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- Blogs, Bleader Oct 16, 2018
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Jazz bassist Matt Ulery blends styles and scenes with his multifarious new project
Ulery's celebration of Sifting Stars this weekend makes for a good snapshot of his eclectic practice—it combines a jazz quintet, a vocalist, and a string quartet.
- Blogs, Bleader Aug 28, 2018
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Soul singer Christian JaLon turns her love inward on the new If You Let Me
Christian JaLon performs at the Jazz Festival this Thursday and celebrates her new EP next month at Subterranean.
- Blogs, Bleader Apr 18, 2018
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Improvising horn trio Spectral play with the colossal reverb in an abandoned munitions bunker
Spectral perform at Elastic on Thursday to support their new album, Empty Castles, recorded in a 12,000-square-foot concrete structure.
- Blogs, Bleader Apr 13, 2018
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Reedist Aram Shelton reconnects with old friends on his first return visit since 2015
Aram Shelton gigs with current Copenhagen comrade Håkon Berre and long-running Chicago collaborators Tim Daisy, Jason Roebke, and Josh Berman.
- Blogs, Bleader Apr 6, 2018
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Singular pianist and musical mind Cecil Taylor has died at 89
Cecil Taylor belonged to a rare class of uncompromising visionaries who changed music and the way we think about it.
- Blogs, Bleader Apr 4, 2018
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Italian quartet Roots Magic illuminate the links between rustic blues and earthy free jazz
Roots Magic, who make their Chicago debut at Elastic on Thursday, find commonalities between Julius Hemphill and Charlie Patton, Henry Threadgill and Blind Willie Johnson.
- Blogs, Bleader Mar 23, 2018
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Drummer and bandleader John Hollenbeck reaches new heights on his new Large Ensemble album
On John Hollenbeck's All Can Work, the ensemble and the material are the stars—which is saying a lot, given how many top-shelf improvisers play on it.
- Blogs, Bleader Mar 9, 2018
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Pianist Jason Moran drops a recording of Looks of a Lot, his collaboration with a slew of Chicago artists
The new version, available via Bandcamp, tightens up the one he premiered at Symphony Center in 2014 with Theaster Gates, Ken Vandermark, Katie Ernst, and the Kenwood Academy Jazz Band
- Blogs, Bleader Mar 6, 2018
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Masterful but overlooked Chicago jazz drummer Robert Barry has died
Onetime Sun Ra associate Robert Barry passed away on January 8 at age 85.
- Blogs, Bleader Mar 5, 2018
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Chicago musical polymath Ben LaMar Gay breaks even his own shape-shifting mold on his solo debut
Ben LaMar Gay took seven years to make Downtown Castles Can Never Block the Sun, which fuses R&B, funk, jazz, electro, Brazilian music, and more.
- Blogs, Bleader Feb 27, 2018
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Lauren Deutsch steps down after 21 years as executive director of the Jazz Institute of Chicago
Veteran arts administrator Heather Ireland Robinson, who worked for the JIC in the early 2000s, steps into Deutsch's shoes on Thursday, March 1.
- Blogs, Bleader Feb 16, 2018
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Atomic’s Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Håvard Wiik explore folk hymns and elastic improvisation on their own albums
Stellar Scandinavian quintet Atomic plays two Chicago shows this weekend, and its bassist and pianist have even more music to offer on their own.
- Blogs, Bleader Feb 13, 2018
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Gertrude Abercrombie's self-portraits show an inner landscape of anxiety, fear, and loneliness
The “Queen of the Bohemian Artists” hung out with jazz musicians, but painted solitary chamber pieces.
- Blogs, Bleader Feb 9, 2018
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New York flugelhorn player John Raymond comes to Chicago with his cozily melodic trio
On the new Joy Ride, John Raymond's Real Feels builds trickier arrangements without obscuring its warm, accessible tunes.
- Blogs, Bleader Feb 2, 2018
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Swedish trumpeter Emil Strandberg brings lyrical grace to his austere free improvisation
Last year Emil Strandberg added British violinist Philipp Wachsmann to his working trio to make an impressively delicate and economical improvised album.
- Blogs, Bleader Jan 26, 2018
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Drummer Tomas Fujiwara fuels his writing by recruiting musicians in contrasting pairs
On his latest album, Triple Double, Tomas Fujiwara trusts his strong-voiced collaborators—and trusts himself to hold his own among them.
- Blogs, Bleader Jan 19, 2018
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Bay Area bassist Lisa Mezzacappa emerges as a dynamic bandleader on two recent albums
Lisa Mezzacappa takes inspiration from noir fiction for a gritty sextet album and from the writings of bold 19th-century female explorers for a dense big-band recording.
- Blogs, Bleader Jan 12, 2018
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Swedish trumpeter Goran Kajfes combines psych, prog, and African music into a vision all his own
Veteran trumpeter Goran Kafjes releases the debut album by a new quartet and the third record by his multifaceted Subtropic Arkestra.
- Blogs, Bleader Dec 29, 2017
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Norwegian reedist André Roligheten stepped up big in 2017
A veteran of the pensive duo Albatrosh, André Roligheten has never been more prolific or profound than he was in 2017.
- Blogs, Bleader Dec 22, 2017
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Adventurous jazz guitarist Brandon Seabrook embraces his metal roots
On strong recordings by Needle Driver and Die Trommel Fatale, Brandon Seabrook brings jacked-up power to his improvisational ethos.
- Blogs, Bleader Dec 20, 2017
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Peter Margasak’s favorite jazz albums of 2017
The Reader's resident jazz expert publishes his ballot from the annual NPR Jazz Critics Poll.
- Blogs, Bleader Dec 1, 2017
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Improvisers Keir Neuringer and Makaya McCraven find different ways to use the studio as a creative partner
Philadelphia reedist Keir Neuringer and Chicago drummer Makaya McCraven each shape improvised raw material into thrilling compositional tapestries, albeit with very different sounds.
- Blogs, Bleader Nov 17, 2017
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Young jazz bassist Hayden Prosser explores nonlinear structures on his bracing debut
Berlin-based bassist Hayden Prosser has a distinctly European aesthetic, albeit influenced by Americans such as Tim Berne and Jim Black.
- Blogs, Bleader Nov 14, 2017
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Devouring the Guilt injects new energy into Chicago’s free-jazz scene
Scrappy free-improvising trio Devouring the Guilt—saxophonist Gerrit Hatcher, bassist Eli Namay, and drummer Bill Harris—are part of a potent group of performers releasing music through the Amalgam label.
- Blogs, Bleader Nov 10, 2017
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Jazz violinist Sam Bardfeld captures New York’s musical sprawl on his new trio album
Violinist Sam Bardfeld creates a unified sound from a diversity of sources, including jazz, rock, New Orleans music, and chamber music.
