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Recent Posts
- What’s New for the 1st of February: Kage Baker retrospective; new Americana, Buddhist chants and Finnish songs, new and reissued jazz, and more
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Fireplaces in Kinrowan Hall
- 132030
- What’s New for the 18th of January: World music and fiction by Amal El-Mohtar
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Bridges and Paths plus a Troll
- What’s New for the 4th of January: Favorite books and music of 2025
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Mythologist John Campbell
- What’s New for 21st of December
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Pub Ghoulies
- What’s New for 7 of December: books by Alan Garner, and holiday music new and old, Celtic, Americana, jazz and more
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Several Annies, Part Two
- What’s New for 23 November
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Several Annies
- What’s New for the 9th of November: rhymers and ravens, folk songs and folk tales, jazz guitar and dark forests and constellations put to music, Hungarian tunes and knights and rakes and tinkers and fools, and more
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Kedgeree
- Whats New for the 26th of October: some Patricia McKillip books and an interview, ’70s jazz reissues, Nordic Americana and American Americana, and some Samhain seasonal albums
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Charles and Alice Pay a Visit (A Letter to Owyn)
- What’s New for the 12th of October
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Pudding Contest
- What’s New for the 28th of September: Appalachia in books, music and more
- A Kinrown Estate story: Autumn is Upon Us
- What’s New for the 14th of September: Books, film and music with a piratical theme; plus Corsican polyphony, Balkan sevdah, Americana music, Hardanger fiddle with reindeer, Latin jazz and piano trios
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Irish Coffee
- New SF from James S. A. Corey; Terry Gillian’s Excalibur; Rolling Stones do Aaron Copland’s ‘A Fanfare for The Common Man’; An offbeat history of coffee; an interview with Russian folk singer Zhenya Wind; and a grab bag of folk music
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Waltzing Matilda
- What’s New for the 17th of August: Lots of Cropredy reports and reviews, and some new jazz and Americana;
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Hidden Dragon
- What’s New for the 3rd of August: A mix of Heinlein reviews; new jazz out of Vermont and a grab bag of archival reviews; Italian American food writing, and more
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Recursive Loops
- What’s New for the 20th of July: Lots of Elizabeth Bear including The Folded Sky; tomatoes; a Hobbit film; new jazz and archival reviews; Charles Vess ballads and sagas; and an offbeat Ellen Kushner adaptation
Tag Archives: Jazz music
Martin Wind’s Stars, Dave Pietro’s The Butterfly Effect, and John McNeil & Tom Harrell’s Look To The Sky
What an absolute treasure this album is! If Martin Wind’s Stars is not on my jazz top 10 for 2026 I’ll eat my hat. With my favorite clarinetist Anat Cohen on the front line and the legendary pianist Kenny Barron … Continue reading
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Tagged Jazz music
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Ovella Negra’s Va de Mescles!, and Rosàlia De Souza Quarteto 55˚’s Rosàlia De Souza Quarteto 55˚
Ovella Negra is at root a piano trio, but one with a difference. Pianist Joan Frontera Luna’s vision was to create a vibrant jazz program from the popular folk music of his native Balearic Islands (off Spain’s southern Mediterranean coast, … Continue reading
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Tagged Brazilian music, Jazz music, samba, world music
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Julian Shore Trio’s Sub Rosa, GinmanBlachmanDahl’s Play Ballads, Convergence’s Reckless Meter, and Kalia Vandever’s Another View
For me, 2025 was the year of the piano trio. I spent countless hours chilling my soul to the likes of Bill Evans in particular, but kept my eye and ear out for contemporary examples of the form, too. My … Continue reading
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Tagged Jazz music
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Pierre Dørge’s Songs For Mbizo: Johnny Lives Forever
The late South African bassist Johnny “Mbizo” Dyani, who died nearly 40 years ago in 1986, remains influential on the international jazz scene. Growing up in apartheid South Africa, Dyani was a member of The Blue Notes, South Africa’s first … Continue reading
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Tagged Jazz music
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John Scofield & Dave Holland’s Memories of Home
I had the pleasure of attending a concert by John Scofield’s Combo 73 this month (November 2025), and the quartet opened with a stirring rendition of Scofield’s “Icons At The Fair” from their 2019 Combo 66 album. Probably not coincidentally, … Continue reading
Patricia Brennan’s Of The Near And Far
The origin story, many of the technical details and some of the music on this album flummox me. But that doesn’t stop me from recognizing Patricia Brennan’s Of The Near And Far as an astonishing work of art, and indeed … Continue reading
Chris Byars Sextet’s The Dark Forest
Chris Byars’ sextet combines the best of two jazz worlds, the sophisticated sonic palette of the big band and the nimble nature of the smaller bop combo that leaves more room for soloists to shine. Leader and composer Byars, who … Continue reading
Kenny Barron’s Sunset To Dawn
I’ve become a fan of Kenny Barron in just the past few years, but he’s quickly become one of my favorite jazz pianists. So how excited am I with the reissue of his leader debut, 1973’s Sunset to Dawn? Very! … Continue reading
Roy Brooks’s The Free Slave
Detroit native Roy Brooks may be one of the most under appreciated drummers in jazz, but if there’s any justice in the world, this album reissue should change that. The Free Slave is the record of an incendiary live set … Continue reading
Wolfgang Muthspiel’s Tokyo
I’ve been a fan of Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel since at least 2016, when I absolutely loved his quintet recording Rising Grace. I’ve also been on board with this particular trio of Muthspiel’s, with Americans Scott Colley on bass and … Continue reading