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CD Reviews

Gadi Caplan at the Crossroads of Cultures and Progressive Genres

Gadi Caplan – Play It Again (Self-Released, 2025) On Play It Again, composer and multi-instrumentalist Gadi Caplan presents a distinct form of inventive progressive fusion,…

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.…

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 Silhouettes Fall – Silhouettes Fall features an abstract design dominated by a textured yellow-gold background. A jagged black horizontal line bisects the canvas, erupting into a dark central blotch that resembles a burst. The band's name appears in black, all caps, with a stylized “A” formed by a triangle.

CD Reviews

From Maryland to Italy: A Cross-Continental Prog-Rock Collaboration

Kevin Baker June 7, 2025 No Comments fusion Progressive rock Silhouettes Fall

Silhouettes Fall – Silhouettes Fall (self-release, 2024) With their self-titled debut, Silhouettes Fall, this international outfit steps onto the progressive rock stage like seasoned travelers…

The album cover for Bill Laurance & Michael League – Keeping Company features a painting of two shadowy, humanoid figures blending into a greenish, misty background.

CD Reviews

Doubling Down on Dialog: Laurance & League Keep Company

Charlie Melville June 1, 2025 No Comments Bill Laurance contemporary jazz fusion jazz Michael League

Bill Laurance & Michael League – Keeping Company (ACT, 2024) Bill Laurance and Michael League’s duo collaboration, Keeping Company, is a continuation of their exploration…

The album cover for Spellbound by Shez Raja features a deep maroon background with a gold, intricately designed lotus mandala at the center. Within the mandala’s core is the “Om” symbol, also in gold. The artist's name and album title appear in the top left corner in gold serif typography.

CD Reviews

Shez Raja’s Spellbound, a Vivid Journey Through Global Jazz Terrain

Angel Romero May 25, 2025 No Comments fusion jazz jazz-rock

Shez Raja – Spellbound (Gearbox Cut, 2025) With Spellbound, Shez Raja invites listeners into a world where cultures collide, not with clamor, but with coherence.…

The album cover for Abracadabra by Soft Works features a collage-style design with contrasting imagery. A large yellow road sign with a circular arrow dominates the left side. Below it, a keyboard "Return" key is embedded in the composition. On the right, part of a golden Buddha face. The title "Soft Works" appears in bold yellow uppercase letters at the top, with the word "abracadabra" in blue cursive beneath it. The bottom right lists band members: Elton Dean, Allan Holdsworth, Hugh Hopper, and John Marshall. A sticker announces the remastering and two bonus live tracks.

CD Reviews

Hold the Sax: Soft Works Casts a Cool Spell on Abracadabra

Angel Romero May 19, 2025 No Comments contemporary jazz fusion jazz-rock Soft Works

Soft Works – Abracadabra (Moonjune, 2025 reissue) When Abracadabra first appeared in 2003, it arrived quietly but confidently, an elusive work from Soft Works, the…

The album cover for The Clockmaster by Clay Wulbrecht features an ornate, antique-style clock face overlaid on a vintage illustration of a cobbled European village. The clock displays exposed gears and intricate machinery at its center, with Roman numerals in alternating red and gold tones marking the hours. The title and artist’s name appear subtly at the bottom right.

CD Reviews

Clocking In: Clay Wulbrecht Bends Time on The Clockmaster

Angel Romero May 8, 2025 No Comments Clay Wulbrecht contemporary jazz fusion Progressive rock

Clay Wulbrecht – The Clockmaster (Instru Dash Mental IDMJZ006, 2025) Clay Wulbrecht, a State College, Pennsylvania-based composer, pianist, and arranger, presents The Clockmaster, a dynamic,…

The album cover for Reach by Kneebody features a black background, a series of elongated, gradient-colored geometric shapes—ranging from white to yellow to red and magenta. They recede into the distance, converging toward a small cyan sphere. The band name and album title appear in lowercase in the top left and right corners, respectively.

CD Reviews

Kneebody Stretches Out: “Reach” Finds New Limbs, Same Pulse

Charlie Melville May 7, 2025 No Comments contemporary jazz funk fusion jazz-rock Kneebody

Kneebody – Reach (GroundUP, 2025) Six years off the radar, Kneebody returns not with a whisper but with Reach, an electrified statement that doubles as…