contemporary jazz | Progressive Rock Central.com

The EP cover features a soft green-tinted view of tree branches and leaves against a pale sky. Minimal text in delicate lowercase reads “harp, beats & dreams reworks” at the center.

CD Reviews

Harp, Beats & Dreams Reworks Reimagines Harp in an Enthralling Mélange of Styles

Marysia Osu – Harp, Beats & Dreams Reworks (Brownswood Recordings, 2025) Groundbreaking Polish harp player and producer Marysia Osu has developed a remarkable, innovative music…

CD Reviews

A Contemporary Jazz Statement Based in Collaboration and Vision

Charlie Melville August 13, 2025 No Comments contemporary jazz jazz Lorenzo Bellini

Lorenzo Bellini – Source (GleAM Records, 2025) Pianist and composer Lorenzo Bellini leads a quartet formed during his time at Berklee College of Music. Alongside…

The album cover for Vital Information: New Perspective features bold red and orange text over a black background, with the artists’ names at the top. The central artwork displays an abstract explosion of colors (blues, oranges, greens, and reds) interwoven with musical notation.

CD Reviews

Believin’ In Revisions: Vital Information Finds Its Way Home

Angel Romero August 10, 2025 No Comments contemporary jazz fusion jazz-rock

Steve Smith’s Vital Information – New Perspective (Drum Legacy Records, 2025) Steve Smith’s Vital Information presents a fabulous lineup on its latest album, New Perspective.…

Lauren Henderson - Sonidos cover artwork. A black and white photo of the artist.

CD Reviews

Singer Lauren Henderson Explores Sound in Deeply Personal ‘Sonidos’

Charlie Melville August 2, 2025 No Comments contemporary jazz jazz Lauren Henderson

Lauren Henderson – Sonidos (Brontosaurus Records, 2025) Lauren Henderson’s Sonidos is a refined, elegant and seasonally framed exploration of sound, identity, and cultural lineage. Rooted…

The album cover for Koren by Tereza Catarov features an image of a woman's face partially obscured by an ornate, beaded textile with gold fringe. Only her lips and bare shoulders are visible beneath the richly embroidered fabric. The artist's name appears above in serif lettering, with Tereza Catarov in red and Koren in gold.

CD Reviews

Jazz Singer Tereza Catarov Unearths Balkan Tradition on ‘Koren’

Charlie Melville July 30, 2025 No Comments contemporary jazz jazz Tereza Catarov world fusion world jazz

Tereza Catarov – Koren (PKmusik, 2025) Tereza Catarov’s debut album, Koren offers an inventive and fearless synthesis of Balkan folk traditions and contemporary jazz. The…

Joni Mitchell Joni’s Jazz box cover design. a photo of Joni accompanied by jazz musicians.

New CDs and Digital releases

Kind of Blue: Joni Mitchell Curates a Jazz-Flavored Retrospective

Prog News July 23, 2025 No Comments contemporary jazz folk-rock jazz Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell will release Joni’s Jazz on September 5, a career-spanning anthology that traces her deep and evolving relationship with jazz. The 61-track collection arrives…

The album cover for Flying High at the Heart of It by Sandro Norton features a landscape bathed in warm, golden light. A small bird in mid-flight soars above classical architecture and palm trees, with a hazy, futuristic city skyline in the distance. The title is rendered in ornate lettering, while the artist’s name appears in modern font at the top.

New CDs and Digital releases

Sandro Norton Flying High at the Heart of It, Featuring Gary Burton

Prog News July 10, 2025 No Comments contemporary jazz fusion jazz jazz-rock Sandro Norton

Flying High at the Heart of It (distributed by CDX Records and The Orchard) is the latest album by Portuguese jazz guitarist and composer Sandro…

The album cover for Songs for a Perigee Moon by Carl Weingarten features an ornate illustration of a guitar integrated into a crescent moon, with a sun bearing a human face nestled inside the curve. Surrounding the central image are floral patterns, tree branches, distant mountains, and a starry sky, combining natural and celestial imagery in warm gold, amber, and earth tones against a black background.

CD Reviews

A Supermoon and Supergroup: Carl Weingarten Slides Into Orbit

Angel Romero July 6, 2025 No Comments ambient Americana Carl Weingarten contemporary jazz fusion jazz

Carl Weingarten – Songs for a Perigee Moon (Multiphase, 2025) Carl Weingarten’s Songs for a Perigee Moon is thematically inspired by the “perigee moon” (supermoon).…

The album cover for Sound Remains by Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quintet features a vertically streaked abstract design. The top half is dominated by deep reds, blues, and blacks, while the bottom half shifts to a lighter palette of whites, blues, and greys. The artist's name appears on the left and the group name on the right, both in uppercase. The album title is centered in lowercase across the dividing line between the two color field.

CD Reviews

Rez Abbasi’s Acoustic Quintet Returns with Sound Remains

Charlie Melville June 22, 2025 No Comments contemporary jazz jazz Rez Abbasi world jazz

Rez Abbasi – Sound Remains (Whirlwind Recordings, 2025) Guitarist and composer Rez Abbasi continues to refine his acoustic language on Sound Remains, the third release…

The album cover for Falling From Earth by Bob Schlesinger features a blurred, grayscale image of a figure mid-air, arms extended upward in a falling or leaping motion. The title and artist's name appear in white text at the top center.

New CDs and Digital releases

Bob Schlesinger Makes His Debut With Falling From Earth

Prog News June 7, 2025 No Comments Bob Schlesinger contemporary jazz jazz jazz-rock

Pianist and composer Bob Schlesinger will release Falling From Earth, his debut album as a bandleader, on August 1, 2025. Recorded with an elite ensemble…