Mary Halvorson’s ‘Cloudward’ Is a Sophisticated Ensemble Composition
Mary Halvorson’s Cloudward is a shimmering, deeply satisfying example of a jazz sextet firing on all cylinders. Prepare to be astonished.
Mary Halvorson’s Cloudward is a shimmering, deeply satisfying example of a jazz sextet firing on all cylinders. Prepare to be astonished.
Drums and dual saxophones create an atmosphere that invites frenetic pacing and meditative peace on Samuel Goff, Camila Nebbia, and Patrick Shiroishi’s Diminished Borders.
The DNA of jazz vocalist Sheila Jordan’s Portrait of Sheila can be heard in so much popular music of the intimate, dreamlike, and nocturnal kind across genres.
Tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman and trumpeter Nate Wooley explore the limits of free jazz on this welcome sequel with its power of boundless musical interplay.
A Sun Ra Arkestra show promises a chance to leave the often dreary Earth blues behind and board a spaceship ride into the cosmos with these sonic adventurers.
Experimentalists Mats Gustafsson and Joachim Nordwall have united to create an album that, even by their compartmentalized standards, is pretty out there.
William Parker’s Universal Tonality is a recording he has been holding in his back pocket for just about 20 years now, which is crazy because it’s so good.
CC Sorensen makes music you have never heard before on ‘Phantom Rooms’, where their “Frog Jazz” incorporates ambient, noise, avant-garde, and cyclical minimalism.
The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra hearkens back to Sun Ra’s big band roots and his determination to create a genuine exploration of otherworldly space.
Jazz bassist Max Johnson’s Hermit Music could be the soundtrack of Charles Mingus’ mid-1960s mental breakdown in a good way.
Bassist Max Johnson gives us a traditional bop album recorded with two veteran musicians and a contemporary jazz LP with two younger but no less adventurous artists.
For those who enjoy jazz improvisation, jam-rock, or ambient electronics, Anteloper’s Pink Dolphins has a lot to like, including Jeff Parker’s production.