98 stories by "Michael Ullman"
Hudson serves up varied, fresh, and exciting free jazz that imaginatively draws on rock, funky blues, and folk music.
Pianist Ahmad Jamal rose to fame by doing something completely different.
Of course, neither saxophonist sounds precisely like Coltrane: there would be no point in trying.
This collection demonstrates that the music of Ornette Coleman is in tune with something elemental and essential in the human spirit.
Several of these discs, including the sublime Jim Hall-Red Mitchell collaboration, are unexpected pleasures.
Contagious enjoyment is very much the goal of Ken Field's Revolutionary Snake Ensemble. Mission accomplished.
Dave Liebman's band, like its adventurous leader, is more than willing to take a deep dive.
Collectors and serious blues fans will want to own this invaluable set.
Over a dozen short notices of recent jazz recordings that I find musically stimulating.
Country for Old Men is surely going to stand as one of the best, as well as among the most unusual, recordings of the year.
"When you think about music it's got to be that way. Just the thrill of being able to play another note, not to win anything or get a trophy."
Ben Ratliff's volume about how to listen to music is full of fairly radical but largely undefended assertions.
Time has only made the members of this trio more adventurous as well as accomplished.
It's easy to recommend this new two disc set, where the miracle that was Charlie Parker is on glorious display again and again.
Over the decades, avant-garde jazz musical Henry Threadgill has not only enriched but remade the musical landscape.
Live, the experience of a cosmic rhythm with every stroke is both more intense and more intriguing than on record.
Pianist Vijay Iyer and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith produce music that is precise and quietly evocative, peaceful and gently probing.
These live recordings capture Weather Report's sound during its most celebrated years.
How does one keep a big band together long enough to make such brilliantly evocative sessions as that by Maria Schneider and the others listed here?
According to its web site, TUM operates mainly thanks to volunteers. We should be grateful.
As a soloist, Fred Hersch is a wonder: he plays with an active, to the point of restless, two-handed style that sweeps a listener along with its lyrical fervor.
With the galvanic addition of Joshua Redman, The Bad Plus is now made up of four intense virtuosos whose musical intelligence is as impeccable as their instrumental chops.
trumpeter"composer Mark Harvey's imaginative conducting made the pieces work together in fascinating ways.
Miles Davis at Newport, 1955-1975 has its drawbacks, but I wouldn't want to be without this four-disc collection
An inspiring man as well as a brilliant musician, Garrison Fewell had the courage to turn away from the darkness and to embrace the light.
