Sometimes analogies fail. I spent a good 20 minutes staring at the screen, trying to conjure up some way to impart to you the whole “meh”-ness of Dutch jazz-rock outfit Crypto and their one-and-done, self-titled album Crypto. Not every hidden gem is indeed a gem, but that doesn’t mean it’s not shiny and maybe worth a few bits on the open market.
Continue reading “Crypto: Crypto (1974)”
Hope everyone out there is having a good holiday if you celebrate, or just a good day if you don’t. On the music front, I received some lovely gifts from family, including a few killer records and the complete recording of Henry Cow I’ll eventually get to. Nothing from 2025, though (are you surprised?) so as I kick back post-Christmas with a cup of coffee, let’s talk jazz fusion. Since seeing the sublime ridiculousness of the cover art, I’ve been hooked on Nankai Trio and their debut Antarctica. The Japanese trio take the technical virtuosity of classic fusion groups like Return to Forever and inject some modern shred into their songs, and the result is one of the most enjoyable, exciting albums I’ve heard this year.
Continue reading “Nankai TRIO: Antarctica (2025)”
Similar to my last review, the where’s and how’s of my discovering the indelible virtuosity of jazz pianist Hiromi are lost to the fog of age (and probably weed, who are we kidding?). Maybe it was during my heady exploration of the fusion and jazz rock coming out of Japan in the ’70s, but however the path was laid, I’m so glad it led me to Out There, her latest album and collaboration with her full band unit Sonicwonder. It’s a heady mix of styles, exuberant and joyful and packing so much excellence in the performance aspect once I put it on, it’s hard not to let it replay over and over again.
Continue reading “Hiromi: Out There (2025)”
Where does a listener start when it comes to the “electric period” of Miles Davis? Where does the “electric period” even begin? Miles and the second quintet were using electric instruments as far back as Miles In The Sky (a personal favorite) but it seems like most folks peg it at the ambient, rolling atmosphere of In A Silent Way (another favorite). Where listeners start, though, is another matter. For me it was unfortunately with Pangaea, a live set from Japan that at age 17 I was not prepared for. Had I only started with that same date’s afternoon set, the brilliantly funky Agharta, I might have more quickly embraced this side of Davis’s career instead of retreating back to the early 60s for much of my 20s and 30s.
Continue reading “Miles Davis: Agharta (1975)”
I wasn’t planning on this being a jazz-heavy week, but after listening to the fantastic Les McCann album, I turned to see what other unlistened CDs and records I had lying around and recalled the 2-for-1 disc featuring the first two albums of drummer Norman Connors as a bandleader. Although he’d be more known for his smooth R&B soul jazz in a few years with hits like “Betcha By Golly Wow” and “You Are My Starship”, Dance of Magic shows the man in hardcore jazz mode with a killer lineup helping to bring his vision to life. Also like McCann, it features one massive side-long track followed by a few shorter numbers, but the improvisation and genre mixing goes in both a smoother and more avant-garde direction.
Continue reading “Norman Connors: Dance of Magic (1972)”
If Voyage of the Acolyte was anything, it was the expected thing from Steve Hackett. A synthesis of his progressive rock chops honed from his time in Genesis and his penchant for more pastoral, classical arrangements. And beautiful guitar playing, of course. So the surprise of the left turn he takes on his sophomore solo album makes Please Don’t Touch perhaps makes the album more of a delight than I anticipated. Hackett recorded in the United States, working with a number of incredible vocalists and a killer’s row of backup musicians, and the variety of styles on display makes this a delight, my current go-to record for lifting the spirits.
Continue reading “Steve Hackett: Please Don’t Touch (1979)”
Consuming the Tangible 