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Music Week [0 - 9]Saturday, September 5, 2026 Music Week
September archive (in progress). Music: Current count 46539 [46502] rated (+37), 23 [19] unrated +4). Advance Music Week appeared September 4 on Substack as Music Week (9:1). It is also archived here. My cutoff was done before the Substack post, but the introduction is revised/rewritten. I opened the Substack post as follows:
My prediction that it would take another day proved right. We watched another of the Danish "Department Q" movies last night, A Conspiracy of Faith (2016). Qualifies for the "thriller" category as well as anything I've seen lately — a genre we watch often, but not an attribute I particularly enjoy. My main complaint is with the people who can't accept disbelief in religion at face value, and insist that caring about anything signifies tacit belief in "something bigger than oneself." (We do watch a lot of police/crime shows, which may or may not be "thrillers." I seem to have a soft spot for detectives who are super smart and highly principled, not that I assume there are common in reality.) I didn't feel up to writing after that, so worked a bit on the jigsaw puzzle, then went to bed. It looks like the only way I can salvage my email account is to reconfigure Thunderbird to use IMAP. This shouldn't be terribly difficult, but leaves open the question of how to sort out the 12000 email messages I have kept in my inbox, as well as thousands of sent emails I've retained. I'll work on that this week. I'm also likely to set up a new email address, and start steering people toward using it. I've had several "heart to heart" discussions with Google AI on this matter, and it at least is convinced that hosting my own address is the best solution. The thing I worry most about there is that major providers will classify messages from my server as spam. But I guess they do that anyway. I figure I can take the week to sort this out. It absolutely has to be done before the poll kicks up, but that's another month or two. I should note that I did a database update to the Robert Christgau website. Not sure when the last one was, but probably close to a year ago. Christgau does want everything to eventually be free on his website, but he has directed that I impose a 9-month embargo on new Consumer Guide reviews, and a 30-day embargo on other new Substack And It Don't Stop posts. While I respect that, it doesn't give me a lot of motivation to keep the database in sync, so I've tended to let things slip. While there once was a time when I could be called a "self-starter," that no longer seems to be the case. I'm still happy to work on things, but a little nagging may be needed to get me in gear. I still want to do a 2.0 version of the Christgau website, as my thinking about what it should entail continues to evolve. I need to write a proper design document, but I see a few needs, as well as a few opportunities. Higher priority items up top (off the top of my mind, while I'm in the mood):
One thing to note at this point is that we have a lot of data (2897 .php files; 18402 albums in the database), so while the programming I suggest above isn't trivial, most of the work is going to be munging data. So one thing I don't anticipate doing is moving the pages into a database. That might have been a good idea early on, but it would be a lot of unnecessary work now, and would make fixes and updates harder to do. I also don't plan on building an administrative structure — I actually started doing that in 2002, but it turned out to be easier for me to maintain the site with conventional tools than with a user interface, and Christgau actually had very little desire to manage it himself. That could still be done as a later project, and a better data model could help, so it's something I will keep in mind. Of course, I could save some of that work by migrating to a CMS like WordPress. I've done that on smaller sites, and it's good up to a point. I will probably use it to build a Francis Davis website, but it's not worth contemplating here. As I said, that list is just off the top of my head. While writing it up, I thought of another dozen possible developments, but they're not necessary, and could kill a project that's having trouble getting off the ground. Part of the reason I was reminded of this is that I got a question about why I never organized my reviews as usefully as the Christgau website. I tried to answer that there, but rather than just making excuses (including why the Christgau website code doesn't quite work for me), I speculate a bit on possible fixes. I might add that while I'm frustrated that my writing projects aren't going anywhere, I'm starting to feel better about my tech work. Sure, email is a major setback, but I'm finding it easier than ever to research problems and come up with solutions. And I'm just dabbling here and there. Along with the database update, I slipped in a minor code change to a function which formats grades (at least when pulled from the database) so that A- is now A−, and *** is now ★★★. Joe Levy had complained about not being able to tell whether *** grades were really bold on Substack, so I suggested the alternative coding, then realized it would be easy to demonstrate it. I asked for comments, and got none, so so far it's stuck. I was going to write something here about writing projects, but this is already way past long, and judging from the Substack stats on last week's More Intro Ideas, you probably don't want to read about that anyway. The music haul seemed pretty thin on Wednesday, when I considered running this. I did managed to scrounge up more late in the week, largely thanks to Christian Iszchak, Phil Overeem and Steve Pick. I'm also getting into Brad Luen's 77 favorite albums of the Seventies, which is long on Brazilian and African albums I haven't heard. Among the high-B+ records, Czarface and Echo Party came closest. I expect things to pick up in September, but I doubt it will all be good news. New records reviewed this week: Agriculture: The Spiritual Sound (2025, The Flenser): Black metal (blackgaze) band from Los Angeles, second album, holds the dubious distinction of being the highest-rated unheard album in my 2025 EOY Aggregate, so I don't expect much. As metal goes, this has its tolerable moments. But as metal goes, I don't much care. B [sp] Willow Avalon: Pink Pocket Pistol (2026, Assemble Sound/Atlantic): Country singer-songwriter, last name Martin, from Georgia, second album, first was called Southern Belle Raising Hell. Voice seems weak, but comes up with several interesting songs, including one about disposing of a dead husband. B+(**) [sp] Erykah Badu & the Alchemist: Before the World Blows (2026, Control Freaq/Young): Neo-soul singer-songwriter, five hit albums 1997-2010, mixtape in 2015, returns with hip-hop producer Alan Maman. Not much of a departure until late, when the rappers (Westside Gunn, Earl Sweatshirt) and Kamasi Washington appear. B+(*) [sp] Kimmi Bitter: Bittersweet (2026, self-released): Country singer-songwriter, second album, "produced and co-written by throwback wizard Michael Gurley," loves 1960s countrypolitan, even the strings, but also mixes in some steel and surf guitar, harmonica or Tijuana brass. Doesn't quite hold my attention to the end, but opens with a near-perfect Pasty Cline impression, followed by one that tops Marty Robbins. B+(***) [sp] Christer Bothén/Oren Ambarchi/Johan Berthling/Andreas Werliin: Serpentine (2023 [2026], Black Truffle): The leader, 82 at the time, plays bass clarinet and donso n'goni, accompanied by guitar, bass, and drums. Shades into ambient. B+(**) [sp] Geof Bradfield/Myra Melford/Ben Goldberg/Dana Hall: Open or Close (2025 [2026], Calligram): Tenor/soprano saxophonist (also bass clarinet), based in Chicago, albums since 2001, ranges mainstream to free, has recorded with Goldberg (clarinets) and Hall (drums) before, but the pianist (connected through Goldberg) is the major addition here. A− [cd] Greg Chako: Hard Bop for the Record (2026, Mint400): Guitarist, Discogs lists 9 albums, starting in 1996. All originals, quintet with Brooks Giles (tenor/soprano sax), Spencer Merk (trombone), bass, and drums, recorded in Cincinnati. More what I'd consider postbop. B [cd] Rasheed Chappell: No Era for Margins (2026, Perfect Time): New York rapper, debut 2011, regular albums since 2019, solid and steady through rough waters. B+(**) [sp] Corook: How Do I Relate to You? (2026, Atlantic, EP): Singer-songwriter, writes and sings odd but catchy ditties, has an album, some EPs, a Best of Coroook (So Far) where may be the first one in rock history where the "(So Far)" didn't turn into a tombstone. Six songs, 17:43. B+(**) [sp] Zaccai Curtis: Sonoluminescence Vol. 1 (2026, TRRCollective): Pianist, born in New York City, has several albums since 2000, some as Curtis Brothers Band with brother Luques Curtis (bass, 4 tracks here, the other 4 with Mike Boone). Plays some electric here, and takes a vocal. With Joe Dyson (drums, Craig Handy (strong tenor sax, some flute), Brevan Hampden (congas & percussion), and a couple of guest spots. B+(***) [sp] Czarface/Frankie Pulitzer: Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer (2026, Silver Age): Hip-hop duo of 7L and Esoteric, from Boston, started 2001, recorded their superhero comic spoof Czarface in 2013 with Inspectah Deck (from Wu-Tang Clan) and kept the trio going for another dozen albums, with occasional guests (most notably MF Doom). Pulitzer is an English rapper, long-time Wu-Tang fan, jiu-jitsu master, and actor, better known as Tom Hardy — although he has a long list of movie credits, I recall him mostly from intense roles in the TV series Taboo and Peaky Blinders. I've always loved the mix, and try not to sweat the lyrics, although I did jot down, "I don't even take a pee without monetizing the streams." Doesn't that suggest some level of celebrity behind the masks? B+(***) [sp] Echo Party: Who Does Not Seek the Sky? (2025 [2026], Mahakala Music): Quintet, recorded in Memphis, last names on the cover: Chad Fowler (flute/stritch), Art Edmaiston (tenor/soprano sax), Alex Greene (keyboards), Khari Wynn (bass), Steve Hirsh (drums). Edmaiston has a lot of studio work, mostly on blues albums, but this is kaleidoscopic free jazz, even more so than his earlier album with Fowler this year. B+(***) [bc] Fatboi Sharif & Elucid: Invasion Body Camera (2026, Fused Arrow, EP): Rapper from NJ, several albums since 2021, along with a rapper/producer from Queens, a member of Armand Hammer. One track, 11:50. B+(*) [sp] Fatboi Sharif & Child Actor: Crayola Circles (2026, Backwoodz Studioz): NJ rapper with producer Max Heath. Longer, even slower. B [sp] Fatboi Sharif & Roper Williams: Goth Girl on the Enterprise (2025, POW/Fused Arrow, EP): NJ rapper, slo-mo aiming at horror show creepy, with producer, several previous releases together. 8 songs, 12:35. B [bc] FLO: Therapy at the Club (2026, EMI): British neo-soul vocal trio (Stella Quaresma, Jorja Douglas, Renée Downer), second album after a couple of EPs, both UK hits, barely charted in US. Pretty upbeat. B+(***) [sp] Sullivan Fortner: Leave That in There (2026, Artwork): Pianist, from New Orleans, seems like he's only recently emerged as a major player, but his debut was 2015, on Verve, and Discogs lists 78 performance credits since 2005 (he's 39). Trio with Tyrone Allen II (bass) and Kayvon Gordon (drums). Impresses first with clever rhythms. Winds up for some reason on organ, with some chorus. A talent, for sure, but never quite connects for me. B+(**) [sp] Satoko Fujii Orchestra Berlin: Second Attempt (2026, Libra): The third of five big band albums coming out in quick succession this year, the first an older tape from 2014, this like the second from earlier this year. Starts a bit slow, but finishes with a strong vocal eruption. B+(***) [cd] Eric Harland: Vipassana II (2026, Ropeadope): Drummer, lots of side credits since 2002, his own albums mostly credited to Eric Harland Voyager, including Vipassana (2014), but this just under his own name. Some fusion — keyboards, guitar, bass — but the percussion (Keita Ogawa as well as Harland) is fancier, and Ben Wendel plays some tenor sax. B+(*) [sp] Stefon Harris + Blackout: Legacy Dances (2024 [2026], Motéma): Vibraphonist, debut on Blue Note 1998, three previous group albums from 2004, cover here says "feat. Casey Benjamin," the saxophonist (alto/soprano) and vocalist who died shortly after this was recorded. Opens with a "What a Wonderful World," and closes with a spoken word piece called "We Are an African People." Both seem a bit off. B [sp] Inpatient: Asylum (2026, Sick Boi/EighthHD): Joint project of rappers Ren Gill and Chris Webby with producer JP On Da Track. Ren seems to have more medical/mental history than discography, but has two good albums that I've heard; from Connecticut, Webby (Webster) has an analogous history, and an edge in mixtapes, and a freestyle flow that draws on Eminem. Producer has worked with Mike., as well as Webby. First couple tracks reminded me of Manu Chao for the ease with which they straddle genres, but they don't settle there, or anywhere else, and get heavier. Grim medicine: "gotta crack some eggs to make this muiltimillion dollar omelet. . . . for the science to prevail, gotta live with the losses." Or "don't forget to medicate; it's a sick sick sick world, but I feel great." Or "nothing left that we could say, 'cause it looks like we're fucked either way." A− [sp] L'Rain: Fata Morgana (2026, Mexican Summer): Singer-songwriter Taja Cheek, from Brooklyn, fourth album since 2017, usually described as experimental pop or neo-psychedelia, neither of which is much of a description. Sounds more ambient to me, but I'm probably missing something. Title refers to a kind of mirage. B [sp] Frank London/Loisada Fife & Drum Corps: Touzle Your Kurchy (2026, Adhyâropa): Trumpet player, has played in Klezmer groups like Hasidic New Wave and the Klezmatics as well as in jazz. Fife & drum music has long been associated with the military, especially around the time of the US Revolutionary War, although they also bear some resemblance to New Orleans funeral marches (where a little brass is always welcome). A throwback, and sort of a novelty. B+(**) [sp] Mama's Broke: Reunion (2026, Free Dirt): Folk duo from Nova Scotia, Amy Lou Keeler and Lisa Maria, third album since 2017, a little down and out. B+(*) [sp] Ami Molinelli: Raízes Do Choro E Samba (2026, Amimo): Brazilian "roots" music, from a San Francisco-based percussionist. Sounds very classic, with several nice vocals. B+(***) [cd] Orquesta Akokán: América! (2026, Daptone): Cuban-American mambo band, fourth album since 2018. The problem with retro is that unless you're really sharp on the details, it can just sound old. B+(*) [sp] Nino Paid: Somewhere Over the Rainbow (2026, Signal/Columbia): Rapper Jacquan Andrews, from the DC suburbs in Maryland, third album. Understated gangsta, not the worst option. B+(**) [sp] Sarah Pillow: Wanderer (2026, Buckyball): Jazz singer, three albums (1997-2003), some standards but also draws on the vocalese practice of writing lyrics to jazz themes, and adds some of her own (Mingus most prominently). Band includes Donny McCaslin (tenor sax) and Dave Kikoski (piano). Good take on "Nature Boy." B+(***) [cd] [10-05] Punkt.Vrt.Plastik: Kompress (2026, Intakt): Trio of Kaja Draksler (piano), Petter Eldh (bass), and Christian Lillinger (drums), fourth group album since 2016, merges words from their three languages, squeezing out the space meant to signify their increasing tightness. B+(**) [sp] Quagmire & Christer Bothén: Rörane (2026, Relative Pitch): The former is a Swedish trio of Nina De Heney (bass), Karin Johansson (piano, some prepared, and zither), and Kenrik Wartel (drums), joined by the 85-year-old clarinetist (on bass and contrabass). B+(**) [sp] Andrew Sa: American Rough (2026, Bloodshot): Singer-songwriter, based in Chicago, "courageously subverts the heteronormative traditions of country music," where "country" is some kind of merger of Patsy Cline and Roy Orbison. B+(*) [sp] Sweet Pill: There's Still a Glow (2026, Hopeless): Philadelphia-based emo band, Zayna Youssef the singer, Jayce williams (guitar) also continuous from the band's 2018 founding. Second album, following a 2022 debut and a 2019 EP. B+(*) [sp] Ayumi Tanaka/Thomas Morgan/Thomas Strønen: Windflower (2025 [2026], ECM): Japanese pianist, based in Norway since 2011 (when she was 25), has several albums since 2016, this a trio with bass and drums. B+(**) [sp] Saul Williams: Leap Life (2026, Big Dada): Poet, spoken word artist, was featured in the 1998 film Slam, has recorded albums since 2001, including collaborations with musicians like Trent Reznor, DJ Krust, David Murray, and Carlos Niño. He's never quite grabbed me (unlike Anthony Joseph, or Gil Scott-Heron), and this seems to meander much. B+(**) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: The Cramps: Gravest Gravy (1977 [2026], Vengeance): One of the lesser bands to inhabit the CBGB's scene in mid-1970s New York City, I must have seen them 3-5 times, always opening for other groups, usually with Robert Christgau, who didn't think much of them. I wasn't much impressed either, but they finally made a record (Songs the Lord Taught Us) in 1980, and kept at it until singer Lux Interior (Erick Lee Purkhiser) died in 2009. His partner was guitarist Poison Ivy [Rorschach] (Kristy Wallace), who co-wrote the songs but didn't sing much. These were leftovers from the Alex Chilton-produced EP Gravest Hits, 5 originals and 7 covers (most obviously "Hungry" and "Rocket in My Pocket"). Unlike other CBGB's bands, they never sounded like the future. But nearly 50 years later, they're safely retro. They even have a genre tag: psychobilly. B+(**) [sp] Junglist! Old Skool Ragga, D&B, Jungle 1993-95 (1993-95 [2026], Soul Jazz): I'm more familiar with ragga, which seemed to be the logical progression as the dance grooves of reggae, hardened and intensified through dub, dancehall, and dubstep, with ragga itself transitional to the more UK-dominant forms of jungle, drum and bass and grime. This catches a fairly narrow moment, and never lets up. A− [sp] Old music: The Rough Guide to Bachata (1993-2005 [2009], World Music Network): A genre of popular dance music from the Dominican Republic, started in the 1960s in the impoverished countryside, so less classy than the nationalized merengue, a distinction that escapes me — especially as what little I know has come from other Rough Guides: Merengue, Merengue Dance, and Merengue and Bachata. B+(***) [sp] Rumble in the Jungle (1991-95 [2007], Soul Jazz): Earlier compilation of the UK jungle scene, captures the intensity of the beats as they drive out the sheer humanity of classic reggae. B+(***) [sp] Grade (or other) changes: Barcelona Art Orchestra & Miguel Zenón: Expressions: Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra (2025 [2026], Miel Music): Barcelona-based group, has at least one previous album, led by Néstor Giménez (piano), Lluc Casares (tenor sax), Joan Vidal (drums), and Lluis Vidal (piano), each composing a section here, featuring the alto saxophonist. The strings not really my thing, but the extra play helped. [was: B+(*)]: B+(**) [cd] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Sunday, August 30, 2026 Music Week
Music: Current count 46502 [46464] rated (+38), 19 [16] unrated +3). Advance Music Week appeared August 29 on Substack as Music Week (8:4). It is also archived here. Look in either of those places for the original introduction. I tried to keep it on subject, but in my haste, I sent it out with formatting errors and without an album cover gallery that I actually commented on. At this point I feel like writing a completely different introduction. You can figure out what's going on with the albums below. I've got other shit on my mind, more personal and more troubling, so let's go. Only saving grace is the knowledge that I need to wrap this up tonight, so I can start a new week tomorrow. OK, that didn't work. Laura wanted to watch a movie, and picked the second of the Danish "Department Q" movies, The Absent One, from 2014. We watched the first one, The Keeper of Lost Causes (2013) a few weeks back, and the story there was familiar from the British Dept. Q (first season 2025, on Netflix; evidently there will be more). Anyhow, that kept me from writing and posting last night. I'm not sure I had anything to say, anyway. Or maybe I have too much to say, but I'm embarrassed at how little of it results in anything useful. Some time ago, I had the thought that when I give up on the world, I'll switch from reading nonfiction to fiction. Or maybe I should just watch movies? I realize that fiction is a valid, and in some ways even superior, path to learning about the world. What reading it lacks is a sense of direction. When I pick up a nonfiction book, it's usually because I have a specific set of questions, derived from some kind of research project. And I have tons of projects. I worry, though, that none will ever come to fruition, as I'm tempted to turn them over in my head endlessly. Still, what's bothering me is less the endlessness of the writing projects than the one project that I'm actually likely to force myself to complete: the 21st Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll. While I don't need to do much on this until November, and that may well be the easy way out, I've never been more conscious of how much time it will take, what the demands will be, the wear and tear, and how much more I could have done to prepare in the past. I keep telling myself that this will be my last one, but that just makes the task heavier. Could we turn it into some kind of self-perpetuating institution? I have lots of ideas on that, fewer skills, and no fucking idea how to proceed. Well, I do have some ideas. I always have fucking ideas — just too many of them. I'll start to sketch some of them out in the next month or so, initially on my jpadmin email list, then as things shape up (assuming they do), on my other lists (jazzpoll is for voters, jpmedia was initially for publicists, but I'll probably open it up for anyone who wants updates). One thing that's fairly urgent is that I need to figure out my email situation. Yahoo still sucks, but it's working today, at least so far. Beyond that, I need to review the voter list, and try to figure out who to add, who to drop, and how to best communicate with them. Then there's the website. I can always hack another year onto the current framework, where each new year is cloned from the last, and hitched to the end like a caboose. But the very minor facelift I started a month ago is still far from complete, and I still haven't incorporated several of the files Francis Davis sent me before his death, let alone filled in the rest of the holes. One bit of prep here would be to write a piece on the DownBeat critics poll, which came out in their August issue, just before our own poll got wrapped up in July. I still haven't looked at it, but I can refer back to my own ballot. The thing I'm most interested in is the list of voting critics. I'll try to get that done in the next week or two. Another newsletter piece I've been thinking about is a list of albums that made my non-jazz A-list in 2025 that went unreviewed by Robert Christgau. I wanted to do this after his Dean's List appeared belatedly (May 7). As I recall, mostly underground hip-hop and country: 2025 was a banner year for the former, and pretty good for the latter. Perhaps it seems too late, but most end-of-year lists are way too early. One of my complaints about DownBeat's polls is that they roll the album boundaries up to the moment of voting instead of taking advantage to reflect on the previous year — April for critics and August for readers seems about right to me. Of course, there are many more things I'd like to write about that don't involve music. The August 27 Loose Tabs, which has since expanded to more than 22k words, not counting my summary, has lots of ideas that could be developed. I mention one there that I even have a title for: "Is It Possible to Negotiate a Gentler Genocide?" I've written much of that before, but I've never quite broached the idea that it might be better for Palestinians just to leave their homeland. Neither side wants to hear this, and Trump is unable to hear or act — although, oddly enough, he could lay claim to the idea, but is too combative to consider the essential idea of "gentler." But even if Trump is followed by a president who cares (not Biden, and not Obama-Bush-Clinton either), I don't see any chance to impose a better solution on Israel, or for Israel to change before much more harm is done. There are other mini-essays there that could easily be expanded. I talk about data centers as a political issue; about what's wrong with the ICC, and why we need something like it; about Trump's feint toward North Korea; I talk about the drone war in Ukraine, and how it's moving toward AI; I consider "has America crossed the asshole threshold?"; I puzzle over the notion of "Woke 1.0"); I have two long sections on Democratic Party strategy: whether to campaign for Trump voters (yes), and whether centrists are the answer (no); I talk about Medicare for All; I have a section on the Canada trade war nonsense, among many more Trump stunts, some dumb, some evil, most both; I write about estate taxes; I mention a book on Israel's Lobby, which I will probably read; I also consider the late critic Dave Marsh, and my relationship to him. I could spend the rest of the year on such things. One specific piece I am thinking about is an effort to sum up the five worst things Trump has done. The idea started as a top ten, but that would be too long, and too aggravating — and also too short, as fifty wouldn't be much of a reach, and I doubt I'd run out before 500, except of patience and sanity.
Sure, that's six points, all worthy of inclusion, each capable of being grossly expanded. Although I suppose the sixth goes so "without saying" that I could save it for the conclusion: "and as if all that wasn't bad enough, . . ." But I see this leading to a second piece, which lists things that Trump has done that will make it easier to respond with real effective change. For starters, he's demolished the credibility of the centrist ("pro-business") camp in the Democratic Party, both as political strategy and as a policy paradigm. I'm not sure how hard to push this: as long as Trump is in power, we don't have many real options, but the horizons for possible change have opened up considerably. I've developed a theory that a large segment of Americans really wanted some kind of revolution in 2016, but were denied any sort of meaningful change from the left (which appeared as Bernie Sanders) — blame this on the Democratic Party, if you want, but I think the corporate media had much more to do with defining what was allowed and not. On the other hand, Trump appeared to promise a revolution that corporate America (oligarchy) could live with, and that drew just enough people in to tilt the vote. Obviously, if you had a left analysis, you didn't fall for Trump, but how many people really did? (I got mine the hard way, reading Genovese, Sweezy, and Adorno, but my orientation came earlier, in reaction to the 1960s.) But if you didn't, and weren't among the people that Trump obviously hated, you might be gullible enough to think that someone like Trump would fight selflessly for you, go to Washington, "drain the swamp," and fix all the obvious problems. Whatever else, Trump promised change. Even in 2024, clearly out for revenge and redemption, he came off as the revolutionary, while Harris courted the rich. And what he's done since taking office surely counts as some kind of revolution. And while he hasn't seized power as completely and dramatically as Hitler in 1933, that's not for scruples, and not for lack of will. It's harder to do that in America, mostly for structural reasons, but disturbing that he's seized as much power as he has: proof, I think, that America wasn't built to suffer so much inequality. I grew up admiring revolution: especially the American, and as I increasingly identified with the left, with others like the French, the Russian, and the Chinese, even if they didn't turn out as well as one had hoped. But as I grew older, I came to see revolution not as a striving for a better world, but as proof that the old regimes were not just fatally flawed, but incompetently managed. And I came to see the pain of revolution as unnecessary and undesirable. And I'm not alone in this: very few people on the left in America look forward to revolution. (Bernie Sanders' carefully couched "political revolution" line always bothered me, even though I was pretty sure I understood and approved of what he meant.) So I've largely come around to the idea that the only revolutions that are possible today are ones from the right, and the only thing they can do is to cause pain and destruction. And, indeed, that's about all you can say for Trump's revolution. But it will be interesting to see how much damage he does to the reactionary forces that brought him to power. I could speculate, but on what basis? Of course, there is much more I've been thinking about. I read a book on Venezuela, and have moved onto Acemoglu & Robinson's Why Nations Fail. I should write a piece on the failures of the Chavez-Maduro regimes, and also what Trump is doing there: why this looks to Trump like a massive win, and why it's really just another chapter in the misery there, and in the Trump's debacle here. I've read several books on Israel, and specifically on Jewish anti-Zionism, and I have more to say about that. (I also have more books on Israel waiting, and still mean to do at least one more post on Agha & Malley's Tomorrow Is Yesterday.) I've also read a small pile of books on AI, which I'm starting to figure out. One not-too-distant project is to sign up for some tools, and start using it, mostly for research, but also perhaps for organizing my own voluminous writings. In fact, I can think of enough interesting technical projects to dispense with writing (even on music) altogether. Of course, dropping the music is an idle threat: just looking at my Substack stats, the music reviews get a good 30% more attention than anything else I write. Especially when I ramble, as I suspect I'm doing here. Still, at this point, I'd be much happier if I could just round up some friends and cook. That seems to be about my size limit on projects, and I can tell whether I did good or not. I'll refer you to the Music Week (8:4) notes on the music below. The Emperor X grade, the Golems of the Red Planet revisit, and several new albums came after reading Robert Christgau's August Consumer Guide, as did the back catalogue dives into Mary Lee's Corvette and Tipps & Obermiller. The Jeff Evans Porkestra was a tip from people who try to anticipate Christgau by jumping on new albums by people he is known to like. The Art Ensemble of Chicago reissue downloads were belatedly begged from the label. The Bandcamp page just offers extracts. The Dolly Parton is very limited. I started looking for The Best of Dolly Parton, and not finding it, I listened to the albums it was drawn from. After listening to the "Muleskinner Blues" single, I figured I had heard enough to review it. I didn't realize that the 1975 Best Of was billed as Vol. 2 until I saw the cover scan in a Tom Carson post (although I must have had the LP at one point, as it is graded in my database). I may still fill in 1971-75 albums I haven't heard, but several of them I have. Looking at my grade list, I'd say her later stuff is pretty hit-and-miss, but I've certainly missed some. Sorting out the compilation is a hopeless task, although pretty much any of them are fine for remembrance. Aside from the Parton obituaries, I didn't include a music section this Loose Tabs. Wrapping it up is always a rush, and there's little time to search out everything. One piece I would have mentioned had I found it in time is RiotRiot's The 50 Best Rock Bands Right Now in 2026. They're in countdown order, and I thought it was brilliant to list the Rolling Stones at 50, then the Butthole Surfers at 49. After that I'm not so sure, especially as I haven't converted this into a personal listening checklist, as I did in 2024. I will note that only one band from his 2024 top-10 is still up there: Big Thief. Also that a couple I have looked up have albums coming out later this year, so he's better connected than I am. I'd also like to note the latest Christian Iszchak An Acute Case: 29 August 2026. His favorite album this column is Asylum, by Inpatient, which seems to be two rappers, Chris Webby and Ren Gill. I played it: thought the first half was brilliant, enough that I went ahead and noted an A− review, but the second half gave me pause. After two further plays, I decided to downgrade it, while adding lyric quotes that suggest otherwise. I'm happier with the lower grade, but much of it is indeed brilliant, and you may well figure it's worthwhile. I'll publish my review next week, but you can find it on Spotify or Bandcamp. New records reviewed this week: Marshall Allen: 101: An Audio Odyssey (2026, Ropeadope): Alto saxophonist, longtime member and ghost band leader of Sun Ra Arkestra, title possibly for his age, main driver here appears to be producer Jamaaladeen Tacuma (electric bass), started around the Big Ears Festival, which brought in name musicians Nels Cline (electric guitar) and Immanuel Wilkins (alto sax, acoustic upright bass), with extra recording later (including a vocal by Tara Middleton). The funk groove reminds me of Tacuma at his best, but he hasn't had this much to juggle since Ornette Coleman. A− [sp] Ancient Infinity Orchestra: It's Always About Liberation (2024 [2026], Gondwana): English spiritual jazz ensemble, 16 members (winds but no brass, strings including harp and banjo) from Leeds, led by bassist Ozzy Moysey, third album. Another venture into the church of Coltrane. B+(**) [sp] Blu & Exile: Time Heals Everything (2026, Dirty Science): Underground rapper Johnson Barnes and producer Alexandr Manfredi, from Los Angeles, fifth duo album since 2007, many more albums separately or with others. B+(***) [sp] Rachel Brooke: This One's for You (2026, Mal): Country singer-songwriter, from northern Michigan, fifth album since 2008, plus a couple of duos with Lonesome Wyatt. Fine voice, good songs, lots of steel guitar. B+(***) [sp] Elizabeth Cook: Great Television (2026, Agent Love): Country singer-songwriter, eighth album since her self-released debut in 2000, three from 2007-16 barely scratched the country charts, all A− in my book, this coming back after a six year break. Too soon? The strings that kick off the album weren't a good idea. And the songs struggle until she rips off "Caldonia and the Love Convoy." And while I like the Rolling Stones cover, I don't quite get the point. B+(*) [sp] Jeff Cosgrove/Jeff Lederer/Mark Lysher/Tom Teasley: Two Jeffs (2026, Grizzley Music): Drummer, from DC, label and dates uncertain, I would normally have parsed the cover as giving him sole credit, but title suggests including Lederer (sax/clarinet), and the bassist and percussionist names are on the same level. Cosgrove is best known for his Motian Sickness group, but also shows up on many free jazz dates, especially with Ivo Perelman. This showed up on the Motian Sickness Bandcamp page, but is mostly standards, from "Cheek to Cheek" to "Summertime" via "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." A− [sp] Rodney Crowell: Then Again (2026, New West): Country singer-songwriter, 25th album since 1978, many superb. Not so much this time. B+(*) [sp] Jeff Evans Porkestra: Telling the Bees (2026, self-released): Atlanta-based country-rock band, the namesake on guitar and vocals; two previous EPs, this one weighing in at 12 songs, 42:49. The EPs ended before I could really get into them, but this one keeps coming, especially with songs like "Born to Read" and "Big Enough." A− [sp] Hurray for the Riff Raff: Live Forever: Live at the Old Town School of Folk Music (2025 [2026], Nonesuch): Singer-songwriter Alynda Segarra, born in the Bronx, moved to New Orleans to play folk music, has moved on to Chicago, where this live set was recorded. Fourteen songs, ten from her best-ever 2024 album The Past Is Still Alive. Seems to me like the anti-ICE "Precious Cargo" could be angrier, but "Ogallala"'s "to watch this world burn, with a tear in my eye" seems about right. B+(***) [sp] Lalu: Lalu (2026, self-released): Australian group, not finding much about them. I can hear the "coherently arranged folk-rock." B+(*) [sp] Jeff Lederer/Mary LaRose With the Wildebeest Quintet: There's a Yearnin': Music for Winds and Voice (2026, Little (i) Music): Names on clarinet and voice, with the quintet adding flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and horn, for something "third stream"-ish. B+(*) [sp] Low Cut Connie: Livin in the USA (2026, Contender): Retro-rock group from Philadelphia, led by Adam Weiner, who plays some mean piano, and usually rocks out. But the title cut is a lament, which I suppose makes it "timely." B+(**) [sp] Glenn Morrow's Cry for Help: Our Final Album Vol. 1 (2026, Bar/None): Indie rock band from Hoboken, debut an eponymous album in 2017, released 2 in 2020. Morrow was a partner in Bar/None Records, whose first album was by a group Morrow was in, the Individuals (1982), with other bands leading up to this one. Title unclear. Record has some appeal. Less sure about point. B+(**) [sp] Linda May Han Oh/Melissa Aldana: Beneath Lifted Skies (2026, Biophilia): Bass and tenor sax duo; the former born in Malaysia and grew up in Australia, the latter from Chile, both based in New York with substantial critical following. This is a nice record, especially when they tackle something familiar, but stays within its limits. B+(***) [sp] Nicholas Payton/Butcher Brown: A Supreme Blue (2026, Concord): Trumpet player from New Orleans, albums since 1993, mostly a mainstream player, established his trad chops on a 1997 album with Doc Cheatham, has dabbled less successfully in jazztronica. Backed by the Richmond-based band, which has a dozen albums since 2014. Idea here is to play Kind of Blue followed by A Love Supreme, updating both to show their contemporary relevancy. That's an amusing thought, and the groove treatment on Kind of Blue is rather pleasing, but I draw the line well short of the synthesized voice on A Love Supreme. B− [sp] Prairie Princess: Jewish American Prairie Princess (2026, self-released): Singer-songwriter Emerson Borakove, from Nebraska but recording in New York City, with a band she calls the Ruby Slippers. Somewhere between alt-country and anti-folk, which doesn't preclude a little rock noise. B+(**) [sp] Margo Price: Days of Unrest (2026, Loma Vista): Country singer-songwriter, sixth album since 2016, or actually it's being dubbed a "protest mixtape," as the album is rather thin (9 songs, 29:00), and the originals (mostly Mexican-themed) are outnumbered 5-4 by covers (Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Blaze Foley, Charlie Daniels, trad.). The Dylan is the liveliest, but the Foley is the most sharply pointed. A- [sp] Alex Roitman Tango Ensemble: La Cocina De Tango (2025 [2026], ARTE-FL): Bandoneon player, based in Florida and/or Boston. Tangos, half originals, mixed in with Piazzolla and others, running through 10 songs in 32:41. Seems like a fine example of the art. B+(***) [cd] Slow Tiger: Slow Tiger (2024 [2026], Endectomorph Music): New York quintet organized by JP Schlegelmilch (playing organ; I know him mostly from the group Old Time Musketry, which had two very good 2011-13 albums), with Kenny Warren (trumpet), Adam Schneit (tenor sax/clarinet), Andrew Dow (electric bass), and Nathan Ellman-Bell (drums). B+(**) [sp] Antony Szmierek: Decoding Birdsong (2026, Mushroom Music): English poet, spoken word artist, and electronica musician. Second album. I love the basic sound. Words are clear enough, but didn't especially grab me at first, but eventually the savvy and smarts convinced me, at least that they add to the sound appeal. A− [sp] Technocrats: Passionata: The Music of Gregg Hill (2025 [2026], Cold Plunge): I must have heard a dozen albums of Hill's compositions, performed by various of his Michigan State alumni over the last 3-4 years, many (most? all?) under his own direction. No composer in recent years has worked harder at getting his work played by others, except perhaps John Zorn (who owning his own label, often claims credit for the albums). Septet here, I filed it under first-listed bass trombonist Chris Glassman, but the only other band members I recognize are Walter Blanding (tenor/soprano sax) and Bryn Roberts (piano). I've never learned how to separate compositions out from performances, so I'm no fair judge of someone like Hill. But this flows as well as any of the volumes I recall, and the larger band is deftly arranged, especially for the bass trombone. B+(***) [cd] Henry Threadgill Zooid: Cut You Where You Was (2025 [2026], Pi): Alto saxophonist, also plays flute, started in Air in the 1970s, third group album since 2014, with Liberty Ellman (guitar), Jose Davila (tuba/trombone), Christopher Hoffman (cello), and Elliot Humberto Kavee (drums). Tricky rhythms and shadings, the sort of thing that in an artist of his stature could win a poll, but feels a bit slight to me, although it does have some bright spots. B+(***) [cd] Henry Threadgill/Vijay Iyer/Dafnis Prieto: Fifteen (2025 [2026], Nonesuch): Alto sax/flute, with piano and drums, some sources say the title is how long this trio has been playing together, but this appears to be their first album. Three pieces by Threadgill, two each by the others. Very impressive at speed, but interesting always. A− [sp] Tipps and Obermiller: Little Kid Heart (2026, self-released): Married singer-songwriters Hilary Tipps and Steve Obermiller, both play guitar, with Taylor Tatsch (more guitar, mandolin, bass, keys, drums, and production). Google tagged this as "children's music," but it's actually parents' music. I can't particularly relate to either, but I like the easy flow and writerly details. A- [sp] Visible Cloaks: Pradessence (2026, RVNG): Electronica duo from Portland, Ryan Carlile and Spencer Doran, fifth album since 2015. Starts on the edge of annoying, then backs off a bit. B [sp] Westside Cowboy: It Goes On (2026, Island): British indie rock group, from Manchester, first album, easy-going, prototypically indie-rock sound. B+(**) [sp] Willow: The Thread (2026, Three Six Zero): Pop singer-songwriter, from Los Angeles, last name Smith, as in father Will Smith, eighth album since 2015, when she was 15, only one of them with any chart presence, although she had a platinum single in 2010. B+(*) [sp] Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts: As Time Explodes (2025 [2026], Reprise): New group, came up with a pretty good album in 2025, Talkin to the Trees, first A− in my book since Barn (2021), Psychedelic Pill (2012), Fork in the Road (2009), Prairie Wind (2005), Are You Passionate? (2002), more before that, though I haven't logged any full-A albums since Freedom (1989), or A+ since Rust Never Sleeps (1979, a grade I also gave to 1975's Tonight's the Night). Of those, the only albums I've replayed in recent years are the ones from the 1970s, but clearly he can evoke his unique legacy whenever he feels the need. This live set is from the album tour, but only repeats one album song ("Silver Eagle") and offers one new title — the album's "Big Change" ("could be bad and it could be great") having quickly resolved to "Big Crime" ("got to get the fascists out, got to clean the White House out . . . got big crime in DC at the White House, no more great again"). Beyond that, we get legacy songs, some obscure, most not, a couple ("Cortez the Killer" and "Like a Hurricane" stretched past 10 minutes, because that's what he does. This doesn't strike me as essential, given that these days we get more live Young several times a year, nor is "Big Crime" a big deal (although it's good to see that he's gotten over his foolish Reagan infatuation). But reviving "Ohio" is not unlike John Prine's revival of "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore," "Vampire Blues" is an old one I was delighted to hear again, "Be the Rain" is a later one that surprised me, and any time Young wants to stretch out, I'm game. A− [sp] Miguel Zenón & Luis Perdomo: El Arte Del Bolero Vol. 3 (2025 [2026], Miel Music): Alto sax and piano duets, from Puerto Rico and Venezuela, play eight songs by others, in the style that emerged in Cuba in the 1880s, one they consider "perhaps the most pan-Latin of genres." B+(***) [cd] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Art Ensemble of Chicago: Les Stances a Sophie (1970 [2023], Play Loud!): Free jazz group, grew out of Chicago's AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians), partly formed in 1966 to back Roscoe Mitchell (sax), recording as a group in 1967 — Lester Bowie (trumpet), Joseph Jarman (sax), Malachi Favors (bass), and Famoudou Don Moye (drums) — but their discography really explodes when they toured Europe in 1969. This future film score was recorded late in their tour, with a Fontella Bass vocal to open, and a shorter one to close, and a balance between tradition and the cosmic future that Sun Ra is so famous for. A− [dl] Art Ensemble of Chicago: People in Sorrow (1969 [2026], Play Loud!): Recorded earlier in Paris, drummer Famoudou Don Moye had not yet joined, but everyone was tasked with various percussion instruments. One 40:10 piece, split over the original LP. B+(***) [dl] Old music: Jeff Cosgrove/Scott Robinson/Ken Filiano: Hunters & Scavengers (2018, Grizzley Music): Drums, saxophone, bass, improv aside from "Lonely Woman" at the end. B+(**) [bc] Jeff Cosgrove/Jeff Lederer/Mark Lysher: Welcome Home (2023, Grizzley Music): Drums, sax/clarinet, and bass, live at Town Run Brewing Company in Shepherdstown, WV. Good free improv. B+(***) [bc] Jeff Cosgrove/Noam Preminger/Kim Cass: Confusing Motion for Progress (2023, Grizzley Music): Another drums/sax/bass trio. B+(**) [bc] FunkGASM: Funk's Greatest Hits (1969-86 [1997], Relativity): From the heyday of CD compilations, Christgau mentioned this as "jamful" in a review that picked Rhino's Millennium Funk Party as the one to have. I bought it, and keep it in my travel cases, which is my first resort for something surefire. But Joe Yanosik never fails to track down a side-comment, and pictured this in a recent "listening today" post. It's out of print, of course, but someone assembled a Spotify playlist, so I thought I'd give it a spin. It hit the spot, even with no P-Funk (aside from a late Bootsy), even with groups I didn't recall, or didn't think of as funky. [PS: Also nice that AI nailed down the release dates in just two questions, instead of taking me the better part of the record to track that info down.] A− [sp] Mary Lee's Corvete: Mary Lee's Corvette (1996, Lenora): Singer-songwriter Mary Lee Kortes, first album, "intended as a promotional sampler," but with 7 songs, 28:40 comes close enough. B+(**) [bc] Mary Lee's Corvette: True Lovers of Adventure (1999, Wild Pitch): Billed as her/their "first full length album after the eponymous Mary Lee's Corvette 8-song live to two track that got it started for me." Good songs, nice delivery. B+(***) [sp] Mary Lee's Corvette: Love Loss & Lunacy (2006, Western Force): Fifth (and last) group album, I'm finding them out of order. Good songwriter, doesn't always keep my interest. B+(**) [sp] Mary Lee's Corvette: Blood on the Tracks: Arlene Grocery, NYC (2001 [2002], Bar/None): Live exercise, song-for-song rendition of Bob Dylan's 1975 album, almost universally acclaimed at the time, after several albums that weren't so beloved — I'd guess you'd have to go back to 1968's John Wesley Harding, and forward to 2001's Love and Theft, to find albums with comparable reputations. Or so I gather. I quickly soured on the album, and hate it to this day — at least as I remember it, but this exceptionally vivid remake brings back the exaggerated vocal tics and general oiliness I always found so annoying. B− [bc] Mary Lee's Corvette: 700 Miles (2003, Bar/None): Bandcamp lists: "Main band: Mary Lee Kortes, Andy York, Brad Alberta, Joe Chiofalo, Graham Hawthorne. Spotify says 2011, and has the label as Lakeside Lounge. Discogs offers a second 2003 release, on Southbound (UK). B+(**) [sp] Dolly Parton: Hello, I'm Dolly (1967, Monument): First album, at 21, although she had written hit songs for others (some with her uncle, Bill Owens). The two most emblematic songs were written by others, including the one announcing "this dumb blonde ain't nobody's fool," a point more than clear from the ten songs she did write (six with Owens). B+(***) [sp] Dolly Parton: Just Because I'm a Woman (1968, RCA): Second solo album, following her first duet album with Porter Wagoner, first on RCA, where her singles produced major best-ofs in 1970 and 1975, starting with the title song here. Fewer of her own songs, but most have gravitas (exception: the gold-digging "I'll Oilwells Love You"). B+(***) [sp] Dolly Parton: In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad) (1969, RCA): Third solo album, half the songs originals, the title cut a modest hit single. The others include a couple covers of big recent hits for others ("Harper Valley PTA," "D-I-V-O-R-C-E"). The latter is superb, but her own "Don't Let It Trouble Your Mind" seems more authentic. B+(***) [sp] Dolly Parton: My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy (1969, RCA): Fourth solo album, still looking for a hit, which was still a year away with "Muleskinner Blues" (and if that seemed too easy, "Joshua"). Her originals are down to four. Opening with other folks' hits ("In the Ghetto" and "Games People Play") seems a bit unworthy, but she aces them. B+(**) [sp] Dolly Parton: The Best of Dolly Parton (1967-70 [1970], RCA): None of the singles from her four very solid RCA solo albums produced a top-ten single ("Something Fishy" and "Just Because I'm a Woman" both topped out at 17), but her non-album "Mule Skinner Blues" hit number 3, so the label celebrated by including it as bait here, along with a previously unreleased "How Great Thou Art" to rope in the holy rollers, 10 songs in total. The quickie product went gold, setting her up for the better-charting singles to come, again summed up in 1975's The Best of Dolly Parton Vol. 2. A- [sp] Tipps and Obermiller: Love (And Other Mysteries) (2023, self-released): Hilary and Steve, married for a decade before they started writing songs together, so by the time of this debut album, they have seasoned reflections to share, like: "I don't care where we're going, I'm along for the ride." Good songwriting, harmonies, leads (mostly hers). Choice cuts: "These Hands," "Trouble in Mind." B+(***) [sp] Tipps and Obermiller: MacGuffin (2024, self-released): Second album, cover provides a dictionary definition for the title: "an object that solely exists as a reason for a story to move forward." Shows their literary smarts, but also that they weren't clear where to go next. B+(**) [sp] Grade (or other) ChangesSometimes further listening leads me to change an initial grade, usually either because I move on to a real copy, or because someone else's review or list makes me want to check it again. Also some old albums extracted from further listening: Emperor X: Unified Field (2026, Bar/None): Singer-songwriter Chad Metheny, albums since 1998, first one I really noticed was Western Teleport (2011). First pass through I complained that I didn't get much, but I had to give it another shot, especially after Michael Tatum raved about it (adding that he had seen them live, which was "transcendent"). Three, maybe four, plays later, and I'm getting if anything too much. I jotted down some lines: "praise Jesus, hail Reagan"; "I'd like to burn it down, but I'm not dumb"; "the market's not good, the market's not evil"; "you're so mad, what are you going to do about it?" Of course, you'll need more for context. But what I'm left with is a sense of so much anger. Also a songwriter who knows the difference between gallium and lithium. And, since I'm more into sound than words, this only gets sharper. I doubt I'll ever love this album, but it's hard to deny. [was B+(**)] A− [sp] Rechecked with no grade change: Golems of the Red Planet: Surf Masada: The Compositions of John Zorn (Heyday Again): Quartet from Akron, with "members of Tin Huey, Pointless Orchestra, and Trial of Lucy." I love the concept, but I'm slightly underwhelmed by the execution. B+(***) [bc] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Saturday, August 22, 2026 Music Week
Music: Current count 46464 [46411] rated (+53), 16 [25] unrated -9). Advance Music Week appeared August 22 on Substack as Music Week (8:3). It is also archived here. My cutoff was done on Thursday, after I finished my initial draft of my Substack post Consumer Guidance. I posted it on Friday (August 21), then went to worked on the advance, posting it Saturday afternoon (August 22). Robert Christgau's Consumer Guides usually came out on the second Wednesday of the month. When it didn't appear, as expected, on this one, I rushed my own Music Week (8:2) out, figuring it was an opportunity to clarify what I heard before reading him from what I sought out after. When his August Consumer Guide finally appeared on Sunday (August 16), I was struck by two things: he hadn't touched the rather obvious albums I had reviewed (Rolling Stones, Madonna, Pussy Riot), but instead came up with a very different set of widely scattered albums, most of which I had been completely unaware of. That got me thinking about writing the "Consumer Guidance" post. Unfortunately, I whiled a couple days thinking about it, then a few more writing, ultimately pushing this Music Week into the weekend. I didn't have time to do a cutoff until I finished a draft late Thursday and circulated it to some friends. By then, I had piled up 53 reviews. I would normally dump them all out, but I decided to hold some back for next week. The main reason is that I wanted a little breathing room between the CG and my later reviews — I will, of course, eventually listen to everything there, possibly revisiting some things I may have underestimated. But once I decided to hold things back, I saw that I had quite a few jazz promos that I had gotten to before their release dates. While I don't normally worry about publishing those — I just add a release date to the end of the review — there was no urgent need to rush those out. And there was one specific reason for holding back: Henry Threadgill has two releases this month, one on 8/21 that I haven't heard, and one on 8/28 that I have. Why not review them together? My initial holds reduced the 53 albums to 46, still including a run through the 1996-2006 Mary Lee's Corvette catalog (5 albums, 1 reviewed by Christgau). I had planned on including them here, but when I tried writing up an explanation, I concluded it would be best to hold them all back. So we're down to 41 albums below. Still a pretty robust week, at least by my standards. Next week will probably include all of the previously unheard albums from the Consumer Guide (plus all of the other Mary Lee's Corvette albums, and for that matter two older Tipps and Obermiller albums). The one album I had listed as heard, and included below (and in the advance), was the Paul McCartney. I had played it right after the previous week's cutoff, before the CG appeared. I gave it a B then, but gave it another chance, and nudged the grade up a bit. Turns out I erred in including the R.A.P. Ferreira & Kenny Segal album in my "unheard" list. It was released last year, and I reviewed it, rather sketchily, in November, 2025 as a B+(***). The Gurf Morlix album was another I had heard and reviewed but had forgotten about. Christgau seems to have forgotten also, as he previously reviewed it in April, 2026. The Consumer Guidance piece also has a section on the late rock critic, Dave Marsh. I'm collecting links about him, and expect to have more to say in Loose Tabs. I felt pretty negative about him in the 1970s, regarding him as some kind of posh snob — a feeling that doesn't align very well with how other remember him. I met him once, when Christgau brought Carola and me to his apartment to pick up Yankees tickets. He gave no indication of recognizing me (although I was writing in the Voice at the time). Jeffrey St. Clair has been very vocal about his death. I've read virtually nothing by him since 1980, but I ordered a copy of his latest essay compilation, so I'll give him another look. Scott Woods put together some video here, which is of more than passing interest. I'll probably shift back to Loose Tabs next week, to make sure I have at least something to show for August. Beyond that, I have very little idea what I'm doing anymore. August is usually the really hot month here in Wichita, and this year is no exception. Not really record-breaking heat, like so much of the world, but palpably hotter than it's been earlier in the summer, or for several years back. Usually lasts through most of September. New records reviewed this week: Angles 4: Angles 4 (2024 [2026], Relative Pitch): Quartet version of Swedish saxophonist's Martin Küchen's Angles project, the 10th since 2007 in my database, ranging from 3 to 9 in size, here with Mattias Ståhl (vibes), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass), and Kjell Nordeson (drums). They all sound superb here. A− [bc] Babalwa M: Acquiescence (2025, Babalwa M/Empire): From South Africa, surname Mavuso, amapiano singer-songwriter, started with an EP in 2020, seems to be her second studio album. Nice beats, pleasant voice, could grow on you. B+(***) [sp] Baby Queen: I Hope You Don't Remember Me (2026, Insanity): Pop singer-songwriter Arabella Latham, born in South Africa, moved to London at 18 to conquer the pop world. Second album, after an EP and a mixtape. B+(*) [sp] Baby Rose: Yearnalism (2026, Secretly Canadian): Singer-songwriter Jasmine Rose Wilson, from DC/North Carolina/Atlanta, third album, draws on "early r&b and soul legends" (Discogs names Donnie Hathaway and Nina Simone). B+(**) [sp] Dr. Gianni Bianchini: A Study in Songbook (2025-26 [2026], Gianni Bianchini Entertainment): Pianist-singer from Florida, takes on nine standards (including a Jobim) in 36:49, backed with bass (Ross Kratter) and drums (Sam Hart). Piano is nice, voice fair. B [cd] Cindy Blackman Santana: Coherence (2026, Mack Avenue): Drummer, studied at Berklee with Alan Dawson, has a jazz discography back to 1987, but also played with Lenny Kravitz over 18 years, and with Carlos Santana, whom she married in 2010 (a big star in the early 1970s, he is 22 years older). He plays lead guitar here on six pieces here (with John McLaughlin joining on one), the band: Emilio Modeste (sax), Zaccai Curtis (keyboards), Aurélien Budynek (guitar), and Felix Pastorius (bass, with Matthew Garrison on three tracks). Some fancy guitar, but at 80 minutes, runs long. B+(*) [sp] Phoebe Bridgers: Lost Weekend (2026, Dead Oceans): Singer-songwriter, third solo album since 2017, with her girl group Boygenius (2023) splitting the break. Huge critical support here (91/25 at AOTY), Spencer Kornhaber calls it "a perfect album for a frustrating decade," Ann Powers dubs her "the most revered singer-songwriter of the selfie generation." I've listened enough to verify that there's something here, so I take my indifference as further evidence that I'm over the hill. Love and grief themes have little resonance for me these days. Sonically, the synths sweep away the folk roots (which make "Haunted" so appealing). The shifts convince me of her mastery. B+(***) [sp] Mike DiRubbo: Way Out Northwest (2026, Cellar): Alto saxophonist, has mostly recorded for mainstream labels since 1996, but can bust loose an impressive solo. Quartet with piano (Tilden Webb), bass (Jodi Proznick), and drums (Jesse Cahill). B+(**) [sp] Rob Dixon: Naptown Soul (2026, Strikezone): Saxophonist (tenor/soprano), originally from Baltimore, raised near Atlanta, but long based in Indianapolis (aka Naptown). Nice soul jazz groove, co-produced by Dave Stryker (guitar), with Sam Fribush (organ) and Richard "Sleepy" Floyd (drums). B+(*) [cd] DJ Fantôme: Zando Beat! (2026, Palenque): "Electro Madness from Congo Kinshasa," which Bandcamp offers as a subtitle but doesn't appear on the cover, but Bandcamp also credits this to "Electro from Congo Kinsasa," as if "DJ Fantôme is a self-aware algorithm, wandering through servers and materializing a body for each performance." Each of the 12 tracks comes with a "Feat" artist, presumably the rapper-singers. B+(***) [sp] Denise Donatelli: Take My Breath Away (2024 [2026], Savant): Standards singer, has at least six previous albums since 2007, this one directed and arranged by Geoffrey Keezer, with the usual Berlin, Jobim, and Stevie Wonder. [PS: Pretty good "How Deep Is the Ocean."] B− [sp] Open Mike Eagle/Kenny Segal: Doomed! (2026, Backwoodz Studioz): Underground rapper, more than a dozen albums since 2008, and a producer who has his name on even more albums since 2008, and many more side-credits. Focuses on a failed relationship, and soft-pedals that, when there's much more to be worried about. B+(**) [sp] Margaret Glaspy: I Am Both (2026, ATO): Folkie singer-songwriter, fourth album since 2016, has a similar number of EPs. Spotify tells me she's my favorite artist, which makes me wonder about the modern surveillance state (I have her down for 1 A-, 2 ***, and 1 **; based on recent plays in the car, I would have guessed Chuck Berry). Skeletal songs, so direct they demand attention. "Turns out freedom ain't free," but at least "they're allowed to change their minds." A− [sp] Glass Triangle [Zeena Parkins/Mette Rasmussen/Ryan Sawyer]: 3 X 1 (2026, Relative Pitch): Electric harp, alto sax/voice/preparations/bells, drums/percussion/voice. B+(*) [bc] Ariana Grande: Petal (2026, Republic): Pop singer-songwriter, eighth studio album since 2013, seventh chart topper (the other album only got to 2). This goes down as easily as ever, not that it seems to offer much sustenance. B+(**) [sp] John Hollenbeck & Hot Club Jazz Orchestra: Peace & Justice (2022 [2026], Flexatonic): Drummer, perhaps best known for his Claudia Quintet, which this group sounds more than a little like, although the Portuguese band here, conducted by Luis Cunha, is much larger. The music was commissioned by Olha Bekenshtein, based on Ukrainian sources, a project which started in 2021, and was disrupted by the war. B+(***) [cd] Homeboy Sandman/Jack Splash: Resonance Frequency (2026, Dirty Looks): New York rapper Angel Del Villar III, prolific since 2007, with a Los Angeles-based producer Matthew Kahane, whose work started with Cee Lo Green in 2002. He lifts this with much more than the usual slack beats. Unlike most of Homeboy Sandman's output, this runs to real LP length: 13 songs, 40:20. A− [sp] Mike Jones: Mike Jones With Strings (2025 [2026], Capri): Pianist, common name (75 on Discogs), from Buffalo, studied at Berklee, has a dozen or so albums since 1993, including The Show Before the Show from when he was opening for Penn & Teller. Title is misleading: no goopy orchestral string section here, just fast-paced swing with a couple of stringed instruments: bass (Alex Frank) and guitar (Graham Dechter). B+(**) [cd] Karol G: No Me Arrepiento De Sentir Tanto (2026, Interscope): Colombian singer-songwriter Carolina Giraldo Navarro, sixth album since 2017, last year's (Tropicoqueta) was a top album for me. B+(***) [sp] Joanna Mattrey/Camila Nebbia/Camiolo Ángeles/Violeta Garcia: Heavy Handed (2024 [2026], Relative Pitch): Live set of free jazz improv from Bern, with viola, tenor sax, flute, and cello, with various FX. A little noisy. B+(**) [bc] Nick Mazzarella: Siena Sessions (2025 [2026], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Alto saxophonist, from Chicago, recorded this trio in Italy with Silvia Bolognesi (bass) and Cristiano Calcagnile (drums), adding trumpet (Emanuele Marisco) on two tracks. B+(***) [bc] Paul McCartney: The Boys of Dungeon Lane (2026, Capitol): Twentieth "solo studio album" (per Wikipedia; 27th if counting Wings) since 1970. I liked the Beatles as much as anyone during their prime, somewhat less for their post-Pepper period. But his solo career has ranged from disappointing to embarrassing: the best record I've heard was an oldies set from 1999, but I haven't heard most (this makes 11). This one promises Liverpool nostalgia, but on first pass, only the final song ("Momma Gets By") delivered much. A revisit showed considerable songcraft, and more than a few details of interest. B+(**) [sp] The Mountain Goats: Days (2026, Thirty Tigers/Cadmean Dawn): Singer-songwriter John Darnielle, 24th studio album since 1994, first few songs sound like exemplars of current alt/indie rock, a sound that thins out soon, but the songs remain solid. B+(***) [sp] Justin Pierce: Sway (2025 [2026], Justin Pierce Music): Tenor saxophonist, based in Dallas, seems to be his first album (Discogs has some credits with UNT lab bands, c. 2012), hype sheet says he's been playing locally to "delighted audiences," with wife Ashley Pierce singing. She jumps right in with the title tune, then "Honeysuckle Rose," sits out for an instrumental ("Jody Grind"). Two more instrumentals, from Duke Ellington and Miles Davis, with her returning on well-chosen standards — "Moon River" and "L-O-V-E" are standouts. As for the sax, imagine Harry Allen playing the Nat King Cole songbook, with a perfectly fine replacement for the late Rebecca Kilgore. A− [cd] PLRLS: Sleeping in a Dress (2026, Si): Baltimore quintet, pronounced "plurals," post-punk "with a certain operatic/surfy twang and bizarre danceability," which is to say they sound a lot like the B-52s, or even more like the Waitresses. Ten songs, 28:23. B+(***) [sp] Claudio Scolari Project: Lines of Now (2025 [2026], Principal): Italian drummer, also plays synths, third Project album, has several more going back to 1995. Group has a second drummer, Daniele Cavalca, who also plays synths, with Simone Scolari (trumpet), Ilaria Cavalca (voice), and Michele Cavalca (bass). The trumpet-led parts recall Miles Davis fusion. The vocals are artier: I'm less taken by them, but not without recognizing some point. B+(**) [cd] Serengeti: Kenny V (2026, CC King): Chicago rapper David Cohn, underground, huge number of albums since 2003, one series based on "alter ego Kenny Dennis," running from Kenny Dennis LP (2013) through KDIV (2024), promises "this sets up the true finale." Mostly I'm getting dense and murky, but I've never been able to keep this character line straight. B+(*) [sp] Ringo Starr: Long Long Road (2026, UME): Christgau pointed out that the Beatles broke up because "three of them believed they were geniuses and only one of them was." The other Beatle was drummer Richard Starkey, who had earned his keep within in the band, but didn't have a lot of prospects, let alone ambition, on his own. Still, like the rest, he embarked on a solo career in 1970, and has stuck with it, grinding out 22 solo albums so far (he's 86, 2 years older than McCartney). I've hardly ever bothered, but after hearing the warmly-received one by McCartney, I figured, how bad could this be? T-Bone Burnett produced, wrote most of the songs (Starkey has 3 co-credits), and vast resources. And how hard is country? Well, minimally you need a credible singer, and this album doesn't have one: not just Starr, but I didn't notice any other vocals — although I do recognize a half-dozen names from the credits. C+ [sp] Sweeping Promises: You Say I Romanticize (2026, Sub Pop): Post-punk duo, Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug, met in Arkansas, moved to Boston, then to Lawrence KS (unless I got that backwards). Third album. First one claimed a Liliput influence. They've only gotten stronger and more direct. A− [sp] Gebhard Ullmann: Coffee and Berries (2024 [2026], Trouble in the East/ESP-Disk'): German tenor saxophonist, many albums since 1985, also electronics here, along with Steve Swell (trombone), Joe Morris (bass), and Charles Downs (drums). Strong showing for Swell. B+(***) [sp] Gaia Wilmer Large Ensemble Featuring Mônica Salmaso: Parabólico: Reflections on Gilberto Gil Volume I (2025 [2026], Sunnyside): Brazilian saxophonist, several albums since 2017, two originals and five songs by Gil, featuring singer Salmaso. B+(**) [cd] Adrian Younge: Jazz Is Dead 27: Joyce & Tutty Moreno (2026, Jazz Is Dead): Brazilian singer Joyce Moreno and drummer Moreno are featured, as this producer's series continues to round up 1970s icons. Eight songs, 28:46. B+(*) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: The Joshua Breakstone Quartet: Wonderful! (1983 [2026], Capri): Guitarist, first album he released (in 1984), a couple of originals, some standards, ranging to Django Reinhardt and Lennie Tristano, with Barry Harris (piano), Earl Sauls (bass), and Leroy Williams (drums). B+(**) [cd] Old music: PLRLS: Your Situation (2015, Amalgamated Widget): Baltimore group, first album (after a 2012 EP), 9 songs, 26:54, album cover spells out "Plurals," established their sound here, with mixed male/female vocals, and dreams of hits. B+(***) [sp] PLRLS: Have You Seen My Fancy Pony? (2017, Amalgamated Widget): Second album. Credits: Bowen, Fox, Glass, Pumphrey, Wilson. Sounds like they're down a female voice. 10 songs, 29:57. B+(*) [sp] PLRLS: Curses (2018-21 [2023], Amalgamated Widget): Third album, from multiple sessions. A little scattered, but the energy is high. B+(**) [sp] Riverside Jazz Collective: Stomp Off, Let's Go! (2018, self-released): New Orleans trad jazz group, seems to have been a one-off, as even Bandcamp doesn't offer more. Benny Amon (drums), Alex Belhaj (guitar), and Kris Tokarski (piano) seem to be the leaders, but the only other player I recall is trombonist Charlie Halloran. Several members take vocals (Belhaj twice). A superb set. A− [bc] Ringo Starr: Sentimental Journey (1970, Capitol): Ex-Beatles drummer, clearly adrift after the band broke up, with the three geniuses off doing their solo projects, sings a dozen moldy standards, backed by anonymous orchestras with bits of banjo and organ. Christgau explains: "reports that he did this collection of standards for his Mums are obviously true". It's the sort of thing one does 20 years down the road, when you're stuck. Trying to reframe it as such does help, but even so: if the best one can hope for is camp, what if you can't even do that? C [sp] Ringo Starr: Beaucoups of Blues (1970, Capitol): Second solo album, recorded in Nashville by Scotty Moore, with pedal steel guitarist Pete Drake producing. I don't doubt that Ringo loves his country music, but it doesn't exactly love him back. B− [sp] Ringo Starr: Ringo (1973, Capitol): After two quick and flimsy albums, he took a bit of time to put together something a bit more substantial. For starters, he wrote some songs, and he got some help from his friends (John, Paul, George, and Randy Newman). Richard Perry produced, and I recognize at least two dozen names on the credit sheet. Some songs I like here, especially "Photograph" and "Oh My My." The CD bonus tracks are also a plus, especially the non-album single "It Don't Come Easy." B+(**) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Thursday, August 13, 2026 Music Week
Music: Current count 46411 [46385] rated (+26), 25 [18] unrated +7). Advance Music Week appeared August 12 on Substack. It is also archived here. My cutoff was done before the Substack post. The introduction started there, but has been extensively revised/rewritten. I spent a couple hours Tuesday at the local Toyota monopoly, for what was supposed to be a free service — every six months for the first two years (two oil changes and four tire rotations), part of the new car purchase deal. I complained about numerous glitches — disconnects, muting, spurious commands (common with phones, at least in my experience) — with the (looking up the proper term) "infotainment screen" that fills up the middle of the dashboard, where cars used to provide such useful things as a CD player, radio, and various HVAC/lighting controls. The lack of a CD player has kept me in a bad mood for a year now, exacerbated by Toyota's schemes to sell me extra-cost subscriptions (music deals, other crap). The promise of the system is supposed to be its integration with my cell phone. I have managed to stream some music from Spotify using Bluetooth (thus far, mostly Chuck Berry; it's hard to find things using the Spotify phone interface, especially as I hadn't figured out how to get Android Auto working until two weeks ago. So I complained to Toyota, and to the dealer. The dealer at least took a look at the problem, and concluded there wasn't one. I've been locked out of the Toyota app for nearly a year, so they gave me a phone number to talk to someone else about that. Not their problem, or deal. Nor is the confusion over the rot of expiring subscriptions to "services" that never made any sense in the first place. I wrote a Substack post earlier this week called Yahoo Mail Really Sucks. I had already been thinking about a Toyota Sucks piece when the Yahoo mess broke. It's still in the works, but it's most likely just another example of how modern companies waste no opportunity to rip off their captive customers. Still, I feel the need for further research. I have a phone, but it's too old for updates. I hardly ever use it: rare phone calls, a plate pic when I cook, uploaded via email (which otherwise I don't use). I find the browser nearly useless. I resist adding apps, which I mostly regard as infernal plots to control. My wife does much more with her phone. Perhaps I should learn some new tricks? As for music, it's possible to get a plug-in CD player. Local businesses want about $500 to mount one somewhere, then plug it into the car's one USB port. Amazon has similar devices for about $50. Given the cockpit design, there's no good place to mount it. Another possibility would be a MP3 player (or maybe FLAC: newer ones support multiple formats). Back in the day, I'd load up three travel cases with 200 CDs, then drive cross-country. New ones can hold that much music, maybe more. It would be smaller than a CD player, easier to mount, and more reliable. I'd need some way to load it up, and to find things on it. Researching those questions has been very frustrating, but there must be a way? I don't like going through life with giant chips on my shoulder, but that seems to be my life these days. I don't understand it very well. I used to be better at coping. But I used to be better at getting all sorts of things done. I probably need to focus on the "serenity prayer," and other "core AA slogans." (Drinking isn't an option, at least one with any appeal.) And as far as chips go, I'm in nowhere near as bad shape as Donald Trump. That's a guy whose neuroses have really screwed up his life — a situation that isn't helped by having the power to inflict his misery on others. I was pretty despondent when I got up Wednesday morning. Then I saw that Yahoo's POP server had coughed up 124 of my emails, with more arriving intermittently throughout the day. I did nothing to get this working again. And I have no communication from Yahoo saying they did anything, or were even aware of a problem. It may be that someone there did notice my post, or maybe they just looked at their own error log files, or maybe a broken server went offline and the slack got picked up by a working machine. At any rate, dozens of suggestions from their chatbot did no good whatsoever. They mostly served to deflect attention, with not the slightest care as to how much pain and aggravation they cause. So, not knowing what else to do, I spent Wednesday posting my advance Music Week on Substack. This week is a day or two short of last week, but with fewer distractions I have a bit more to report. I've tried to catch up with more non-jazz, but I don't have much of a plan as to what to listen to. And having posted two long rants to Substack — the Yahoo piece mentioned above, and something on political categories (capitalism, socialism, the Left) occasioned by Jordan Peterson, I wound up skimping on many reviews below — satisfied that I had heard enough to render a grade, without taking the extra time to craft a coherent review. Examples below include pretty good B+(**) records by Johnny Blue Skies, Kiss Facility, Caroline Kraabel, Arlo Parks, The Strokes, Syd, Juanma Trujillo, and Yard Act, and B+(***) for Ravyn Lenae and Wiki. On the other hand, I did write more about the albums I highlighted, if only because they have more history to frame. I'm surprised to find two of my favorite acts of the 1960s and 1980s have come up with top-tier albums this year, although both have had post-peak albums that I liked quite a bit, even if they never turned into regular plays. (Not much ever does these days.) That's probably the case here, too, but I've played them both a lot this week, and they do hold up. Pussy Riot was a slightly harder call. I've never paid much attention to their singles, and had little preconception going into this album. I also noted that so far it's gotten poor reviews (AOTY 63/4; I've read several, and they align poorly with what I'm hearing). Conceptually, one problem is that they don't have a signature sound or style: there are 4-6 different approaches here, but most of them are remarkable on their own terms. Also, it's mostly in Russian, which blunts the politics, aside from "Disobey." Not that I know or care much their political agenda: while I blamed Putin for invading Ukraine, I have long thought that the war should be ended as quickly as possible, based on the current stalemate, and not drawn out in some vain hope of justice prevailing. But Putin is still their problem, even as my problem is Trump. As for Satoko Fujii's second orchestra album this year, she's on a roll. I just got the third one in the mail. I've let my demo queue accumulate, as they're mostly advances, some out to October. I'll catch up in due course. I omitted the Oliver-Smith Incomparables album from my advance, as it isn't scheduled until later, and I didn't want to confuse with something not readily available. The album had already gotten votes in the Mid-Year poll, and I was anxious to get to it. That happens sometimes, and I note future release dates below. No idea what I'm going to do going forward. I should finish my facelift of the jazz poll website, and I need to update the database to the Christgau website. I half-expected an August Consumer Guide on Wednesday, but it's running late (no idea how late). I could always jot down more Loose Tabs. But I'm pretty disgusted with the world these days, as I feel not just less able to affect it, but even to survive it. Which is a shame, because in many respects, we as a species have never had more opportunities to live well, and have become so productive that there is no good reason why anyone should be left out. New records reviewed this week: Michael Blake: Piccolos Before Rifles (2025 [2026], Baby Tank): Canadian saxophonist, a couple dozen albums since 1997, many more group- (Blake Tartare, Slow Poke) and side-credits. Plays tenor/soprano here, plus flutes, with Guilherme Monteiro (guitar), Skye Soto Steele (violin), Gil Lopes (bass), and Rogerio Boccato (drums) — three of those from Brazil, the other Puerto Rican. B+(**) [sp] Billy Childs: Triumvirate (2026, Mack Avenue): Pianist, from Los Angeles, straddles classical and jazz, with "chamber jazz" a middle position, early albums (1988-93) on new age Windham Hill, has had some Grammy success. Trio with Matt Penman (bass) and Ari Hoenig (drums). Nice little record. B+(*) [sp] Isaiah Collier: Joy (2026, Brownswood, EP): Chicago saxophonist, has made a strong impression with his Chose Few group, even more so with the Ancients (a trio with Williams Hooker and Parker), comes out singing here with the title track, lifted by big band and strings, and ends with another gospel-inflected vocal ("God's By Your Side"). In between, three instrumental pieces, with flute and keyboards. Total: five songs, 27:13. Not my thing. B− [sp] DOMi & JD Beck: Who Asked? (2026, Apeshit/Blue Note): French keyboardist Domi Louna (Domitille Degalle) and American drummer JD Beck, second album, has some vocals (probably Domi), a lot of extra orchestration (flute, clarinets, oboe, bassoon, violin). B− [sp] Ferg's Imaginary Big Band: The New Atomic (2024 [2026], Trash City): UK (Leeds) bandleader-composer Fergus Quill, leads a band of 30 or so, aiming for that Basie big bang, and then some. B+(*) [sp] Satoko Fujii Orchestra Kobe: After the Storm (2026, Libra): The second of this year's promised batch of five big band albums, a new recording where Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra was an archive from 2014. That was around the time when Fujii released four big band albums with different orchestras. At the time, I compared one of them to Basie's Atomic Orchestra from the 1950s, at least in terms of power and sheer brassiness. The new series is impressive so far, and this is one of the most immediately appealing of her large-scale efforts. A- [cd] Iceage: For Love of Grace & the Hereafter (2026, Mexican Summer): Danish post-punk band, sounded solid on their 2011 debut, uninteresting on three (of four) 2013-2021 efforts, but getting a lot of hype for this sixth album. Not punk in any meaningful sense, but upbeat, engaging, with a few hooks. I like the song that goes "life is for the weak," for the words but also for the extra noise. B+(**) [sp] Johnny Blue Skies & the Dark Clouds: Mutiny After Midnight (2026, High Top Mountain/Atlantic): Country singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson, debut 2013, second album as Johnny Blue Skies, first to add the band name. Strays far from country, but offers protest songs to open and close (the "Extended Edition" tacks on three extras, including "A Whiter Shade of Pale"). B+(**) [sp] Leven Kali: LK99 (2026, Def Jam): Dutch-born American singer-songwriter, couple albums since 2019, first vocal here is a dead-ringer for Prince, especially as he's already established a funk groove. B+(*) [sp] Kiss Facility: Khazna (2026, Ambient Tweets): Arabic-influenced dream pop duo of Mayah Alkhateri (from UAE) and Salvador Navarrete (from Egypt); first album after several singles (from 2023). B+(**) [sp] Caroline Kraabel/Pat Thomas/John Edwards/Steve Noble: Transgressive Coastlines (2024 [2026], Shrike): Alto saxophonist, born in California, moved to London as a teen, has a fair number of records since 1997, but not much I've heard. The piano-bass-drums trio is long acquainted. B+(**) [bc] Ravyn Lenae: Blue Island (2026, Atlantic): Alt-R&B singer-songwriter from Chicago, third album. B+(***) [sp] Madonna: Confessions II (2026, Warner): Conceived as a sequal to 2006's Confessions on a Dance Floor, which could just as well have been a sequel to 1987's You Can Dance. Down side is that everything here sounds like something you already know. Good news is that it all sounds great (except maybe for the soft landing). A- [sp] Oliver-Smith Incomparables: Stomp Your Stuff (2025 [2026], Turtle Bay): Trad jazz group led by pianist Andrew Oliver (2 at Discogs, which credits him with one album, but 30 more performances, including Sextets from 2008-10) and veteran drummer Hal Smith, with cornet (Colin Hancock), clarinet, trombone, guitar/banjo, and bass/tuba, playing vintage goodies from the 1920s. Instant joy. A- [cd] [08-28] Arlo Parks: Ambiguous Desire (2026, Transgressive): British alt-pop singer-songwriter, third album, first two very good, this one a bit more, uh, ambiguous. B+(**) [sp] Pussy Riot: Cyka (2026, Stem): Russian feminist performance art collective, fiercely anti-Putin (and these days pro-Ukraine), founded in 2011, membership fluid and often jailed or otherwise harassed, has released an EP and several singles, appears here with a full album, probably because co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova (and possibly others) escaped to Iceland. A fairly wide range of sounds and styles, where the punk/hardcore may be the most compelling because there the message comes through even without words, but the rap and electropop and something that sounds like a Kate Bush hit ("Pain") also impress, suggesting a worldview that goes beyond rage, but doesn't flinch from it when needed. A- [sp] Rolling Stones: Foreign Tongues (2026, Rolling Stones/Polydor): Major group, rivaled the Beatles in the 1960s, has lasted much longer, survived the death of Brian Jones, the retirement of Bill Wyman, and more recently (and more importantly) the death of Charlie Watts. But the two singer-songwriters, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, are still active, however improbably, as is Jones replacement Ron Wood. But their ontogeny basically ended with 1972's Exile on Main Street. Since then they've mostly engaged in buckraking, with regular tours, concert films, live albums, and the occasional studio effort — most lukewarm, but some significant enough to be hailed as return-to-form comebacks. Those too have trailed off and thinned out, but this is the best in quite a while (probably since 2004's A Bigger Bang, or 1986's Dirty Work, or maybe 1981's Tattoo You. The key word is "return," as they virtually defined "classic rock," and can tap into any time they want — at least half of this overly long album. Key wisdom for the aged: "Life's too short for just making money." The irony is palpable, but the line is credible nonetheless. A- [sp] The Strokes: Reality Awaits (2026, RCA/Cult): New York alt/indie group, considered a big deal with their 2001 debut, releases have slowed down since 2005, this just the second since 2013. Surprisingly good groove band, until they aren't. B+(**) [sp] AJ Suede: Atomic Justice (2026, Knowhatimean, EP): Seattle rapper, underground, lots of albums since 2015, this one 12 songs, 25:34. B+(*) [sp] Skúli Sverrisson/Bill Frisell: For All Your Flowers (2026, Newvelle): Guitarist from Iceland, based in New York, albums since 1997, side credits with groups like Alasnoaxis and Yeah No, as well as working as music director for Laurie Anderson. Duo with the famed American guitarist. B+(*) [sp] Syd: Beard (2026, Free Lunch/Warner): Neo-soul singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, third album, has a nice, easy flow. B+(**) [sp] Juanma Trujillo/Kenneth Jiménez/Vasco Trilla: Nada Es Nada (2026, Ramble): Venezuelan guitarist, based in New York, several albums since 2018, with Costa Rican bassist (also based in New York) and Spanish drummer, recorded in Barcelona. Works through some tricky changes. B+(**) [bc] WDR Big Band: Jagged Edges & Elegant Lines: The Music of Ayn Inserto (2024 [2026], Summit): Inserto (b. 1976) studied at New England Conservatory, was a protégé of Bob Brookmeyer, teaches at Berklee, has two albums as Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra, a couple more where her compositions are performed by others (she also conducts here). I tend to dismiss European big bands, but this group, featuring Sean Jones (trumpet), is pretty sharp, possibly because that's what the compositions demand (or inspire?). B+(***) [cd] Wiki: Ancient History (2026, Wikset): New York rapper Patrick Morales, started in Ratking c. 2011, eighth album since 2017. B+(***) [sp] Yard Act: You're Gonna Need a Little Music (2026, Universal Island): British post-punk group, from Leeds, singer James Smith, third album since 2022, most impressive when most intense. B+(**) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: None. Old music: None. Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Saturday, August 8, 2026 Music Week
Music: Current count 46385 [46366] rated (+19), 18 [11] unrated +7). Advance Music Week appeared August 6 on Substack. It is also archived here. My cutoff was done before the Substack post, but the introduction is revised/rewritten the day or two after. I also published Loose Tabs (8) this week, on August 3, which was a recap of my August 1 Loose Tabs with further thoughts. After racking up 184 reviews in July, I'm down to 19 this week (6 below + one revisit). I knew I wasn't going to keep the pace up this week. My cousin, Max Brown, died in January. He owned a ranch near Douglass, 30-40 miles southeast of Wichita, and the estate set up an auction of his equipment, tools, furniture, guns, and so forth for August 6. His nephew and nieces were coming up for that, and I spent some time with them, taking the opportunity to rustle up a fairly substantial dinner, mostly old family favorites. So that roughly cut my week in half. But by the time that was done, I had gotten caught up in several tech crises. Unfortunately, these are not the sort of tech crises that one can research, troubleshoot, and find technical solutions to. These are tech crises wrapped up in an oozing blanket of corporate strategy, of the sort that Cory Doctorow wrote about as Enshittification. For some reason, Toyota is not satisfied just selling cars. They've put a rather crappy computer console in the middle of the dashboard, and now they see that as an opportunity to squeeze more money out of their customers. Or also to charge third parties for the opportunity to prey on their customers: the car came with "free trial subscriptions" to AT&T and Sirius XM, which as far as I can tell are worthless. There are other deals with Amazon and Apple streaming services, which tie in with their decision not to include (or even offer) a CD player. Their "Toyota Connect" trial subscription ended July 31, which may (or may not) have something to do with lots of connection glitches, some of which occurred dangerously while I was driving on the highway. I'll rant about this more later. My more immediate problem is with Yahoo email. My email address originally came from a local cable operator, but shortly after we moved here, they sold out to Cox, who changed my address (adding a "2" to the user name). I've had that address since 2002, but in 2024, Cox decided to stop supporting email (which, quite frankly, they were pretty bad at), so they sold their address list to Yahoo. That was annoying, but I managed to jump through their hoops and get Thunderbird working with their POP and SMTP servers. That was working ok until August 4, when I stopped receiving email. It took me another day to really notice what was going on. The error message says: "Server error - Please try again later." We are now four days later, with no successful RETR requests. I'll spare you further technical detail, although I can assure you that I've spent many hours since then examining every aspect of the protocol, and I'm confident that the problem is not on my end. I've also spent many hours trying to get help from Yahoo. I haven't found any customer support, or any way to contact a human agent. I have spent 6-8 hours with their chatbot, going over all the possible changes I could make on my end to possibly remedy the problem. Note, however, that the chatbot is blissfully unaware of the meaning of the "server error" message: the only thing they are trained to do is to blame the customer's configuration for any mistakes. Still, I managed three times to steer it around to the point of offering to let me continue by speaking to an actual human. Yet each time after I agreed, they told me that none was available. Yahoo's webpage says as much. They sort of imply that if I had some kind of pair tier account, they would have offer 24/7 service, but it isn't clear how real that offer is. The things they offer service help on are routine user tasks. Quite possibly they are following the Cox model, where the people who actually run the servers are firewalled so the customer service people can't bother them. The assumption here is that our system is perfect, so all problems are yours (mostly due to your ignorance and/or incompetence). I don't know what I'm going to do about this. For now, I can still read email using Yahoo's webpage app, and also, oddly enough, on my phone — which I never use for email, although I do have an IMAP/SMTP account set up there. The web app is pretty horrible. It is very slow and awkward to work. And I can't move mail to my archives. And while it probably keeps a record of sent email, that's not the same as having the archive on my own machine. But for now, suffice it to say that I'm still sorting through August 4 email, and have yet to look at any of today's email today. I hoped to get some free time after the Mid-Year Poll, but we're off to a horrible, depressing start. With problems coming so fast, and solutions so slow, I'm starting to worry about bumping unprepared into another poll season. I am still expecting to run an end-of-year poll, but I'm hoping that will be my last, and that I can find someone else to carry it forward. I'm running out of years to . . . well, waste isn't the right word, but there are other things I still want to work on. A few weeks ago, I decided to read up on AI, so I picked out four books I thought might be helpful (in the Recent Reading, to the left). For the most part, they were (I have some reservations about Robert Wright's The God Test, which I anticipated from the title, but had hoped he wouldn't get stuck there). I should write up some notes on them. My plan was to sign up for an LLM (probably Claude), and see what I can do with it. Now that, and much more, will have to wait until I can work through the email problem. In the meantime, I picked up a book on Venezuela I bought back when that seemed to be the most pressing Trump war policy problem. By the way, last week's two full-A albums (Laurie Anderson: Let X = X, and Swamp Dogg Contemplates the Afterlife) are still in heavy rotation. (Cover images added.) That's another reason I've had less time for new music this week. I should also note that the main source for what I did manage to listen to last week was Phil Overeem's July list. After catching up there, I'm finding it surprisingly hard to figure out what to play next. I've paid little attention My own promo bin — disorganized again, but mostly full of future releases (as far out as October). I haven't been collecting a metacritic file, so I've mostly been leaning on a few sources (like Overeem, Dan Weiss, and Jeffrey Callahan) who are still doing the work to find things first (and that list is nowhere near complete). Apologies if you've sent me mail I haven't noticed yet. I set thull2 [at] tomhull.com up back when Cox was giving me aggravation. It still gets through, is checked regularly, and pops up alerts I sometimes notice, but can find it easily enough, and archive the messages in my local folders. I'm not at this point saying you should use the alternative email address. I don't see it as being a real solution down the road. But it is available now. PS: Even before the email problem, I expected to have a lot of highly technical issues to work through in the next month or two: changes to the jazz critics poll website, possibly to other websites (Robert Christgau's, mine, maybe more), investigating email alternatives for the poll, investing in some AI tools, as well as making some changes to my home stereo setup (which also flops over into the car problem). I have two email lists that I use to discuss such things. (Perhaps I should also look into public forums, which I used long ago, but not so much lately.) One list is specific to the jazz critics poll. The other is more oriented to the Christgau website. If you would like to help, or at least just enjoy listening to me banging on about such things, let me know, and I will sign you up. New records reviewed this week: Badger Hunt: Full Moon in My Pocket (2026, self-released): Brooklyn-based duo of Miles Lee Elissor (TX) and James McCarthy Walker (SC). Looks to be their second album, skipping three Free Noise compilations on their Bandcamp. Noisy, often in a good way. B+(**) [bc] Concrete Rock: New York DIY (2026, Desert Island): Eleven short songs (35:09) by eleven groups, only one I've heard of (CS Cleaners, and that just last week), all new songs written for this release, inspired by Sidney Salk's "collection of comps from the 70s-90s," from punk to no wave to generic indie. B+(*) [bc] Graham Coxon: Castle Rock (2026, Transgressive): English singer-songwriter, ninth studio album since 1998, was in Blur 1988-2002, leaving before the band's first hiatus, but also later reunions (2009, 2023). Some catchy songcraft, at least to open. B [sp] CS Cleaners: What's This? (2026, Wharf Cat): Brooklyn-based post-punk band, first album after a 2023 EP, claim influences from "NYC downtown music from CBGB's diverse first wave through no-wave's mutations and deconstructions," but with hooks as well as overtures. B+(***) [sp] Doseone & Height Keech: Wood Teeth II (2026, Hands Made, EP): Rapper Adam Drucker, from Idaho, was a cofounder of Anticon. Six songs, 15:42, kind of a metal vibe. B+(**) [sp] Kelela: New Avatar (2026, Warp): Singer-songwriter from DC, last name Mizanekristos, parents Ethiopian, third studio album since 2015 (also has remixes and a live album), electropop with soul airs. B+(**) [sp] Mark Lomax, II & the Urban Art Ensemble: Black Odes: A Reclamation Suite (2026, CFG Multimedia): Drummer from Columbus, Ohio, with many records since 1999, should be a major figure but few people are aware of him, or for that matter his brilliant saxophonist, Edwin Bayard. Part of the problem is that the streaming interface on his website is hard to find let alone trust. This seems to have four pieces, of indeterminate length, promising "jazz, classical, hip-hop, and poetry are brought together to imagine a world where racism never existed." Long on concept, but hard to track in this form. B+(***) [os] Henrik Olsson: Antumbra Ensemble (2025 [2026], Cuneiform): Guitarist, (13) on Discogs (1 is a Swedish drummer; no bio here, but album was recorded in Denmark), debut album, a septet with alto sax, trumpet, trombone, tuba, electric bass, and drums, loosely modeled on Henry Threadgill's Very Very Circus and "Rock in Opposition" bands like Henry Cow. Frenzied, for sure, but that's all I hear here. B [dl] Mon Rovîa: Bloodline (2026, Nettwerk): Folkie singer-songwriter, but in Monrovia, Liberia, but adopted by an American family when he was seven, and grew up in Chattanooga, where he developed a fondness for folk music. B+(*) [sp] Navy Blue: Sir Render (2026, Freedom Sounds): Rapper Sage Elesser, more than a dozen albums since 2020, serious thoughts over mild underground beats. This winds up his "Knighthood" trilogy, following on Memoirs in Armour and The Sword and the Soaring. Probably worth more study than I can muster. B+(***) [sp] Odd Okoddo & Ogoya Nengo: Palagoma (2026, From Cool Waters): From Nairobi, Kenya, the former a duo of dodo singer-songwriter Olith Ratego and drummer Sven Kacirek, the latter an 83-year-old folk artist. B+(***) [bc] Henrik Olsson: Antumbra Ensemble (2025 [2026], Cuneiform): Guitarist, (13) on Discogs (1 is a Swedish drummer; no bio here, but album was recorded in Denmark), debut album, a septet with alto sax, trumpet, trombone, tuba, electric bass, and drums, loosely modeled on Henry Threadgill's Very Very Circus and "Rock in Opposition" bands like Henry Cow. Frenzied, for sure, but that's all I hear here. B [dl] Lido Pimienta: Caribenya (2026, Anti-): Singer-songwriter from Colombia, grew up in Canada (Toronto), fifth album since 2010, titles and lyrics in Spanish. B+(*) [sp] Speaker Music: Synoptic Audio (2026, Planet Mu): Techno producer DeForrest Brown Jr., from "the deep South," based in New York, has several albums since 2019, long on theory as well as esoteric technology. This one, for instance, is manipulated then played on a speaker array and re-recorded using an omnidirectional mic to pick up all the room vibrations. No doubt the method adds to the sonic depth, but I was more interested before it consumed the album (and I felt the need to turn it down a bit). B+(**) [bc] Vince Staples: Cry Baby (2026, Loma Vista): Los Angeles rapper, seventh studio album since 2015, has come up with a different sound here, thin beats, moderate speed, words basic enough for rock, a combination I find appealing, much more than anything else he's done. A- [sp] Frank Trompeter/Richard Gilman-Opalsky: Antifascist Freedom Music (2026, Mahakala Music): Saxophonist (tenor/alto/soprano) from Chicago, has several albums going back to 2001, in a duo with the drummer, who also plays wood flutes. The jazz is certainly free, if a bit shrill. But maybe that's what the times call for. B+(**) [bc] Twisted Teens: Florida Water Blues (2026, Going Underground): New Orleans-based post-punk band, third album in quick succession, songs written by bassist C.P.N. Hollywell, sung by guitarist Cas P. Ian, 13 songs run an unrushed 42:29. Gets more interesting when it veers into swamp rock. B+(***) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Lekan Animashaun: Low Profile (1977-86 [2026], Strut): Nigerian baritone saxophonist, a long-time fixture in the bands of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, seems to be the only album under his name, two tracks totaling 23:03. Original album didn't come out until 1995. B+(***) [sp] Los Orientales De Paramonga: 1972-1976 (1972-76 [2026], Analog Africa): Peruvian group, from somewhere north of Lima, recorded several albums in this time period. Really nice guitar and percussion. Vocals come and go, over 25 songs (73 minutes). Probably not major, but very pleasant. A- [sp] Gary Stewart: One Track Mind (1970-73 [2026], Delmore Recording Society): Country singer-songwriter (1944-2003), made a big splash with his 1975 debut album (Out of Hand), which got MCA to finally round up a bunch of older singles and miscellany as You're Not the Woman You Used to Be. The search for his juvenilia continues here, in the label's third collection of "previously unreleased, pre-RCA recordings." Starts strong, in excellent voice, but my mind slides off the track by the end. Recording dates approximate. B+(**) [sp] Gary Stewart: King of the Honky Tonks Live (1981 [2025], Gary Stewart): Live shot, from near the end of his RCA phase. So lots of familiar songs, a fair alternative to the many best-of compilations RCA has released from the period. B+(**) [sp] Old music: Twisted Teens: Twisted Teens (2024 [2025], Chain Smoking): New Orleans-based post-punk group, first album, looks like the initial releases were on cassette, first in Germany then in the US before other labels got involved. 11 songs, 32:08. I was expecting something tighter and grimmer, but instead they remind me of the Dead Milkmen. B+(***) [sp] Grade (or other) changes: Ratboys: Singin' to an Empty Chair (2026, New West): Chicago indie rock band, Julia Steiner the singer, guitarist David Sagan the other principal, sixth studio album since 2015. Sounded fine when I gave it an initial play, but evidently not much of a listen. [was: B+(**)] A- [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Friday, July 31, 2026 Music Week
Music: Current count 46366 [46332] rated (+34), 11 [14] unrated (-3). Advance Music Week appeared here on Substack. It is also archived here.) Hopefully I'll get the album covers right before sending it out. (I did.) We're a week past the publication of the Mid-Year Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll. I expected to have more to say about it at this point, but as is so often the case, exhaustion has left me distraught and distracted, looking elsewhere. I did start a slight facelift to the top-level website, but checked it in with just enough to cover the mid-year poll, and haven't gotten back to it. I think it works better for landscape screens, but probably not for phones (which I gather is what most people use for web browsing these days, although I almost never do). I know there's "responsive website" code for figuring that out. I just have to dig it up. I'm thinking of adding album covers for the landscape version. People seem to need graphics to look at a web page these days. Go figure. I also need to move the Francis Davis obit notice into its own file. I also want to create new top-level files for charts that span the multiple polls. I have some cheat sheets I've compiled that I use for stats when I'm writing essays. There's no reason that information shouldn't be easily available. It hasn't happened because polls go in boom-and-bust cycles. During the voting period, it's all we can do to keep up. After voting ends and the essays are sweated through, we're busted and don't feel like doing any more. One solution I've thought a bit about is to raise some money and hire someone to work on the poll more/less full time. I don't know whether that's even possible. One idea I had was to create a Substack, where the revenues would go to hiring a manager. We could then give voters free subscriptions for their troubles. (DownBeat continues to get lots of voters who won't give us the time of day, even though it takes at least ten times as long to fill out their ridiculous 50+ category forms. But they give voters a free subscription, and a promo T-shirt, or I guess it's a cap this year. I don't know that it makes a difference, but perhaps it does.) Or maybe there's some foundation money available somewhere. Or a "go fund me." I have no idea how that sort of thing works. There isn't a huge audience for the poll, but I'm pretty sure there is an appreciative one. For my part, I'm pretty good at doing things on the cheap, and I like not having to cater to the whims of those with money. So I'm not the right person to attempt anything like that. And while I'm happy to help, at my age I'm not likely to be able to keep doing this sort of thing much longer. I'm fairly committed to running the poll again in the fall, but not beyond that. The question is how can the poll be organized this fall so it can continue in the future. Because the need is there, and most likely always will be. As it is, I've spent most of the week trying to catch up after ignoring Loose Tabs for over six weeks — the longest gap since I gave up on doing the weekly Speaking of Which. My draft at present is up to 15,729 words (264 links). I am hopeful I can finally publish it over the weekend. It's already provided raw material for my Lindsey Graham post (Famous Death Dwarves). Very little reaction to that, leaving me with questions about the experiment. It probably would have had more impact had I taken my links/comments and restructured them as a straight essay.[*] I could also have expanded on where I see his legacy going. For now, the Ukraine war hawks are riding high on his dead horse.
More non-jazz this week than jazz, for the first time in quite a while. There are still many records from the poll that I haven't heard — I have a list I've been ticking off, which has shrunk from 295 to 242 albums (roughly from 50% of the poll picks to 40%) — but finding the ones that look most interesting is getting hard. While I still get a fair number of promos, I depend on Spotify and full albums on Bandcamp to make up the slack. I only rarely follow up on download offers — there must be some system that other people use to manage them, but I've never figured one out — and I rarely ask for CDs or downloads. Besides, I've neglected non-jazz over the last couple months. In particular, I've hardly looked at any mid-year lists this year (and I'm not tracking metacritic grades, so I've lost that major source of information). I don't get many questions, but I tried to answer one today. Probably not very satisfactorily, but it's impossible to review everything, or anything remotely close, so one has to pick and choose, based on what seems promising, and what doesn't. I could have added that these days (thanks to streaming) I continue to check out virtually every record Christgau writes up, even the male alt/indie rockers I have little hope of actually liking. I was pretty solidly into rock and soul from the 1960s through the 1980s, diversifying only a bit into roots and jazz in the 1970s (before returning seriously in the 1990s), but not getting to hip-hop until late (like, Run-DMC, so I guess mid-1980s, not that late). So there's always a chance. But sorry, not a lot of patience these days. [*] I'm in the market for some AI tools. Supposedly one thing they're good at is summarizing articles, which makes me wonder how good one might be at taking notes and forming them into a proper outline. Not quite the same thing, but related, at least if they evince some understanding. Could I, for instance, take everything I've blogged over 25 years and feed it to one, and have it spit out some kind of coherent piece on North Korea? It wouldn't even have to be right. Once I have something, I can fix it. The big problem is getting from very scattered notes to something I can work with. I've been reading a series of books on AI, and am currently about one-third done with the fourth. The books are shown under "Recent Reading" to the left. I think the order is well-considered:
Doctorow emphasizes the business issues, expecting the bubble to burst, while warning that the key issue is who controls whom. AI Snake Oil admits that AI has many practical uses, but disparages "predictive AI." Stern is a tech-testing journalist, with access to lots of the latest gadgets and models, so helps break the big concept of AI down to its practical (and impractical) constituents. I hate Wright's title, and his general fascination with cosmic evolution, but I started reading his newsletter due to his good sense on foreign policy, and I've followed his interest in AI for several years now. More generally, I agree with is focus on the need for cooperation in political matters — to which point, I've read his 1999 book Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny, which has the same God baggage, but isn't fatally undermined by it. I'm about a third of the way through The God Test, and it is the most troublesome of the four books, but I still have hope. For one thing, it is the only one that looks beyond the current state of the art to try to figure where it's going, how it will impact us, and what we might most constructively do about it. At that point, I suspect we'll be in substantial agreement. If AI can be abused by nefarious characters (including governments), and it almost certainly can, we need a kinder, more generous, more cooperative, more trustworthy politics and economy (something Wright might be tempted to call a religion). I've read several other books, like Ronald Kneusel's How AI Works: From Sorcery to Science, and Matteo Pasquinelli's The Eye of the Master: A Social History of Artificial Intelligence. I've also found that AI figures in other recent books I've read, like Daron Acemoglu/Simon Johnson's Power and Progress: Our Thousand Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity, and John Cassidy's Capitalism and Its Critics: A History: From the Industrial Revolution to AI. In the wings, I have a book from the library, Artificial Intelligence for Dummies: All-in-One, which runs some 716 pages. I expect it to be superficial, and tied to specific programs, few of which I will ever use, but I hope it might be worth thumbing through for ideas on how to use whatever tools I do try out. New records reviewed this week: A-F-R-O & Motion Plus: Frequencies (2026, Fro Thizzle Productions): Rapper James Dean Santiago-Gutierrez, handful of albums since 2016, acronym for All Flows Reach Out, with producer William Sterns, heavy on the turntablism. B+(***) [sp] Akhavelli: Moorthodox Psyence (2026, Below System): London-based producer, first album as such, but also known as Yvng Face, billed as "instrumental" but his collages have lots of hip-hop vocal samples. Vibe strikes me as Public Enemy, but the artist is probably thinking more of Tupac Shakur. B+(***) [bc] Ishmael Ali: Burn the Plastic, Sell the Copper (2023-25 [2026], Amalgam): Cellist, from Chicago, touted as his debut album but Discogs credits him with ten since 2020. Also credited with voice, electronics, and compositions, with Ed Wilkerson Jr. (tenor sax/alto clarinet), Corey Wilkes (trumpet), Jim Baker (piano, ARP), Brianna Tong (voice), and Bill Harris (drums). Voice a plus, for once. B+(***) [bc] Laurie Anderson With Sexmob: Let X = X (2023 [2026], Nonesuch): Performance artist, combines very brainy spoken word with her violin and minimalist synths to produce a series of brilliant albums, starting with 1982's Big Science, with 1985's United States Live (a 5-LP box) and 1989's Strange Angels most remarkable. Live album, with 23 songs in 94 minutes, based by a jazz quintet organized by Steven Bernstein and Briggan Krauss (brass) in 1998, with Doug Wieselman (clarinet/guitar), Tony Scherr (bass), and Kenny Wollesen (drums). They don't replace, let alone eliminate, the synths and violin, but they add warmth, and occasionally some rhythmic flex. I suspect that Bernstein is the musical hero here, not for his trumpet but for his arranging skills. One surprise is they dropped in a vocal from the ghost of Lou Reed (they were married from 2008 to his death in 2013). But even more than the music, I'm struck by the philosophy, so much needed for our times: the last lines are "there are so many sad things in the world, and if you pretend they're not there, you're an idiot. The point is, that it is very, very important not to become sad yourself. And more than that, he said, 'You know, you need to remember that the reason we're here, the actual reason that we're here is to have a really, really, really good time.'" A [sp] Nia Archives: Emotional Junglist (2026, Hijinxx/Island): British jungle/electronica producer Dehaney Nia Lishahn Hunt, I had her filed as such based on her early EPs, but this is a songs album, and she's a singer-songwriter, even if her beats are exceptionally deft. A− [sp] Charli XCX: Music, Fashion, Film (2026, Atlantic): British pop star, eighth album, produced by A.G. Cook and Finn Keane, who co-wrote the 11 tracks (a tight 30:05, with the vinyl shorter, dropping a David Cronenberg vocal sample, and a "B-Sides Edition" extra CD available which only adds 5:45). B+(***) [sp] Christopher Dammann: Dead Words (2025 [2026], Shifting Paradigm): Bassist, has a previous album (Sextet), Chicago group with trumpet (James Davis), strich (Jon Irabagon), piano (Jim Baker), and drums (Mike Reed), some electronics. Boisterous freebop. B+(***) [sp] Eliane Elias: Ao Vivo (2023 [2026], Candid): Brazilian pianist, early albums (from 1983) were instrumental, started singing at some point — certainly by 1998's superb Sings Jobim — and that's become a regular dimension of her act. Live album, from a performance at SFJAZZ, with Leandro Pellegrino (guitar), Marc Johnson (bass), and Rafael Barata (drums). B+(**) [sp] Andy Emler/Claude Tchamitchian/Eric Echampard: There Is Another Way (2025 [2026], La Buisonne): French pianist, albums back to 1982, in a trio with bass and drums, his regular group at least since 2003. B+(**) [bc] Jimmy Farace: Big Shoulders, Big Sounds (2026, Shifting Paradigm): Baritone saxophonist, from Chicago, second album, trio with Clark Sommers (bass) and Dana Hall (drums). B+(**) [sp] Kelly Green: Eat Your Greens! (2026, Green Soul): Pianist-singer, (19) at Discogs, has a couple previous albums. Mostly covers, with just bass and drums on one track, combinations of horns on the rest — most often Scott Robinson (tenor sax), with Wallace Roney Jr. (trumpet), Wycliffe Gordon (trombone), Steve Wilson (alto sax), and Elijah J. Thomas (flutes), most successfully on oldies like "When You're Smilin'" and "Solitude." B+(**) [cd] [08-28] Elias Haslanger: Legacy (2025 [2026], Bandstand Presents): Tenor saxophonist, based in Austin, debut 1994, takes a look back here, although I'm not really sure to what — bebop, I suppose. With Mike Sailors (trumpet), backed by piano, bass, and drums. B+(*) [sp] Illit: Mamihlapinatapai (2026, Belift Lab, EP): K-pop girl group, fourth EP, 5 songs, 13:16. B+(*) [sp] Owen Lake and the Tragic Loves: Bury Deep My Heart (2026, Carrier): Country singer-songwriter Jeff Snyder, sneaking up on a career that started in 2011 with an EP, then an album in 2018. Second album. His country + EDM concept has settled in clearly on the country side, with fiddle and pedal steel more convincing than George Jones covers. Still, there's something synthetic here I don't quite buy, although I'm not opposed to pop art in principle. B+(***) [cd] David Maranha/Rodrigo Amado: Desolation Row (2025 [2026], Comets Coming): Organ and tenor sax duo, second album together. I've never looked into Maranha's other work, which includes close to 20 albums back to 1994, as well as the experimental drone group Osso Exótico (9 albums 1990-2010). Here he fills out the background, for some pretty major tenor saxophone. A− [bc] Rico Nasty: RX (2026, Sugar Trap, EP): Rapper Maria-Cecilia Kelly, four albums 2018-25, 9 songs but only 20:41 B+(**) [sp] Jenny Reynolds: Willow & Stone (2026, self-released): Singer-songwriter from New England, based in Austin, where she won a poll as "Best New Local Act" in 2005. Fourth album, as far as I can tell (2002, 2008, 2020, 2026). Strong songwriter, but not much sticks. B+(**) [sp] Tom Ricci: Happening in Buenos Aires: Live at Borges 1975 (2023 [2026], self-released): Standards singer, from Argentina, based in California, fifth album (can't find him on Discogs), "Borges 1975" is "a popular cultural space, jazz club, bar, and bookstore" in Buenos Aires. Plays guitar. Opens with very nice takes on "Mood Indigo" and "Night and Day," slips into Spanish (or Portuguese) for three songs in the middle (including a Jobim and "Besame Mucho"), followed by a touching reading of "What a Beautiful World." B+(**) [cd] David G Smith: Hero Street (2026, Hey Dave): Folkie singer-songwriter, from Iowa, seven previous albums on his website, only one album I can find on Discogs. B+(***) [sp] Clark Sommers: WaBaSH (2025 [2026], Calligram): Bassist, from Chicago, has a stimulating postbop group with two saxophonists (John Wojciechowski and Geof Bradfield) and drums (Dana Hall). B+(***) [cd] [08-07] Swamp Dogg: Swamp Dogg Contemplates the Afterlife (2026, S-Curve): Jerry Williams, started as a mainstream soul producer for Atlantic in the 1960s, adopted this persona for one of the singularly great albums of 1970, and has been hit-and-miss ever since. But at 83 he's hitting as consistently as ever. Possibly his best since Total Destruction to Your Mind. Sure, the subject matter reminds me more of the later 1970s albums when his relationships went sour, but age has given him insights into the big picture, while he still has the chops to arrange and sing. A [sp] The Westerlies: Have You Heard? The Music of Bill Frisell, Vol. 1 (2020-24 [2026], Westerlies): Brass quartet, formed in 2011 by Riley Mulherkar (trumpet) and Andy Clausen (trombone), here with seconds Chloe Rowlands (trumpet) and Addison Maye-Saxon (trombone). Over a dozen albums since their first on The Music of Wayne Horvitz. This one compiles eight Frisell compositions from eight separate dates, evidence that they've been thinking about his music for a long time. B+(**) [sp] Earl "Guitar" Williams: The Soul King of Bessemer, AL (2025 [2026], Music Maker): Blues guitarist-singer, b. 1952, can't find him on Discogs but another source says this is his fourth solo album. B+(**) [sp] Otomo Yoshihide/Kei Matsumaru: Shutsumin (2024 [2026], Trost): Japanese guitarist and turntablist, many albums since 1988, including some recordings as far back as 1975. I was looking for his rendition of Out to Lunch, but instead found this duo with saxophone. Way too discordant for my taste, which I only coped with by turning it way down (at which point, sure, it had some merit). B— [bc] Tucker Zimmerman: Dream Me a Dream (2026, Big Potato): Singer-songwriter, recorded the modestly titled Ten Songs back in 1969, more albums up to 1983, big gap to 2003-05, got going again in 2021. Died with his wife in a house fire in 2026, leaving this final album. Others have complained about "musical drop-off," but I'm finding this very charming. B+(***) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Charles Lloyd: Sangam & Friends (2009 [2026], Blue Note): Tenor saxophonist, plays some flute, recorded an album in 2004 called Sangam with Zakir Hussain (tabla) and Eric Harland (drums), regrouping the trio in Mumbai in 2009, along with additional players, with vocals by Vijay Prakash. Hussain died in 2024, so this appears as a tribute. B+(***) [sp] Shūdan Sokai: Live at Hachioji Alone (1976 [2026], Aguirre): Japanese free jazz quartet, recorded this one album, group name translates as "mass evacuation. Group is led by Yoriyuki Harada (piano) and Kazutoki Umezu (alto/baritone sax), back from a spell in New York exploring the jazz loft scene, with Junji Mori (alto sax) and Takashi Kikuchi (drums). Umezu went on to have the more notable career, but the pianist's Cecil Taylor moves are most impressive here. And when they switch gears, that's doubly impressive. A− [sp] Sun Ra Arkestra: Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Live at the Bluebird Cafe, Bloomington, Indiana (1977 [2026], Strut): De trop: 26 songs, 141 minutes, fills up 2 CDs, 3 LPs, giving you a wide view of their entire schtick, some of which is wonderful, more may have been fun at the time (where the element of surprise is always in the air), some of which just wears on your nerves. B+(*) [sp] Old music: Plas Johnson: This Must Be the Plas! (1959, Capitol): Tenor saxophonist (1931-2026), a couple dozen albums and lots of side-credits from 1956, best known for his work with Henry Mancini. Second album, strong sax over an easy listening groove, with vibes, guitar, piano/organ, bass, and drums. B+(**) [sp] Plas Johnson: Bop Me Daddy (1956, Tampa, EP): Tenor saxophonist, playing eight songs (21:33), backed by piano, bass, and drums. Nothing exciting, but Johnson has a rich tone with a solid blues grounding. [Reissued 2014 on CD along with a second Tampa album, Drum Stuff, from 1957.] B+(*) [sp] Plas Johnson/Red Holloway: Keep That Groove Going (2001, Milestone): Two tenor saxophonists, Holloway (1927-2012) mostly played with blues musicians in the 1950s, moving into soul jazz in the 1960s, especially with Jack McDuff. This one — with Gene Ludwig (organ), Melvin Sparks (guitar), and Kenny Washington (drums) — gives the leaders each a standard for a solo feature, plus seven more songs: two originals each, more from Coleman Hawkins, Arnett Cobb, and ending with "Dream a Little Dream of Me." B+(**) [sp] Mary Lee Kortes: Will Anybody Know That I Was Here? The Songs of Beulah Rowley (2016 [2023], Lakeside Lounge): Story goes that Rowley was a Michigan singer-songwriter who died tragically in the 1930s, leaving a locked box of songs that Kortes eventually discovered, inspiring her to a career that thus far includes five 1996-2006 albums as Mary Lee's Corvette, plus this Hal Wilner-produced album, along with supporting prose, including a biography of Rowley. This doesn't sound antique, but I suppose the themes are timeless. The music production is very tasteful. A− [sp] Owen Lake and the Tragic Loves: A Love on My Mind (2008, Carrier, EP): "Debut album from electro-country pioneer Owen Lake," actually Jeff Snyder, just six songs (17:27), opens with a duet with Anna Stirr on "Just Someone I Used to Know." That establishes some country cred, which the electro doesn't do much with. B+(*) [bc] Owen Lake and the Tragic Loves: the Best of Your Lies (2018, Carrier): First album, a decade after first (and only) EP, draws on "1960s country, 1980s dream pop, and electronic dance music" for, well, it's hard to say. The country covers offer some interesting grounding. B+(**) [bc] Dana Maragos: Unimaginable Things (2024, self-released): Singer-songwriter from Chicago, has a short album from 2020 (8 songs, 27:57), not much more here (8 songs, 28:49). Appealing, straightforward songs. B+(***) [sp] Dana Maragos: October (2020, self-released): First album, short (8 songs, 27:57), every bit as solid. B+(***) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Friday, July 24, 2026 Music Week
Music: Current count 46332 [46299] rated (+33), 14 [10] unrated (+4). Advance Music Week appeared here on Substack. (Thank you for subscribing. It means a lot to me.) It is also archived here.) A couple of oddities in the advance this week: I included Maya De Vitry's All My Faith from a few weeks back. It's release date is today, and it's an A− country album that deserves recognition, something it didn't really get when I jumped the gun. My intention was to omit it here, but nothing's stopping me from giving it a second exposure. Also, I didn't bother with the Miles Davis review in the advance, figuring that it was an automatic for music that's already rated A− (or higher) at least three times before, but I wound up adding the album cover there to balance out their gallery display. Hopefully, anyone confused there will read this here. I wrote on this yesterday, but it's been such a large investment of my life that I feel entitled to mention it at the start of every post for the next month or so: Arts Fuse has published The Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll at Mid-Year. While that link is a good place to start, the place to go for everything is my archive website. And by everything, I mean totals charts down to one vote, every voter's complete ballot, links that tell you who voted for each album, the original drafts of the essays (including bullet lists of notes where I try to look beyond the music to find other subtle influences, and a lot of technical detail on the rules and how they are applied. There's also an "In Memoriam" piece that's nearly up-to-date. And when it occurred to me that I hadn't said very much about the music, I pulled together a collection of my reviews on every charted album I've heard. (This also reveals how many I haven't heard, a fairly substantial number — although I keep working to whittle it down, as this week's albums demonstrate.) While I'm nominally done with the Mid-Year Poll, freeing myself from constant thought about it going to take some time. I feel some obligation to promote it, although my skills in that regard are negligible. I also feel like I've left a lot undone. (Although I do feel like I came closer this time than in the last Annual Poll. I was hoping to elicit comments then, but while I can complain about lack of response, I also dropped the ball. That's why, this Mid-Year, I decided to write everything on my own — although I did have some exceptional proofreading/editing help.) More should be done on the website, including adding more notes and reviews, but the much bigger question is what happens to the website, and to the poll in the fall. I'll write more about that as the fall approaches. For now, I really need to do some kind of redesign on the poll website, even if it's just reprioritizing the current data (especially upgrading the link to the 2026 Mid-Year, which is currently microscopic at the bottom of the page). Of course, it's also tempting to work on things I've been neglecting, such as Loose Tabs: I haven't posted one since June 14, and haven't collected much in the meantime (although I do have a couple dozen tabs to revisit). And I'd love to do a Book Roundup, which is even more daunting given that the last one came out on May 23, 2025 (14 months ago). I also hope to post some other pieces here, including one on the DownBeat Critics Poll. (I was going to do one after voting. The results are out now, but I haven't looked at them yet — partly because I decided it would be best not to get distracted while I was trying to wrap up our own poll. I was also going to do one catching up with 2025 EOY lists, which is really feeling old now. I have a couple of more everyday-life-ish items that I started writing but never got back to. And I was going to do one from the Hussein Agha/Robert Malley book, which I just had to return to the library.) New records reviewed this week: Yazz Ahmed: Shinrin-Yoku (2026, Night Time Stories, EP): British trumpet player, father from Bahrain, four albums since 2011, also several EPs, this one with four songs, 24:36. She's one of several London jazz musicians who, like Miles Davis, seem capable of crossover without compromise, but she's never quite hit the mark yet. B+(**) [sp] Bob Bert: Beach Bongo Bloodbath (2026, Bar/None): Name shortened from Bertelli, father played pro football after winning a Heisman Trophy in 1943, first drummer for Sonic Youth (1982-85), played in Pussy Galore after that, later Chrome Cranks, Lydia Lunch Retrovirus, other bands. First album under his own name, 14 songs, 25:58, some originals, some covers (Richard Hell, Jonathan Richman, Lou Reed, John Lydon). The covers are extra interesting, not least for the drums. A− [sp] Dave Burrell & David Liebman: Reservoir (2026, Bespoke Jazz): Pianist, b. 1940, records start in 1969, in a duo with the saxophonist, playing soprano. B+(**) [sp] Jonas Cambien/Magnus Skavhaug Nergaard/Dag Erik Knedal Andersen: The Ear Behind the Airport (2025 [2026], Motvind): Belgian pianist, based in Norway, with bass and drums. I'm most impressed by the percussion here. B+(***) [bc] The Paul Carlon Trio: Between Us Three (2024-25 [2026], TRRcollective): Tenor saxophonist, has several albums since 2006, credits include Grupo Los Santos and Schapiro 17; trio with bassist Alex "Apolo" Ayala and percussionist Wilson "Chembo" Corniel (congas, güiro, guataca, chemboro). I reckon this could count as Latin Jazz: the rhythms sure do, and the sax adds a single, uncluttered voice, a simplicity I admire. A− [sp] John Clayton: The Two-o Duo Project (2026, ArtistShare): Bassist, brother of saxophonist Jeff Clayton, they've recorded 8 albums as the Clayton Brothers (1991-2015), as many more as Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, also father of pianist Gerald Clayton, who plays as this "duo-centered studio project grew organically into select trio performances." The third "duo" partner here is singer René Marie. I quickly lost track of who plays what with whom, and wasted a lot of time trying to look such basic info up. Part of that problem is that they all flow together so seamlessly. B+(**) [sp] Maya De Vitry: All My Faith (2026, Mad Maker Studios): Folkie singer-songwriter based in Nashville, four previous albums since 2019. Sound reminded me first of Joy of Cooking, then Joni Mitchell (but warmer). That may be enough for now. I'll take the faith on faith. A− [cd] Fathers: Fathers (2026, Blue Note): New collective — Kenny Beats (producer), Kiefer (keyboards), CARRTOONS (bass), Nate Smith (drums) — pitch is "to explode existing notions of what jazz is by fearlessly taking the music in new directions." Which is what? Something in the gap between instrumental hip-hop and disco, I guess. Eight pieces, 27:16. Voice on the finale doesn't help. B [sp] Flöjter: Brest Blow (2025 [2026], Utech/Gigantonium): Improv duo of Mats Gustafsson (flute, slide flute, spilåpipa, harmonica, live electronics, organ, so he left the heavy artillery at home) and Delphine Joussein (flute, electronics). Two tracks, 32:09. B+(**) [bc] Flöjter: Paris Blow (2025 [2026], Utech/Gigantonium): Same deal, recorded the day before, only more so: 4 tracks, 50:24. B+(***) [bc] Carlos Henríquez: Monk Con Clave (2026, self-released): Bassist, from New York City, fifth album since 2015 (including the similar title Dizzy Con Clave), started with Tito Puente in 1999 but main gig since 2004 has been the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, which provides much of the fire power for this big band album, with some vocals. B+(**) [sp] Marquis Hill: (Beautifulism) Sweet Surrender (2026, Black Unlimited): Trumpet player, from Chicago, debut 2011, impressive sax solo early on (Immanuel Wilkins), but also a lot of vocals, including rap. Has been billed as an EP, with a demo and a remix pushing this out to 10 songs, 34:20. B [cd] Julia Hülsmann Octet: While I Was Away (2023 [2026], ECM): German pianist, albums since 2000, ninth (or tenth) album on ECM, first octet, but that's counting three vocalists, leaving you with a piano-bass-drums trio (with Eva Kruse and Eva Klesse) plus violin and cello. Five songs by Hülsmann with borrowed lyrics (mostly poets), two songs (plus one lyric) by singer Live Maria Roggen, three others including an Ani DiFranco cover. B+(**) [sp] Hannah Marks: Feed the Fire (2025 [2026], Endectomorph Music): Bassist, second album (first was on Out of Your Head), quartet with Nathan Reising (alto sax), Lex Korten (piano), and Steven Crammer (drums), produced by Jason Moran. Originals and selected jazz covers, including Dewey Redman and Geri Allen. Impressive. B+(***) [sp] Pedrito Martínez/Antonio Sánchez/Michael League: Elipsis (2026, GroundUP Music): Cuban percussionist (conga/bata), moved to New York in 1998, also sings, with the Mexican drummer and a "genre-busting" bassist (founder of Bokanté, Forq, and Snarky Puppy), and others, one presumes. The percussion impresses, the vocals seem frantic, and the bassist brings doom and gloom, for better or worse. B+(**) [sp] Orchestre National De Jazz: With Carla (2025 [2026], ONJ): French big band + strings, created 1986 by the Ministry of Culture, has had 12 directors and released 33 albums. This one seems to be led by Sylvaine Hélary (flute), mostly playing music by the late Carla Bley. B+(**) [bc] Ivo Perelman/Elliot Sharp/Cyro Baptista: Triacontagon (2024 [2026], Defkaz): Tenor sax, 8-string electric guitar, percussion/vocals. At some point, one has heard so many Perelman albums that one starts to take the superb sax play for granted, and look to the others for differentiation. From the first note, this album stands out, with its metallic sinews and odd klangs. A− [bc] Susana Santos Silva/Vasco Trilla: Mushin (2024 [2026], Defkaz): Trumpet and percussion duo, from Portugal and Spain. B+(*) [bc] Elias Stemeseder/Thomas Morgan: Io Pur Respiro (2024 [2026], Squama): Austrian pianist, increasingly active since 2013, in a duo with the bassist. Starts with a madrigal, adding two 1930s standards and two originals to span "400 years of melodic evolution." B+(***) [sp] Steve Swallow: Winter Songs (2024 [2026], ECM): Bassist, has played electric since the early 1970s, long associated with Carla Bley, 83 when this was recorded. With Mike Rodriguez (trumpet), Chris Cheek (tenor sax), Steve Cardenas (guitar), Gil Goldstein (piano), and Adam Nussbaum (drums). Original pieces, modestly numbered, elegantly played. B+(***) [sp] Micah Thomas: Lucid (2026, Birdwatcher): Pianist, several albums since 2020, plays in Immanuel Wilkins Quartet. A notable here with Wilkins (alto sax), Kalia Vandever (trombone), Thomas Morgan (bass), and Lesley Mok (drums), but they are very careful to hew to the composer's vision. B+(**) [sp] Ben Wolfe: Any Time After Now (2025 [2026], Resident Arts): Bassist, a dozen albums since 1998, mostly mainstream labels, side credits start with Harry Connick Jr., Diana Krall, and Wynton Marsalis. Quintet draws on two rising stars — Joel Ross (vibes) and Sullivan Fortner (piano) — adding tenor sax (Chris Lewis) and drums (Aaron Kimmel). B+(*) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: John Butcher: Away, I Was (2008-25 [2026], Relative Pitch): British avant-saxophonist, prolific since 1985, offers a widely scattered collection of solo tenor and soprano pieces. B+(**) [sp] Miles Davis: Miles '56: The Prestige Recordings (1956 [2026], Craft): As I've long owned the 8-CD Chronicle: The Complete Prestige Recordings, I wasn't in a rush to check out Craft's year-by-year series, which started in 2024 with Miles '54: The Prestige Recordings, added Miles '55, and ends here. They skipped the scattered early 1951-53 stuff, so the three annuals add up to 7-CD, but 1954 was when Davis started to get his shit together, and in 1956 he got his much touted "first great quintet" together, with John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. It was also the year he signed with Columbia, owing Prestige four last albums. Those four were cut in two sessions, one on May 11, the other on October 26, and Prestige released them slowly to compete with the new Columbias. The first was Workin' With the Miles Davis Quintet, the rest replacing the verb with Steamin', Relaxin', and Cookin'. Despite the throwaway intent, they are among the major hard bop albums of the 1950s, and did as much as the more ambitious Columbias to establish the Quintet's legacy (at least until Kind of Blue made "modes" a by-word in 1959). Those are prefaced here by a March 16 session with Sonny Rollins that contributed three songs to Collector's Items. A− [sp] Miles Davis: Miles '55: The Prestige Recordings (1955 [2026], Craft): Prestige was famous in the 1950s for just rolling the tape and knocking out product. Sonny Rollins was so great he did his best work there, but nearly everyone else got much better when they went elsewhere: Coltrane and McLean were prime examples, but Monk and Davis also count. B+(**) [sp] Ellery Eskelin: Setting the Standard (1988 [2026], Prime Source): Tenor saxophonist, originally from Wichita, first album, a trio with Drew Gress (bass) and Phil Haynes (drums), released 1989 on Cadence Jazz, seven standards, remastered with two extra tracks added. Sometimes I talk about the major wave of tenor saxophonists that emerged in the 1990s. I've never really thought of him in that regard, possibly because he never appeared on major or mainstream labels, but on this evidence he could have squared off against any of them. B+(***) [bc] Medeski Martin & Wood: Tonic (1999 [2026], Blue Note): Fusion band popular in the 1990s (albums 1992-2014), with John Medeski (keyboards: piano to start, electronic later, mostly organ), Billy Martin (drums/percussion), and Chris Wood (bass: mostly acoustic, some electric). Wood moved on to a folk-rock group called the Wood Brothers, with Oliver Wood on guitar. By the time they broke up, Martin and Medeski were doing other projects on the side: Martin released a series of solo percussion albums with occasional extras; Medeski played on a wide variety of sessions. This was their first live album, reissued as part of Blue Note's Tone Poet series. B+(**) [sp] Big John Patton: Got a Good Thing Goin' (1966 [2026], Blue Note): Organ player (1935-2002), recorded for Blue Note 1963-69, a couple more scattered albums into the 1990s. This one features Grant Green (guitar), who co-wrote the first side originals, with Smokey Robinson, Sam Cooke, and Duke Pearson tapped for the back side. With drums and congas. B+(**) [sp] Hans Reichel: Dalbergia Retusa (1973-88 [2026], Black Truffle): German guitarist (1949-2011), debut on FMP 1973, also designed typefaces, and invented instruments, most famously the daxophone, but much of his guitar work involved some degree of preparation, modification and/or invention. This collects 2-LP worth of solo pieces. He gets a panoply of remarkable sounds. A− [bc] Mal Waldron/Steve Lacy: Play Monk, Ellington & Strayhorn: Live at Yoshi's 1994 (1994 [2026], Elemental Music): Piano and soprano sax duets, nearly 2 hours worth. They've played together at least since 1972, mostly in duos. Moreover, Lacy's 1958 debut started with "Day Dream" and included Monk's "Work" and Ellington's "Rockin' in Rhythm." B+(***) [sp] Old music: Ellery Eskelin/Sylvie Courvoisier: Every So Often (2008 [2020], Prime Source): Tenor sax and piano duets, well known figures, recorded in a studio in Brooklyn. B+(**) [bc] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Saturday, July 18, 2026 Music Week
Music: Current count 46299 [46249] rated (+50), 10 [15] unrated (-5). Advance Music Week appeared here on Substack. (Thank you for subscribing. It means a lot to me.) It is also archived here.) Once again, I slipped up and sent the email out before I pasted the album covers in. I need some kind of checklist process. I failed to get my essays done, so the Francis Davis Jazz Critics Mid-Year Poll will have to wait until next week. I've heard complaints about why don't you just post the results already? Sorry. They're tabulated, and if you're anxious just ask me. But the essay is my one chance to write the first draft of history, and I have things I want to say. And no, I'm not going to wait until I say everything I have to say. I expect to write more about the poll later. And I'd like to encourage you all to send in any questions or comments. While I have my own ideas about what's important, I'm open to discussing any aspect of the poll, or what it tries to cover, or even what it fails to cover. Lots of records below. I'm still very much focused on jazz. As I've noted, before I started counting, I had only heard of about half of the 600 albums that received votes this half-year. Not easy to figure out how many of those 600 albums I had heard before I started counting, but I'm up to 420 rated 2026 jazz releases in my tracking file. Lots of stuff I've neglected over the last six weeks. First up will probably be to start (yes, I mean start) compiling a Loose Tabs. Hopefully not much has happened, and what has happened isn't too aggravating, but I suspect not. Taking a break tomorrow to cook for friends. That I'm looking forward to. New records reviewed this week: Ricky Alexander: Ragology (2025 [2026], Turtle Bay): Clarinet player, third album since 2018 (plus one with singer Sweet Megg), "takes an emphatic dive into the roots of ragtime and tangentially related genres that morphed into jazz." Conal Fowkes plays piano, along with banjo, bass, and drums. B+(***) [sp] Zoh Amba: Eyes Full (2026, Matador): B. 2000, made a big splash in 2022-23 with a flurry of astonishing free jazz saxophone albums, reinvents herself as a guitar-playing, Dylanesque singer-songwriter, but lower-fi and occasionally dissolving into some kind of detuned Sonic Youth postpunk. Not a direction I'd like to encourage, but fairly unique even if the signposts are easily recognized. A− [sp] Florian Arbenz Feat. Bill Frisell/Greg Osby: Quiet Lights (2026, Hammer/Conversation Lab): Swiss drummer, started in the trio Vein, started remotely piecing together his "Conversations" during the pandemic, originally by passing tapes back and forth. This started with the drummer's soundscapes, but was recorded in a studio session without overdubs. B+(***) [sp] Ran Blake & Dominique Eade: Roots & Byways (2023 [2026], Sunnyside): Pianist, debut 1965, won a MacArthur in 1988 (along with Max Roach, the first jazz musicians so honored), many records, I haven't done the math but roughly speaking they fall into three fairly equal bins: solos, trios, and duos with singers (starting with Jeanne Lee in 1966). (Although as with all generalizations, there are exceptions: my favorite of his albums is a piano duo with Clare Ritter, Eclipse Orange, and I very rarely fall for piano duos.) Eade has 9 albums since 1990, this her 3rd with Blake. She is one of those soprano divas I rarely react well to, but Blake brings out the best in her. B+(***) [cd] Cheer-Accident: Your Smile / The Song Is Over (2026, Cuneiform): Prog rock group, founded 1981 by Thymme Jones, released their first album in 1986, hype sheet says this is their 27th without specifying when, but it is packaged (at least with my download) with two 2022-23 live shows, offered separately on Bandcamp. This hardly seemed worth the trouble until "The Blue Lie," a 9:37 hard groove piece, marred by unnecessary vocals. B [dl] Cheer-Accident: CheerAx Basement, Chicago 4/2/22 // Reggie's Chicago 9/26/23 (2022-23 [2026], Cuneiform): Two live sets, available separate or bundled with the new album, the first expanding the septet to nine with an extra singer and drummer. It's not unfathomable that they would have a cult following, but this is an awful lot of not so very much. [PS: I left this hanging overnight, then finished it the next morning. When I was fresher, I found myself more amused and less annoyed, so nudged the grade up a bit, while doubling down on my summary line.] B+(*) [dl] Alexander Claffy: Alive in Philadelphia Vol. 1: At Chris' Jazz Cafe (2025 [2026], Cellar): Bassist, has several albums since 2016, more side credits, mostly mainstream. Leads a veteran quintet with two saxophonists — Seamus Blake (tenor) and Jaleel Shaw (alto) — piano (Kevin Hays) and drums (Bill Stewart). Strong set, especially for Blake. B+(**) [sp] Mike Clark: Kuon Ganjo (Time Without Beginning) (2025 [2026], Wide Hive): Drummer, made his mark in the 1970s with Herbie Hancock, and has been central to all the later Headhunters revivals. Returns here with a funk-oriented hard bop group: Eddie Henderson (trumpet), Craig Handy (sax), Patrice Rushen (piano/rhodes), Esiet Okon Essiet (bass). My wife thought this sounded familiar, and indeed half of the pieces are, with the others close enough. B+(**) [cd] [08-07] Paul Cosentino's Boilermaker Jazz Band: Everything Is Jumpin' (2025, self-released): Clarinet player, leader of a trad jazz group with over a dozen albums back to 1995 (most just under the band name). This one is subtitled "Plays the Artie Shaw Songbook," so mostly hits from 1937-39, with vocals by Erin Keckan. B+(**) [sp] Dominique Cravic Et Les Primitifs Du Futur: Les Crimes Du Musette (2026, Buda Musique): French guitarist, fondly remembered for two albums Sunnyside released in 2006-08 (World Musette and Tribal Musette, the former dating back to 1999). The booklet (scanned on Discogs) includes two pages of credits, and a gallery of 77 pics, which presumably map to the credits. French chanson, many singers, most offhand as is the fairly minimal music, booklet has notes on the 27 songs but no recording dates, cover art by R. Crumb. B+(***) [sp] Marilyn Crispell/Anders Jormin: Memento (2025 [2026], ECM): Brilliant pianist, emerged in the 1980s in Anthony Braxton's quartet and on her own outstanding albums. Landed on ECM in 1997 with an Annette Peacock tribute I didn't think much of at the time, probably because I suspected the label of trying to tame her and tone her down, although 2003's The Storyteller and 2008's One Dark Night I Left My Silent House overcame my misgivings. Approaching 80, these are mild, measured duets with bass. Probably too mild. B+(*) [sp] Caroline Davis: Fallows (2025 [2026], Ropeadope): Alto saxophonist, born in Singapore (parents British and Swedish), moved to Atlanta when she was 6, then to Texas. Eighth album since 2012, solo over electronics (something called the Organelle, which looks to be an open source patch processor and/or sampler). John Surman has done similar things, but never pushed the electronics this far. A- [bc] Adam De Lucia: The Man Who Would Be King (2025 [2026], self-released): Guitarist, seems to be his first album, but talks about his "path to jazz fusion" starting in 1995 with "a decade of one-on-one study." His compositions, although some feature Oz Noy on guitar, most with Henry Hey (keyboards), Tim Lefebvre (electric bass), and Jordan Perlson (drums), some with sax (Donny McCaslin or Michael Ghegan), vocals (Ghegan and Chrissi Poland), one track with string quartet. One problem is that fusion often sounds heavy, even when the metal is flimsy. Then there's the problem of trying to do much. Maybe he should have aimed a bit lower, like Prince. B [cd] [08-07] E'DU & Judgitzu: Nuku (2026, Nyege Nyege Tapes): E'DU is a traditional voudou ensemble from Togo. Judgitzu is French producer Julien Hairon. This appears to based on a 2023 recording of the group, a dense thicket of percussion and chant, with a veneer of electronics. [PS: Bandcamp only makes offers the 31:24 remix track, "Edu & Judgitzu," and that's all I've heard; the 29:55 second track, "Edu," appears to be the original, unheard 2023 track. The label usually presents all tracks, so this case is unusual.] B+(**) [bc] Maria Grand: Both Sides (2026, Lilaila): Swiss saxophonist (tenor/soprano), sings some, half-dozen albums since 2017; first side with bass-drums-percussion; second side with piano (Angelica Sanchez), voice (Jasmine Wilson), and alto sax on two tracks (Immanuel Wilkins). The spoken word is interesting. B+(***) [bc] Miho Hazama: Frames (2025 [2026], Edition): Japanese composer/conductor, based in New York, tenth album since 2012, has been leaning on European big bands since 2018, here with the Danish Radio Big Band (who Discogs gives a co-credit to, but Bandcamp doesn't). She's very good at this, and they're good enough, but I don't feel like figuring out exactly how much. B+(**) [sp] Gerry Hemingway: Live at Bau 4 (2025 [2026], Hat Hut): Drummer, part of Anthony Braxton's famous 1980s Quartet, also of the long-running BassDrumBone trio, with several dozen albums on his own. This one features Izumi Kimura (piano) and Frank Gratkowski (clarinet/bass clarinet/alto sax/alto flute), who turn in exemplary solos, and Christian Weber (bass). A− [cd] House of the Black Gardenia: Mazurka in Jazz (2026, HOTGB): Trad jazz nonet, led by bassist Neil Hopper and vocalist Elise Rana Hopper, second album after a 2020 debut. Mostly original songs, which shifts them from nostalgia act to some kind of cabaret sophistication. A− [sp] I Compani: Basta! 7-Tet [The Last Concerts 2025] (2025 [2026], I Compani): Dutch group, led by saxophonist Bo van de Graaf, founded in 1985, decided to call it quits after a series of "last concerts" in December 2025. Throughout their career, they've mostly recorded film music, in the circus style that seems peculiar to the Dutch avant-garde (cf. ICP Orchestra and Willem Breuker Kollektief) and is often deliriously wonderful. Core group here includes no household names, so I'll just list instruments: oboe/english horn/duduk, violin, bandoneon, piano/keyboards, bass, drums. A companion volume squeezed another 18 friends onto the stage, and both CDs are reportedly available as Basta! The Last Concerts 2025, but they are split up for streaming, and further information is hard to come by. [NB: Last song glitched out, which I'll assume is Spotify's fault.] B+(**) [sp] I Compani: Basta! Extended [The Last Concerts 2025] (2025 [2026], I Compani): The Dutch group's farewell concert at Bimhuis in Amsterdam, the Septet-minus-drummer joined by 9 friends (including a replacement drummer) to start, 3 more briefly on the second track, then another 6 for tracks 8-9 (of 13). The vocalists add an element of cabaret to the circus. B+(***) [sp] Randy Ingram: Sound Within: A Celebration of Bill Evans (2025 [2026], Chill Tone): Pianist from Alaska, eighth album since 2009, trio "featuring" Rufus Reid (bass) and Joe LaBarbera (drums), both with direct links to Evans, adds two originals to two Evans songs, and a batch of standards common to all, done with the care and touch Evans was famous for. B+(***) [cd] Mike Khoury: For Hind Rajab (2025 [2026], Relative Pitch): Violinist, based in Detroit, has a couple dozen albums since 2001, found this when I was looking for a forthcoming album with Jason Kao Hwang and two drummers. This is solo, a sound that often gets on my nerves, but nonetheless a tour de force. Hind Rajab was a five-year-old girl in Gaza, killed in the genocide, but unlike most anonymous victims remembered for her recorded calls desperately pleading for help after her family was killed by an Israeli tank (see the Oscar-nominated film, The Voice of Hind Rajab). I'm reminded of The Diary of Anne Frank as one more instance where focus on an individual helps dissolve the mass dehumanization that allowed such mass slaughter to happen. A- [sp] Andrew Kim: Lineage (2025 [2026], Origin): Trombonist, studied at Michigan State, and draws heavily on their faculty and alumni for his debut album: Sharel Cassity (alto/tenor sax, flute), Xavier Davis (piano), Rodney Whitaker (bass), Ulysses Owens Jr. (drums), with Michael Dease producing and playing baritone sax on two tracks, and Randy Napoleon playing some very tasty guitar on two more. Five originals, two more from the band, new arrangements of JJ Johnson and Curtis Fuller. Perhaps tries to do a bit too much. B+(***) [cd] [07-24] Kiri Ra!: Nen (2026, We Jazz): Finnish trio, second album, all three play piano, keyboards, balafon, and other instruments — Linda Fredriksson also plays sax and flutes. No recording dates, but "it took 10 years to combine the right pieces for the album." Intricate and slightly exotic music closer to ambient than to jazz, which doesn't mean it isn't. B+(**) [sp] Knats: A Great Day in Newcastle (2026, Gearbox): "Geordie jazz" group from Newcastle, started by Stan Woodward (electric bass) and Kind David-Ike Elechi (drums), expanded to a quintet for their first album — trumper (Ferg Kilsby), tenor sax, keyboards — expanded much more here, with extra horns, strings, vocals, and Geordie Greep (from Black Midi) on guitar. Seems like another case of the "great" overwhelming the "good." B [sp] Elan Mehler: Renee Said (2025 [2026], Newvelle): Pianist, based in Brooklyn, eleven albums since 2007, most of his Discogs credits are for producing records on Newvelle, which he co-founded. Originals plus one song each by Paul Motian and Frank Kimbrough. With Scott Robinson (tenor sax), Loren Stillman (alto sax), Ben Monder (guitar), Tony Scherr (drums), and either or both drummers (Francisco Mela and Matt Wilson). B+(**) [sp] Sei Miguel: Viva! (O Carro De Fogo De Sei Miguel) (2023 [2026], Clean Feed): Portuguese trumpet player (1961-2025), first album 1988. This offers two improv sets (54:56 + 52:24) of an octet with trombone, alto sax, electric guitar, electric bass, organ, drums, and extra percussion, nicely spaced out with plenty of food for thought. This is being billed as the label's final new release, after 25 distinguished years. (A quick check reveals I have 639 of their records in my database: 6 A, 70 A-.) They will be missed, but the music will continue. B+(***) [sp] Nils Petter Molvær: Be Quiet (2026, Edition): Norwegian trumpet player, a major player in the development of jazztronica in the 1990s, first in Masquelero and then in a series of albums for ECM and Thirsty Ear. This dispenses with the beats, offering a series of ambient duos (one trio), most with electronics or exotica, but also piano (John Paul Jones), cello (Anja Lechner), percussion (Marilyn Mazur), voice (Imogen Heap). Quiet as advertised, which I don't find very engaging. B [sp] Nolatet: Somethin' to Relax With (2025 [2026], Royal Potato Family): New Orleans quartet, third album since 2016, names on cover: Brian Haas (piano), Mike Dillon (vibes/percussion), Johnny Vidacovich (drums), and James Singleton (bass). Closer to MJQ than anything I associate with New Orleans. B+(*) [sp] Onilu: Jakuta's Dance (2025 [2026], 577): Group name is Yoruba for drummers, was used as title in 2025 for an album attributed to Joe Chambers, Kevin Diehl, and Chad Taylor. I filed that one under the first-listed Chambers, but Diehl (ex Sonic Liberation Front) is the evident leader here, with Taylor out and two more percussionists added: Craig McIver and Daniel Villarreal. While all four know their way around a drum kit, Chambers' first credit is for vibraphone, and McIver's is for marimba. Diehl favors bata drums, and Villarreal adds conga and cajon to all of the above. B+(***) [dl] Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp/William Parker/Bobby Kapp: Synesthesia (2024 [2026], Defkaz): Avant-saxophonist from Brazil, has hundreds of albums since 1989, many with the pianist, quite a few with the bassist. The drummer's discography is down around 30 credits, but it goes way back to 1967, and includes separate duo albums with Perelman and Shipp, as well as two previous quartet albums. B+(***) [sp] Brooks Prumo Orchestra: Good Bait (2025 [2026], self-released): Austin-based guitarist, third group album, a 13-piece big band plus singer Alice Spencer, wants you to dance. B+(**) [sp] Olivia Rodrigo: You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love (2026, Geffen): Pop star, was groomed from a very young age, with vocal, acting, and piano lessons, which got her on screen by 7, and into Disney roles in her teens. Her platinum (6X) debut album in 2021 was one of the year's best, and her sophomore effort topped my 2023 list (if only 3X). First couple songs sound great, but the "girl so in love" side is certain to beat out the "you seem pretty sad" side. But I'm less concerned with the narrative these days than with the sound. So while the hooks get subtler, they're still pretty satisfying. A− [sp] Armand Sangalang: Waypoints (2025 [2026], Calligram): Tenor saxophonist from Chicago, second album, quartet with Dave Miller (guitar), Ethan Philion (bass), and Devin Drobka (drums). Mostly originals, but takes a swing at "Body & Soul" that could earn a spot if Gary Giddins ever updated his list. B+(***) [cd] [08-07] Helen Sung Big Band: Oracles (2024 [2026], Sunnyside): Pianist, from Houston, parents from China, 10th album since 2003, first big band venture, conventional plus extra percussion. Note songs dedicated to Clark Terry, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, and Jimmy Heath. Also a section called "Pianism" that name-checks Barry Harris, Kenny Barron, and Herbie Hancock. B+(*) [sp] Tyler "Twerk" Thomson: Plays in Bands (2026, self-released): New Orleans bassist, "young" by one account, no dates given but earliest side credit I can find, either under Tyler or Twerk, is 2013, but album cover is in the style of the old Bunk Johnson anthologies, and the music dates back a century (more or less). Five tracks with Thomson's Starting 7, followed by five with Charlie Halloran's Quality 6 and 4 with Tommy Mack's Band. Nothing spectacular, but exactly what this classic music should sound like. A− [bc] Tierra Whack: Whack's Museum (2026, Interscope): Rapper, from Philadelphia, went viral with a 15-songs-in-15-minutes video, Whack World (2018). New mixtape is slightly less economical (12 songs, 27:07), slightly less striking. B+(***) [sp] Håvard Wiik/Antonio Borghini/Tim Daisy: One Brief Cure (2025 [2026], Relay): Norwegian pianist, side credits since 1996, especially with Atomic, gained some note in Chicago at least in Ken Vandermark groups, notably Free Fall (named for the Jimmy Giuffre trio with Paul Bley and Steve Swallow). With the Italian bassist and Chicago drummer (ex-Vandermark Five), both with previous Wiik duos. B+(***) [bc] Wrens: Live @ Nublu (2025 [2026], Out of Your Head): Quartet, fronted by rapper Ryan Easter (also trumpet), mostly dense electronics from Elias Stemeseder and Lester St. Louis (also cello), with Jason Nazary (drums), following up a very interesting debut album (Half of What You See) with a rather rough improv live set. B+(***) [os] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers: Jazz Messengers '70 (1970 [2026], Good Time): The drummer's definitive hard bop group left Blue Note after 1964, and his stars split as well. Blakey's label work petered out, but he kept touring, and had a knack for finding young talent. This live album was released in Japan in 1970. The group: Bill Hardman (trumpet), Carlos Garnett (tenor sax), Joanne Brackeen (piano), and Jon Arnet (bass). They're mostly playing his hits — starts with "Moanin'" and "Blues March," ends with "A Night in Tunisia" — with only one new piece (by Garnett, the most interesting thing here). B+(**) [sp] Art Blakey & the New Jazz Messengers: Buttercorn Lady (1966 [2026], Elemental Music): Another live set, released at the time on Limelight (a Mercury subsidiary). This particular group featured Chuck Mangione (trumpet, also wrote 3 of 6 songs), with Frank Mitchell (tenor sax), Keith Jarrett (piano), and Reggie Johnson (bass). Mangione started in the Jazz Brothers (aka Mangione Brothers) in the early 1960s, and went on to commercial success in the 1970s, leaving this as his only album with Blakey. While he is central here, Mitchell, Jarrett, and Blakey himself leave stronger impressions. B+(*) [sp] Dollar Brand/Don Cherry/Carlos Ward: The Third World-Underground (1972 [2026], Wewantsounds): South African pianist, soon changed his name to Abdullah Ibrahim, debut album in 1963 "presented by Duke Ellington," soon became known for his integration of township jive with jazz, up to his death in 2026. With trumpet and alto sax (and everyone tapped for vocals and percussion), recorded live in Copenhagen, and released (until now) only in Japan. Strong ideas, somewhat harshly achieved. B+(**) [sp] Mick Goodrick/Fred Hersch: Feebles, Fables and Ferns (1988 [2026], ECM): Guitar and piano duo. Goodrick (1945-2022) recorded his excellent debut album, In Pas(s)ing, for ECM in 1979; he worked with Gary Burton, Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, and others, recording a few more albums, but mostly teaching. This was Hersch's session, previously unreleased. B+(**) [sp] Thelonious Monk: Live in Paris, 1967: Volume One (1967 [2026], Rhythm-a-Ning): Estate-authorized bootleg, the Nov. 3 concert was released on France's Concert in 1988 (as Thelonious Monk Nonet: Live in Paris, 1967), running 68:49, then remastered and reissued in 2002 by Thelonious Records. This version, aimed at vinyl junkies, is trimmed to an introduction and four songs, 38:33, with a second volume promised. The original order opened with Monk's Quartet (Charlie Rouse on tenor sax, Larry Gales on bass, and Ben Riley on drums), then added horns, starting with Ray Copeland (trumpet), then saxophonists Phil Woods (alto) and Johnny Griffin (tenor), Jimmy Cleveland (trombone), and finally Clark Terry (trumpet). This version moves the nonet tunes to Side A, the smaller groups to Side B. I have reservations about the business proposition, but Terry's solo reminds me that his previous encounter with Monk on In Orbit (1958) was one of his best albums. B+(**) [sp] Jimmy Scott: Falling in Love Is Wonderful (1963 [2026], Tangerine): Jazz singer (1925-2014), originally "Little" due to his diminutive stature and high voice, recorded singles early, three albums for Savoy 1955-60, then this album for Ray Charles, which has been long out of print. His voice takes some getting used to, but he picks great songs, and puts his mark on them. Bigger problem for me is the string arrangements, which I've always gagged on. B+(*) [sp] Sun Ra: East Two + 7 (1972-73 [2026], Cosmic Myth): Two previously unreleased sessions, named for the first track ("East Two") plus extra tracks (5 for the LP, 7 for the CD; the difference is extra live tracks from 1984-85). B+(**) [sp] McCoy Tyner: Extensions (1970 [2026], Blue Note): Pianist (1938-2020), from Philadelphia, played briefly in the Jazztet (with Benny Golson and Art Farmer) before joining John Coltrane's legendary quartet (1961-65). Started recording his own albums in 1962, and went on to have a major solo career, notably with Blue Note (1966-70, although this one was held back to 1973). This sounds like it popped out of a Coltrane time capsule, spacey and spiritual but not burdened by the ambitions and delirium of Trane's last years. With two saxophonists (Gary Bartz on alto, Wayne Shorter on tenor/soprano), Ron Carter on bass, Elvin Jones on drums, and Alice Coltrane on harp. A- [sp] McCoy Tyner: Asante (1970 [2026], Blue Note): Another leftover from Tyner's Blue Note period, released in 1974, makes more explicit the pianist's interest in Africa, with Andrew White (alto sax), Ted Dunbar (guitar), Buster Williams (bass), Billy Hart (drums/African percussion), Mtume (congas), and vocals on the first two tracks (Songhai, aka Sandra Smith). The 1998 CD reissue added three tracks from an earlier session, with Gary Bartz and Hubert Laws, that had appeared on Cosmos, a 1976 2-LP that also picked up two earlier sessions. (Cosmos was part of "The Blue Note Re-Issue Series," an attractive series I bought several of at the time, as they looked like useful intros to major artists. Most, like the Tyner, were actually previously unreleased sessions. I didn't buy the Tyner, but I did pick up sets by Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean, and most importantly Herbie Nichols.) The new Tone Poet vinyl reverts to the original four tracks, but streaming includes the extras. The extra tracks don't add much (well, Bartz, and more good piano). I suspect that LP consumers will heavily favor the first side (the one with the vocals, which delight in the groove). B+(**) [sp] McCoy Tyner: The Seeker: Live at Umbria Jazz Festival (1993 [2026], Red): Previously unreleased live album, a quartet with Bobby Hutcherson (vibes), Avery Sharpe (bass), and Aaron Scott (drums), a few months before Tyner and Hutcherson recorded their duo album, Manhattan Moods. Their careers intersected as far back as 1966 (on Hutcherson's Stick-Up!) and 1968 (on Time for Tyner). But the rhythm section really helps here. A- [sp] Old music: House of the Black Gardenia: The New Lowdown (2020, HOTGB): I didn't notice this above, but this is a British group, from Newcastle. First album. Singer Elise Rana hadn't yet taken bassist-arranger Neil Hopper's name. Hopper also plays sousaphone and washboard. I'm not seeing song credits, but I'm pretty sure the one about sexting is new. B+(***) [bc] L'Afrique Danse No. 1 (1965-68 [1969], African): French label, started compiling albums of Congolese hits with this volume, extending this numbered series at least to No. 11, although there are other titles, and other labels, including Sonodisc (which picked up the catalog in 1980). This is mostly O.K. Jazz (Franco) and Ensemble Conga Succès (Jean Bokolo). I didn't feel up to tracking down the singles, but Google says 1965-68, despite "some sources citing an initial 1966 pressing" (e.g., Discogs). Nor do I know how much of this duplicates the piles of Franco I already have. But Bokelo (d. 1995) may warrant further research. And chances are that the rest of the series are worth hearing — after No. 3, they move to feature artists (Rochereau on No. 4, Docteur Nico on No. 5, Franco on No. 6, and Bokelo on No. 7. A− [sp] Twerk Thomson: Plays Unpopular Songs (2017, Twerk-O-Phonic): New Orleans bassist, seems to be his first album, various groups credited as Twerk Thomson Trio, Twerk's Dance Band, Twerk Thomson's 5, and Twerk & Maria (Dixon, trumpet and vocals, with Thomson on tenor guitar). Designed to sound as ancient as possible ("recorded live with one microphone into a Presto K8 lathe, cut directly to acetate discs at 78rpm, and edited only for volume"). I'm no fan of the sound, but the last set, in particiular, does sound like ancient lost treasure. B+(**) [bc] McCoy Tyner: Expansions (1968 [1969], Blue Note): Album before Extensions, with Woody Shaw (trumpet) joining saxophonists Gary Bartz (alto) and Wayne Shorter (tenor), Ron Carter moving over to cello, with Herbie Lewis (bass) and Freddie Waits (drums). B+(**) [sp] Limited Sampling: Records I played parts of, but not enough to grade: -- means no interest, - not bad but not a prospect, + some chance, ++ likely prospect. Art Ensemble of Chicago: People in Sorrow (1969 [2026], Play Loud!): Early album (first one listed by Discogs, but a 5-CD box of 1967-68 recordings was later issued on Nessa), recorded in France (where they cranked out 14 albums in 23 months) and released by Pathé Marconi there. Just snippets available. ++ [bc] (4 snippets, 8:14) Art Ensemble of Chicago: Les Stances à Sophie (1970 [2023], Play Loud!): Recorded toward the end of their Paris stay, a bit of soundtrack with Fontella Bass vocals. ++ [bc] (8 snippets, 5:01) Jason Moran: Plays Duke Ellington (2026, Yes): Pianist, became a star during his 1998-2014 run at Blue Note, won the Jazz Critics Poll and a MacArthur in 2010, slipped back into obscurity after he retreated to his own label (although his 2023 album, From the Dancehall to the Battlefield, got consideable attention). + [bc] (7/12) I tried combining the separate I Compani reviews above into one for Substack. I didn't figure my reservations about the 7-Tet grade sufficed to bring the Extended grade down. More likely, with multiple plays either or both could rise. But we're not there yet. I Compani: Basta! The Last Concerts 2025 (2025 [2026], I Compani): Dutch group, led by saxophonist Bo van de Graaf, founded in 1985, decided to call it quits after a series of "last concerts" in December, 2025. Throughout their career, they've mostly recorded film music, in the circus style that seems peculiar to the Dutch avant-garde (cf. ICP Orchestra and Willem Breuker Kollektief) and is often deliriously wonderful. My understanding is that packages 2 CDs, which are available on streaming as separate albums. One is their core 7-Tet. The other is "Extended," where an additional friends or hangers-on drop in for a song or two or more. The latter includes more vocalists, who add a cabaret air. Of the digitals, I prefer the latter, but I wasn't able to give either nearly enough time. Maybe if the CDs exist, and could somehow be obtained? B+(***) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Thursday, July 9, 2026 Music Week
Music: Current count 46249 [46219] rated (+30), 15 [16] unrated (-1). An advance Notes on Everyday Life version of this Music Week was published on July 9 as Music Week (7:2), and is archived here. This two-step process has given me more flexibility in scheduling, as well as a bit more discipline in editing. The advance version typically has the pick hits (all five of this week's A− albums) and more substantial reviews (like Russell and Salvant). This post, on the other hand, gives you the full week's context. Often I get to the end of a record and don't feel like I have anything interesting to say, so I just jot down a grade and move on. The advance trims that sort of thing out, while focusing on good tips, and other interesting items. I finished counting ballots for the Francis Davis Jazz Critics Mid-Year Poll. We wound up with 127 ballots, which is +14 from last year — a margin provided by 14 first-time voters. It always seems to me that the hardest part of the job is vetting new voters and chasing down old ones, so that part is done. The other hardest part of the job is writing the essays, something I've spun my wheels on for a couple days now. The problem there is getting started: deciding what to explain, what to focus on, what to leave out. I've done this twice before, so one idea is to look at what I've written before. In 2024, I wrote Diversity Brings Riches, which started with my listmaking habits, then noted the lack of jazz albums appearing in that year's numerous mid-year best-of lists. I noted that "this is one problem with the world I could actually do something about," given that I had website tools, a mailing list, and a willing publisher. The rest of the essay flows out of the charts, and concludes with the voter list. All I had left to do was to stress how diverse and all-encompassing the lists were. In 2025, I shifted the focus slightly to the community of jazz critics who contributed to the poll. I called this piece Sharing What We Know at Mid-Year. One thing I might note here is that while Steve Lehman won the Mid-Year poll, the Annual Poll was won by Mid-Year runner-up Mary Halvorson. That suggests one of many possible avenues of research. Trying to keep on track while facing so many possible detours is going to be a challenge. I also needed to address the issue of Francis Davis dying in April, including the inevitable question of "who the hell am I to be running his poll?" I wound up writing this:
Again, personal motivations and the state of the world are weighing heavily on my mind. I ended last year's poll with serious doubts that I would ever do another. But after fraught months of winter and spring, when Bill Marx asked me if I was planning on doing a mid-year poll, I found myself saying yes. Again, I had the tools and skills. I also had the time, as some things had cleared up, while other projects hadn't yet been started. And after doing an increasingly despairing series of Loose Tabs reports, I felt like taking a break from a world gone mad (especially as it would see me through whatever Trump had in mind for July 4). So here we are. Even with my typical procrastination, it shouldn't take more than a week to wrap this up. After that, I have projects I'm itching to get to. We'll look into them later. New records reviewed this week: Josh Berman Trio: Everybody Else's Life Too (2025 [2026], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Chicago cornet player, credits start in 2002, include groups with Keefe Jackson, Ken Vandermark, Mike Reed, Jason Adasiewicz, many more. Trio with Jason Roebke (bass) and Chris Corsano (drums). B+(***) [bc] Seamus Blake: The Electrifying Seamus Blake Plays the Music of Eddie Harris: EH! (2025 [2026], Cellar): Tenor saxophonist, born in London, raised in Vancouver, has lived all over (Discogs says New York; Bandcamp page puts him in Cologne), has worked steadily since 1991 (Discogs credits him on 211 albums). This opens with Dawn Pemberton singing "Compared to What?" — backed by Sam Yahel (organ/keyboards), Tim Lefebvre (electric bass), and Corey Fonville (drums). This makes for agreeable funk, but the sax seems shortchanged. B+(*) [sp] Henriette Eilertsen Trio: Moder (2024 [2026], Motvind): Norwegian flute player, side credits since 2011 and several albums, trio with Joel Ring (cello/electronics) and drums (Øystein Aarnes Vik), with pianist Jon Balke on a couple of cuts. B+(***) [sp] Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (Exit) Knarr: Fly (2025 [2026], Sauajazz): Norwegian bassist, scores, probably hundreds of album since the early 1990s, several with this group since 2021: two saxophonists (Amalie Dahl and Karl Hjalmar Nyberg), piano (Marta Warelis), guitar (Jonathan F. Horne), and drums (Olaf Olsen). B+(***) [bc] Hayeminol: Ingen Vår I År (2026, Tarmkylling): Norwegian punk band, but that doesn't sound like the real label, so Discogs also offers psychedelic rock and art rock. Quartet, everyone sings, the two songwriters play 10 + 21 instruments. Reminds me of the Flaming Lips, only in a language I can't understand, for better or worse. B [sp] Colin Heshmat: Elastic Groove (2026, HMC): Pianist, first album, quartet with trumpet (Ryo Sasaki), bass (Yuma Takagi), and drums (Ben Cuness), eight originals plus three covers (includine Kenny Dorham and Herbie Hancock). Not especially a groove album. That's just one of many elements subsumed in their postbop. B+(*) [cd] [07-23] Jana Horn: Jana Horn (2026, No Quarter): Singer-songwriter, born in Texas, based in Austin, but has no discernible country airs; started with an interest in Christian screamo, but teaches and writes fiction, and over three albums has settled into a very spare confessional style, playing guitar and synth, with minimal bits of piano, clarinet, and flute. B+(**) [sp] It Was Her Idea: Daughter of War (2025 [2026], PNL): Quartet with singer (sometime cougher) Juliana Venter, backed by piano (Oscar Grönberg), bass (Ole Mortan Vågan), and drums (Paal Nilssen-Love), although I'm more impressed by the piano. B+(*) [sp] Kirk Knuffke: Brother (2026, SteepleChase): Cornet player, "one of modern jazz's most skilled navigators of the divide between freedom and swing," presents a trio with Charlie Burnham (violin) and Thommy Andersson (bass), mostly keyed to Yusef Lateef. B+(***) [sp] Nicolas Leirtrø's Action Now!: Entrance (2025 [2026], Sauajazz): Norwegian bassist, side credits since 2016, just emerging as a leader. Quartet with Mats Gustafsson (saxophones/flute), Kit Downes (organ), and Veslemøy Narvesen (drums), playing the leader's music, which mostly keeps Gustafsson safe from blowing our brains out, although it also saddles him with a flute section I didn't get into — not nearly as much as the loud section at the end. B+(***) [bc] Camila Nebbia & Chris Corsano: Six or Seven Ways Towards Becoming Undone (2025 [2026], Relative Pitch): Tenor sax and drums duo, the former from Argentina but has been tearing up Europe since 2020. B+(***) [sp] Bob Nell & Michael Bisio Trios: We Are Here (2025 [2026], Origin): Pianist, Discogs only lists 9 appearances, starting in 1979, and most with the bassist, who has logged 128 album credits, so while he's hardly a household name, he is much the more famous musician. Plural as they switch drummers, starting with Adam Greenberg, then Austin Belluscio. Originals by Nell. Nice as these things go. B+(**) [cd] [07-24] OM: Südpol (2024 [2026], Intakt): Avant-fusion group from Switzerland, active 1972-82 with Urs Leimbruber (sax), Christy Doran (guitar), Bobby Burri (bass), and Fredy Studer (drums), have regrouped on anniversary occasions since then, until Studer died in 2022, and is replaced here by two drummers, Gerry Hemingway and Tony Buck. B+(**) [sp] Rebecca Rafla: Fundamentally Unfinished (2024-25 [2026*], Rebecca Raffla Music): Jazz singer-songwriter, also plays flute, offers six originals, including the first five, with four standards, one a taste of Brazil to get the rhythm flowing. Steve Allee plays piano, along with horns and strings. The standards get better, especially with "What a Difference a Day Makes" the closer. [*] "first servicing to the press," after a 2025 self-release. B [cd] Catherine Russell: Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center (2024 [2026], Dot Time): Jazz singer, got a late start at 50 with her 2006 debut, but her famous father was older still when she was born (that's swing bandleader Luis Russell, 1902-63, who after 1930 ceded top billing to his star, Louis Armstrong), although her less famous mother, Carline Ray (1925-2013, a singer who played guitar and bass) must have had a more direct influence. She's impressed every time out, but rarely moved this far into the old songs, with a seven-piece swing band — including Jon-Erik Kellso (trumpet), John Allred (trombone), Evan Arntzen (tenor sax/clarinet), and Matt\ Munisteri (guitar), plus a tap dancer on four tracks. B+(***) [sp] Cécile McLorin Salvant: With Every Breath I Take (2025 [2026], Nonesuch): Jazz singer, born in Miami, father Haitian, mother French, moved to France at 18, studied classical voice (and Sarah Vaughan), eighth album since 2013, moving into the top echelon of jazz artists — with the MacArthur "genius grant" to prove it, as if winning the vocal section of our poll every year she had an album out wasn't testimony enough. Still, I've never been much of a fan. I admit that she has exceptional technical command (as did Vaughan), but I've never much enjoyed her albums (aside from the odd song or two). And this one, hyped as her first with an orchestra (Metropole Orkest, with big band master Darcy James Argue co-producing), seemed pretty unlikely to appeal. Then I found myself tempted, by "Send in the Clowns" (of all things), followed by "Barbara Song" (I'm always up for Weill, and she has impressed me there before). But after that, nothing really meshes — not even the French song, or her masterful navigation of the notoriously tricky "Lush Life." Why is hard to pin down, or maybe doing so just doesn't seem worth the effort. B+(*) [sp] Sweet Megg: Massive Negroni (2026, self-released): Retro standards singer Meaghan Farrell, has a dozen albums since 2017. Less swing and more slow ballads than I expected, but "Where or Win" sticks with you. B+(**) [sp] Kalia Vandever: Mana (2026, International Anthem): Trombonist, sings some, fifth album since 2019, second solo album, with "spare piano" and other electronic effects. Title Hawaiian. Vibe ambient. Short (7 songs, 27:06). B+(*) [sp] April Varner: Ella (2025 [2026], Cellar): Standards singer, based in New York, masters degree from Mahnattan School of Music, 2023 winner of "the International Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition," second album (or fourth if you count two volumes of Winter Songs). The notes insist on how original her approaches are to the material, how she "never imitates her long-time idol," instead striving to "capture the spirit of Ella" with "her own creative imagination." Still, her voice is dead on, and her professional help — notably pianist-arranger Emmet Cohen and drummer-producer Ulysses Owens Jr. — know how to work a sure-fire formula, which is great songs swung hard with a more than capable singer. [PS: Alternate parsing of title: Ella by April Varner.] B+(***) [sp] Karsten Vogel: Late Night Ballads (2026, Storyville): Danish alto saxophonist, b. 1943, credits since the 1960s, albums since 1976. Seven standards and an original, played slow, backed by piano-bass-drums.B+(*) [sp] Hein Westgaard & Matt Maneri: Chamber (2024 [2025], Gotta Let It Out): Guitar and viola duo. Guitarist has a few albums, including one from 2023 I liked. Maneri has many records since 1994, picking up his father Joe Maneri's microtonal practices. "Chamber jazz" is a loose term borrowed from classical, where the defining feature is an intimate and intricate group of soft instruments: mostly strings, almost never drums, wind instruments only on their best behavior. Maneri's viola fits the mold, but usually sounds too classical for me. But the guitarist plays around the edges, keeping it interesting, even adding a bit of rhythm. A- [cd] Jack Wright and Ben Bennett: Tourne (2026, self-released): Sax and drums duo, the former from Pittsburgh, with dozens of albums since 1983; the latter from Philadelphia, with several albums together since 2011. Three tracks (35:12). That's a good length for this sort of prickly free jazz, which I find instantly appealing as long as it doesn't run too long, or too loud. Reminds me that I've long appreciated Wright, even if I rarely remember his name. A- [bc] Your Brother's Keeper & Gary Bartz: Where Rivers Meet (2023 [2026], Brownswood): British group, first album under this name but most were members of Maisha, which backed the veteran alto saxophonist (b. 1940) on his 2020 Night Dreamer Direct-to-Disc Sessions. This has a nice spiritual dimension. B+(***) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Carla Bley: Joyful Noise (Live in Hamburg 1984) (1984 [2026], Moosicus): Pianist (1938-2023), exceptionally famous as a composer and arranger, was a founder of the Jazz Composers Orchestra Association, whose initial project was her ambitious opera, Escalator Over the Hill. Large (10-piece) group, with four brass, two saxes, piano (Ted Saunders), organ (Bley), electric bass and drums. Title is taken from a song, but is also a philosophy of life. A- [sp] Marion Brown: Awofofora (1976 [2026], Aguirre): Alto saxophonist (1931-2010), recorded his debut for ESP-Disk in 1965, followed by albums on Impulse! and ECM, but by this time he was consigned to obscure labels (this on Discomate, a Japanese label). B+(***) [bc] Satoko Fujii: Satoko Fujii's Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra (2014 [2026], Libra, 2CD): Japanese avant-pianist, very prolific since 1996, went on a big band kick around 2007, organizing a series of orchestras wherever she traveled (first three were New York, Nagoya, and Tokyo). Many more since, with five new tapes of various vintages promised this year, starting with this one from Bielefeld, Germany (Bunker Ulmenwall was a WWII-vintage air raid shelter; to be followed later this year by the Orchestras Kobe, Nagoya, Berlin, and Tokyo). Detailed with many remarkable passages, demanding close scrutiny. A- [cd] [07-10] Wynton Marsalis & Vince Giordano: The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong (2012 [2026], Blue Engine): They pulled this old tape off the shelf to celebrate the centennary of Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven sessions, so the reference is to the cutting edge of 1920s jazz, not to the pop icon of later years. Giordano is a long-time trad jazz leader, playing bass sax and tuba here, while Marsalis shares trumpet duties with Jon-Erik Kellso. B+(**) [sp] Mal Waldron & Sam Rivers: Live in Mestre Venezia 1984 (1984 [2025], Caligola): Piano and tenor sax duets. Around this time, Waldron was playing in duos with Steve Lacy and Marion Brown, so he has a well-honed sense of how to engage here. It's hard to imagine a more astute accompanist, and his solos never leave you wanting. Probably helps that they stick to standards, including "Scrapple From the Apple" and "Blue Monk." A- [bc] The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong All Stars: A Gift to Pops (2021 [2026], Verve): A discographical nuisance, opens with a genuine Armstrong from 1964 (Sparks, NV), but after that it's just another anonymous tribute band. I originally filed under Wynton Marsalis, but it turns out that Nicholas Payton plays most of the trumpet, and also does most of the arranging, with Wycliffe Gordon on trombone, soprano sax, and some vocals; also Reginald Veal (bass), Herlin Riley (drums), and scattered others, including vocalists who don't make the slightest effort at the original. Consequently, some songs stray, to mixed effect. B+(*) [sp] Old music: Northwest Improvisers: Fanfares (2022 [2023], Entropy Stereo): Free jazz ensemble, founded in upstate Michigan in 1976 by Mike Gilmore (vibes) and Mike Johnston (bass), added drummer Nick Ashton in 1986, first album was 1994, recorded several albums backing Faruq Z. Bey, one with Dennis González. Gilmore is absent here, but they've added two saxophonists (Dominic Bierenga and Donovan Boxey) and strings (Mike Khoury on violin, Jack O'Brien on cello). Opens with a Don Cherry piece to set up the groove, then builds around it. B+(***) [bc] April Varner: April (2023 [2024], Cellar): Jazz singer, first album, covers 11 songs with "April" in the title — wrote some, including improvised lyrics and some vocalese to Pat Metheny. Only "April in Paris" is well known, done simply here with just piano (Caelan Cardello) backing, after just bass (Reuben Rogers) on "April Blues." The other sources and treatments vary widely, but include nice spots for Russell Malone (guitar), Benny Benack (trumpet), and Dayna Stephens (tenor sax). [PS: Alternate parsing of title: April by April Varner.] B+(**) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Friday, July 3, 2026 Music Week
Music: Current count 46219 [46191] rated (+28), 16 [14] unrated (+2). My advance was published on Notes on Everyday Life Music Week (7:1) (archived here). You can get it delivered to your inbox by subscribing. As I noted there, most of my time continues to get sucked up in running the Francis Davis Jazz Critics Mid-Year Poll. Deadline is July 5. I've set myself the goal of publishing a week after counting to write up and publish the results. I hope to keep it fairly simple, and let the data speak for itself. Otherwise I'll just find fault with everything, and wind up in a horrible state. I've already worried much too much about how many ballots we can get. (The past two mid-year polls produced 90 and 113, vs. 159 and 177 from the previous year-end polls. Last year we were down to 168, so a slight decline from 113 is probable. With 90 ballots counted so far, it's hard to tell whether we're on track or not.) One positive note is that I've sent out more invites than ever before. On the other hand, I have a longer list of people I'm aware of but don't have email addresses for. And there are many more unknowns who are most likely qualified enough. It's a big job to figure this out, and I never seem to have the time or energy to do it. The negative note is that a lot of regular voters have bowed out, mostly figuring they haven't listened to enough as yet. I've tried to stress that this is a cooperative project, improved by small incremental efforts by everyone. Still, it's a tough sell. In case you're interested, the ballots are already available online, as well as lists of all albums that have received votes. The totals will appear when we publish the poll results at ArtsFuse, in mid-July. However, other things have chew up large chunks of my time this week (hence, the much lower rated count). My brother-in-law, Mark Shepherd (73) died last week, and the funeral was on July 1. Mark has long been part of a community here that restores classic cars, and they effectively staged a show in the mortuary's parking lot, then a parade from there to the cemetery. Our niece and nephew from Washington drove down for the funeral, so I tried to entertain them, including a comfort food dinner. So scratch one day cooking, and two more visiting, during which I didn't listen to anything I had to write about. Guests are gone now, but things are only slowly getting back to normal. Although "normal" seems an odd word to use for anything these days. Some quick notes on records below:
My only plans for 4th of July is that some friends are coming over for leftovers. Plus whatever the poll reveals. I imagine we'll hear nonstop fireworks tomorrow evening. I've been hearing them on occasion most of today, but it seems to me that the volume is down considerably this year. Not sure whether folks are simply not in the mood to celebrate, or if incomes have become so precarious few people are willing to literally blow up their savings. New records reviewed this week: Julian Argüelles: Echo Fields (2026, Escapade): English saxophonist (tenor/soprano), albums since 1991, trio with Larry Grenadier (bass) and Jorge Rossy (drums). B+(**) [bc] Barcelona Art Orchestra & Miguel Zenón: Expressions: Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra (2025 [2026], Miel Music): Barcelona-based group, has at least one previous album, led by Néstor Giménez (piano), Lluc Casares (tenor sax), Joan Vidal (drums), and Lluis Vidal (piano), each composing a section here, featuring the alto saxophonist. B+(*) [sp] Patricia Brennan/Sylvie Courvoisier: Talamanti (2024 [2026], Antlia): Mallets player, from Mexico, based in New York, won our debut poll in 2018, finished 1st and 2nd overall with her last two albums, in a duo here with the Swiss pianist. Piano-vibes duos are rather common, partly due to similar tones, but also because the vibes focus the piano as a percussion instrument. You get a taste of that early here, but then the piano meanders into its own less-but-still-interesting space. B+(***) [sp] Ron Carter & Yotam Silberstein: Duets (2026, Jojo): Bass and guitar duo: the 89-year-old bassist almost certainly holds some kind of record for most albums appeared on; while he's still best known for his 1960s work with Miles Davis, one could probably construct a whole CG from his duo work, and delight in doing so. (Pick hit would be Chemistry, his 2016 duo with Houston Person.) The guitarist has appeared regularly since 2008, with a soft tone and delicacy that I find pleasant but rarely give a second thought. But this brief set (2 originals, 7 standards, 34:02) raises pleasant to pleasure. A- [cd] Maya De Vitry: All My Faith (2026, Mad Maker Studios): Folkie singer-songwriter based in Nashville, four previous albums since 2019. Sound reminded me first of Joy of Cooking, then Joni Mitchell (but warmer). That may be enough for now. I'll take the faith on faith. A- [cd] [07-24] Duchess: A Marvelous Party (2025 [2026], Anzic): Vocal trio, fourth album (including one live) since 2015, all three with notable solo careers: Amy Cervini, Hilary Gardner, Melissa Stylianou. Favors older songs with harmonies reminiscent of the Andrews Sisters, and swinging arrangements by Oded Lev-Ari. B+(**) [sp] Emperor X: Unified Field (2026, Bar/None): Singer-songwriter Chad Metheny, albums since 1998, first one I really noticed was Western Teleport (2011). Several strong song on the way out. B+(**) [sp] Nick Fraser: Areas (2026, Elastic): Canadian drummer, close to 100 credits since his 1997 debut album, has several albums with Tony Malaby (tenor sax) and Kris Davis (piano), who return here, along with John Kameel Farah (electronics). B+(*) [bc] Hannah Gill: I Like the Sunrise (2026, Turtle Bay): Standards singer, several albums since 2023, backed by guitar-bass-drums, with Ricky Alexander (sax). B+(**) [bc] Devin Gray/Andrea Parkins/Frank Gratkowski: Hz of Gold (2021 [2026], Rataplan): Drummer, fair number of albums and side-credits since 2006, in an improv trio with electronics/accordion/wurlitzer and saxes/flutes/clarinets. B+(*) [sp] Alden Hellmuth: Tether (2026, Leiter): Alto saxophonist from Connecticut ("she grew up surrounded by the legacy of the great saxophonist Jackie McLean"), based in New York, second album, seems to be a quartet with two basses (Logan Kane and Miller Wrenn) and drums (Justin Brown), but also "additional instrumentation" (trumpet, piano, voice, guitar, sound design, lots of effects). B+(***) [sp] The Joymakers: A Texas-Sized Band (2026, Turtle Bay): Austin-based ten-piece trad jazz outfit, named for a 1920s Texas band of the same name, led by arranger Colin Hancock, who also plays cornet, alto & baritone sax, mellophone, kazoo, and is one of several singers. B+(**) [sp] Goran Kajfeš Subtropic Arkestra: & Avin Omar (2026, We Jazz, EP): Swedish trumpet player, leading a group that includes two saxophonists (one is Jonas Kullhammar), keyboards, guitar, bass, and drums, featuring the Kurdish-Swedish vocalist, leads off with a trad Kurdish piece ("Suleymanieh") that is pretty captivating. Three songs (23:38), the first of three planned EPs with vocalists. B+(***) [bc] La La Lars: Lilla Lars (2026, Gothborgen, EP): Swedish drummer Lars Skoglund, has four albums as La La Lars since 2017, many side credits since 1998, trio here with Carl Bagge (piano) and Johan Berthling (bass), four songs (18:00). B+(*) [sp] James Brandon Lewis Quartet: Omni (2025 [2026], Intakt): Tenor saxophonist, possibly the best and certainly the most accomplished of any near his age (42), has won two of our jazz polls, often splitting his vote among multiple projects. Sixth quartet album on this Swiss label, with Aruán Ortiz (piano), Brad Jones (bass), and Chad Taylor (drums). Still keeps you on edge. A- [sp] Virginia MacDonald: In Search Of . . . (2024 [2026], Cellar): Canadian clarinetist, first album (although Discogs gives her a share of a Canadian Jazz Collective album), side credits especially with Michael Dease and Caity Gyorgy. Backed by piano (Geoffrey Keezer), bass, and drums, with voice on two tracks. B+(***) [cd] Nduduzo Makhathini: The Myth We Choose (2026, Blue Note): South African pianist, various local labels from 2009, picked up by Blue Note in 2020, fourth album there. He has some credentials as a "traditional sangoma header," which may be context I cannot begin to fathom. Sounds sedated to me, with many vocals I can make no sense of. But the piano has grown on me a bit. B+(*) [sp] Michael Marcus Quartet: Next Stop Down (2024 [2026], ESP-Disk'): Reeds player, albums since 1991 including the Cosmosamatics (with Sonny Simmons), plays tarogato, soprano and tenor sax here, with "featuring" credits for Rod Williams (piano), Ricky Rodriguez (bass), and Allan Mednard (drums). B+(***) [cd] Tal Mashiach: Who's Around? (2026, Anzic): Guitarist-bassist, has a previous album as well as appearance in Anat Cohen's Quartetinho. Original pieces, musicians come and go, with only the drummer on most cuts. First impression is rather scattered. Unclear whether multiple plays might elevate that to eclectic. B [cd] Chris Potter: Alive With Ghosts Today (2025 [2026], Edition): Tenor saxophonist, got an early start in 1994, impressive soloist, albums can be uneven. Original pieces here, inspired by John Brown's 1859 uprising, played by a septet featuring Bill Frisell (guitar), with clarinet, trombone, violin, bass, and drums. B+(*) [sp] Sad Daddy: Ozark Shine (2026, Catfish Music/Free Dirt): Arkansas group, Bandcamp page says Eureka Springs, fifth album since 2010, multiple singers, four songwriters: Brian Martin (guitar), Melissa Carper (bass), Joe Sundell (banjo), and Rebecca Patek (fiddle) — Carper also has a solo career with several notable albums. B+(**) [sp] Harry Skoler: Echoes (2026, Red Brick Hill): Clarinetist, debut 1995, not many albums since, this one a quartet featuring Bill Frisell (guitar), with bass (Dezron Douglas) and drums (Johnathan Blake). B+(**) [sp] SML: Spontaneous Music Live (2025 [2026], International Anthem): Los Angeles-based jazz quintet, third album, two pieces (23:46 + 24:34), selected and mixed from a three-night stand (credit Bryce Gonzales, who mixed Jeff Parker's live EVA IVtet albums). Close-knit group, most also known for their solo efforts: Anna Butterss, Jeremiah Chiu, Josh Johnson, Booker Stardrum, Gregory Uhlmann. Groove is somewhat minimalist, but the differences matter. A- [sp] Matthew Stevens: Matthew Stevens (2026, Candid): Canadian jazz guitarist, half-dozen albums since 2015, varying cast beyond bass and drums, with Josh Johnson (alto sax) on most tracks, including two vocals, and some Joel Ross vibes. Originals, with a Sonny Sharrock cover. B+(*) [sp] Soojin Suh: Prism of Existence (2026, Endectomorph Music): Korean drummer, has several previous albums, this a trio with piano (Jaehun Kang) and bass (Hoo Kim), recorded over four sessions (but dates not given). B+(**) [sp] Martin Wind: Stars (2025 [2026], Newvelle): German bassist, close to 30 albums since 1993, the title may well refer to the talent he lined up here: Kenny Barron (piano), Anat Cohen (clarinet), Matt Wilson (drums). A mix of originals and standards, with "The Stars Fell Down on Alabama" especially delectable. A- [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Either/Orchestra & Ethiopian Guests: Nalbandian L'Ethiopien/The Ethiopian [Éthiopiques 32] (2011 [2025], Buda Musique): Large band from Boston, founded by saxophonist Russ Gershon, released albums 1986-2010, website touts their "40th anniversary season," but this live tape, following up their 2004 Live in Addis [Éthiopiques 20], seems to be the only new release. B+(***) [sp] Evan Parker/Paul Rogers/Louis Moholo: Tebugo (1992 [2025], Jazz in Britain): Live tape from the Vortex in London, tenor and soprano sax, bass, and drums. Takes a while to warm up, but delivers in the end. B+(***) [bc] Old music: None. Grade (or other) changes: The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis: Deface the Currency (2026, Impulse!): Guitar-bass-drums trio had a couple albums (2018-19) before they joined up with the powerhouse tenor saxophonist. I filed the early albums under rock as the bassist (Joe Lally) and drummer (Brendan Canty) came from Fugazi, although guitarist Anthony Pirog had a fringe-jazz resume (two albums with Henry Kaiser, one a conduction of Terry Riley, a couple more I've heard but don't particularly recall). Time to move them into the jazz file, but I'm not all that pleased. The saxophonist makes a strong effort, but the guitarist rarely if ever matches him, nor is he very complementary. It's not quite accurate to say that the rhythm section rocks: they move freely, but their energy mostly expresses itself in speed and volume, which can come off as clunky. My disappointment was such that I probably overreacted at first. [was: B] B+(**) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
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