Category: Ringer of the Week

It’s a pretty good bet that somewhere you’ve got an album with bassist Rufus Reid on it. Not only has he done tons of sessions and gigs for artists such as Freddie Hubbard and Dexter Gordon and  has been the…

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Here’s an exciting release out of The Windy City. Shawn Maxwell plays reeds and woodwinds while leading a creative non-ette that mixes intricate jazz with baroque fugue elements to end up with a unique-sounding force of nature. Besides the rhythm…

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Here’s a pianist that has a touch on the ivories I could listen to for weeks. Randy Ingram leads a quartet with Mike Moreno/g, Matt Clohesy/b and Jochen Rueckert/dr for eight originals that have a sound all their own. I’m…

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Last year’s Magic 101 by the late Frank Wess was on my Top Ten list of releases for 2013, and the second part of that set, issued here, shows beyond doubt that the testimony of the departed can still speak…

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This is the Romero Lubambo album you’ve been waiting for. The Brazilian guitarist is best known for his work as accompanist for Luciana Souza; she always gave him a few songs to perform on his own on stage and crack…

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Here is an successfully adventurous session lead by Taylor Haskins that mixes a post bop quartet of himself on trumpet, melodic and flute along with Ben Monder, Kermit Driscoll/b and Jeff Hirshfield. The genius is in his adding a string…

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Fifty years old and as timeless as the a speech by Winston Churchill, this 1963 (from Columbia Records, no less) session lead by flute player Jeremy Steig has been hiding for decades, and undeservedly so. You probably haven’t heard of…

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Recently elected to the Downbeat Hall of fame, Pat Metheny shows that he is definitely not resting on either his laurels or his hardys, as he teams together again with Chris Potter, Antonio Sanchez/dr and Ben Williams/b with an album…

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If you’re not a sucker for duet albums, maybe THIS one will change your mind. Acoustic guitarist John Stowell sits down by the fireplace with Dave Liebman for a collection of duets that sounds like a conversation between masters of…

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Well, here it is, the beginning of the year, and I’m afraid that the best reissue of 2014 has already been determined. There is just NO WAY that Mosaic, Sony Legacy or Concord are going to match the wonderfully voluminous…

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