Dolphy's style and adaptations of two songs from his album Out to Lunch!

Review
07:12

Wadada Leo Smith: Old And New 'Dimensions'

With his wide leaps between long tones and a sometimes generous use of space, trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith nods occasionally to 20th-century European concert music. But he's also one of the modern improvisers most grounded in African-American vernaculars; he's the stepson of Mississippi bluesman Alex Wallace, and he played for a spell in Little Milton's blues band. Smith's projects are all over the map, but often have this much in common with the blues: the byplay between a strong voice — his horn, in this case — and percussive strings.

Review
06:31

Holiday Cheer With A Jazz Twist.

Two kinds of people consume Christmas music: those who actually like the stuff, and folks who need something listenable on hand in case seasonal visitors insist on some ornamental mood music. For both groups, two new jazz brass albums should do the trick. Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews.

Review

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