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Andvake presents a fog-drenched rural scene with a small weathered shed in muted purples and browns at the center. Bare trees rise around it.

CD Reviews

Stefano Boggiani’s Andvake Explores Contrast and Sleepless Jazz

Charlie Melville January 19, 2026 No Comments

Stefano Boggiani – Andvake (Losen Records, 2025) Stefano Boggiani presents Andvake, a project titled after an old Norwegian word of Norse origin with multiple meanings.…

Jung Stratmann Quartet - Confluence. A monochrome shoreline stretches beneath heavy clouds, with dark pebbles and water meeting at a low horizon.

CD Reviews

Jazz Currents Collide On Confluence From Jung Stratmann Quartet

Jung Stratmann Quartet – Confluence (self-released, 2025) The Jung Stratmann Quartet has release Confluence, a five-track contemporary jazz album recorded in New York City with…

Ted Rosenthal Trio - Classics Reimagined: Impromp2 cover artwork. Ted Rosenthal sitting at his piano with fingers crossed and looking slightly to his right.

CD Reviews

Ted Rosenthal Trio Flips The Classics On Impromp2

Charlie Melville December 10, 2025 No Comments contemporary jazz jazz Ted Rosenthal Trio

Ted Rosenthal Trio – Classics Reimagined: Impromp2 (self-released, 2025) Ted Rosenthal returns to the western classical tradition with Classics Reimagined: Impromp2, a new trio album…

Chano Domínguez, Ethan Margolis - The Blues Around Us cover arkwork. A photo of the two artists in an urban environment. Margolis looks blurry.

CD Reviews

Chano Domínguez And Ethan Margolis’ Spirited ‘The Blues Around Us’

Charlie Melville December 1, 2025 No Comments Chano Domínguez contemporary jazz Ethan Margolis flamenco flamenco jazz jazz

Chano Domínguez and Ethan Margolis – The Blues Around Us (Unifying Sounds, 2025) Unifying Sounds has launched its first release with The Blues Around Us,…

CD Reviews

Alan Pasqua Finds New Hope: Solo Piano Set

Charlie Melville November 21, 2025 No Comments Alan Pasqua contemporary jazz jazz

Alan Pasqua – New Hope (Blue Canoe Records, 2025) A Steinway Artist, Grammy nominee, and Professor of Jazz Studies at USC’s Thornton School of Music,…

The Crisis Knows No Borders features a split composition with a carved-wood style. The upper half presents rolling fields, mountains, a river, and scattered animals under the sky. The lower half shows a dense crowd of protesters holding signs, rendered in deep red. Hand-drawn lettering curves along the river with Gustavo Cortiñas’s name and the album title.

CD Reviews

Gustavo Cortiñas Drums Up a Global Call to Action

Charlie Melville November 14, 2025 No Comments contemporary jazz Gustavo Cortiñas

Gustavo Cortiñas – The Crisis Knows No Borders (Desafío Candente Records, 2025) Chicago-based drummer and composer Gustavo Cortiñas tackles humanity’s most pressing challenges with The…

Nils Landgren - Christmas With My Friends cover artwork. White flowers over a purple background

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Nils Landgren Revives Holiday Tradition With “Christmas With My Friends IX”

Charlie Melville October 15, 2025 No Comments Christmas music contemporary jazz jazz Nils Landgren trombone

Nils Landgren – Christmas With My Friends IX (ACT Music, 2025) Swedish trombonist, singer, and producer Nils Landgren returns with the ninth installment of his…

Ravita Jazz - Alice Blue cover artwork. The band name and album title over a blue background.

CD Reviews

Ravita Swings the Blues: Alice in Azure-Land

Charlie Melville October 8, 2025 No Comments contemporary jazz jazz Ravita Jazz

Ravita Jazz – Alice Blue (Ravita Jazz, 2025) Like Stravinsky, bassist-composer Philip Ravita’s Alice Blue (2025), builds on tradition to conjure something fresh, balancing rigor…

The album cover shows a 1940s San Francisco street scene. A vintage blue car and a cable car move down a hill lined with colorful houses, while the Golden Gate Bridge rises in the background. On the right, a red sign marks a jazz club. At the top, bold red lettering reads San Francisco 1948. The bottom corner identifies the artist: Steve Rosenbloom Big Band.

CD Reviews

Rosenbloom Swings for the Fences with San Francisco 1948

Charlie Melville September 26, 2025 No Comments contemporary jazz jazz Steve Rosenbloom Big Band

Steve Rosenbloom Big Band – San Francisco 1948 (self-released, 2025) The Steve Rosenbloom Big Band’s San Francisco 1948 presents an engaging brass fanfare: grand, bristling,…

The album cover features tiki-inspired design. At the top, Polynesian motifs frame the title: “Exotica Reborn: In Studio and Live at House Without a Key” in lime and cream against a deep blue background. Below, swirling tree branches and floating lanterns flow into an illustrated fish. At the bottom, the band’s name, The Waitiki 7, appears in blocky, retro lettering.

CD Reviews

Mai Tais And Blue Notes: Waitiki 7 Pours A Fresh Mix Of Exotica

Charlie Melville September 23, 2025 No Comments contemporary jazz exotica The WAITIKI 7

The WAITIKI 7 — Exotica Reborn: In Studio And Live At House Without A Key (Waitiki International, 2025) WAITIKI 7 plants a tiki torch back…