New Charles Mingus LP From 1972 Connects the Dots of a Great Artist
In a brilliant body of work like that of Charles Mingus, The Lost Album from Ronnie Scott’s is more sinew than either muscle or bone.
Will Layman
Will Layman is a writer, teacher and musician living in the Washington, DC area. He has been a contributor to National Public Radio and WNYC's "Soundcheck" as a jazz critic. He plays rock, funk, and jazz in the bars and clubs in and near the nation's capital. His fiction and humor appear in print and online.
Aaron Parks, Matt Brewer, and Eric Harland Conjure Form From Thin Air on ‘Volume One’
Volume One is a casual jazz trio session from Aaron Parks, Matt Brewer, and Eric Harland and offers surprising complexity and modern form.
JazzMatters: Best New Jazz and Creative Music – April 2022
Jazz critic Will Layman has been listening to classical piano and Afro-Cuban music in various forms. The best new jazz this month is also strong and extensive.
Tony Malaby’s Sabino Comes Out from Under the Turnpike with Sonic Power
Saxophonist Tony Malaby reconvenes his Sabino band, emerging from a set of concerts under the New Jersey Turnpike with an unfussy quartet date that’s wide open.
Spanish Pianist Marta Sanchez Faces Grief and Generates Beauty with Her New York Quintet
Marta Sanchez’s SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum) is powerful without ever being loud, Spanish and American, complicated in its construction but clear as can be in its emotional power.
Esperanza Spalding’s ‘Radio Music Society’ Looks Like a Brilliant Pivot a Decade Later
Ten years ago, Esperanza Spalding reached for greater creative accomplishment while still holding an audience on Radio Music Society. It was a jazz record that got popular without pandering.
JazzMatters: Best New Jazz and Creative Music – March 2022
JazzMatters is a new monthly round-up of the best new jazz and creative music. March 2022 features Cécile McLorin Salvant, Melissa Aldana, and Ryan Keberle.
Immanuel Wilkins’ Second Blue Note Release Is the Real “Spiritual Jazz”
Rising star alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins pushes into revelation with his quartet and guests, making modern jazz at a peak of drama on The 7th Hand.
The First Step in a Long Strange Trip: ‘The Grateful Dead’ at 55
More than 50 years since the Grateful Dead’s debut, how is it imaginable that they are still touring and the “jam band” scene has mushroomed? This is where it started.
Lake, Haynes, Fonda, and Altschul form an OG Band of Jazz Empathy
OGJB are four out-jazz OGs get together for a sophomore outing, sounding a little like “O” (Ornette Coleman) and a whole lot like themselves.
Mostly Other People Do the Killing Remain “Disastrously” Wonderful
Jazz pranksters Mostly Other People Do the Killing return as an acoustic piano trio with electronics, peddling tuneful tales of destruction on Disasters Vol. 1.
Bassist John Hebert Reimagines Vintage Charles Mingus for the New Era
The sweet-and-sour combinations of sounds and personalities on John Hébert’s Sounds of Love are of the moment and reach back a half-century to remind of a treasure.
