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Continue reading →: Jocelyn Gould: So DelightedJOCELYN GOULD MUSIC 1026 (RELEASED OCTOBER 9, 2026) For her fifth recording, Canadian guitarist Jocelyn Gould returns to a time when few sounds in jazz were more soulful and joyful than the organ trio of organ, guitar, and drums. Drawing inspiration from guitar greats Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, and Kenny…
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Continue reading →: Shai Jaschek: PortraitJAZZ BIRD RECORDS (RELEASED OCTOBER 9, 2026) Remember the British Invasion of the 1960s, when musicians from England transformed rock and roll in America? Beginning in the 1990s, jazz experienced its own influx of musicians from Israel. While they may not have transformed jazz in America, they certainly added a…
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Continue reading →: Shirantha Beddage: DeparturesRHEA RECORDS (RELEASED OCTOBER 15) What a coincidence. I had just finished reading Gary Carner’s Pepper Adams: Saxophone Trailblazer when a CD from Canadian baritone saxophonist Shirantha Beddage arrived in my mailbox. Like Adams, Beddage exhibits blazing speed, a deep sound and the ability to shift effortlessly from soft-spoken passages to aggressive…
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Continue reading →: Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp: Duologue 7: DistillationSQUID NOTE (RELEASED OCTOBER 2) Duologue 7: Distillation confirms that saxophonist Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp are the double helix of jazz. Like the strands of a DNA molecule, the two complementary voices of Perelman’s direct, often intense and expressive sound and Shipp’s genre-blending abstractions intertwine, creating an ongoing…
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Continue reading →: Dennis Mitcheltree: Seeing RedDENGOR MUSIC — RELEASED OCTOBER 2, 2026 Why doesn’t saxophonist Dennis Mitcheltree have wider recognition in the jazz world? For several years now, he has been developing a distinctive voice with his post-bop quartet of pianist Johannes Wallman, bassist Jesse Crawford, and drummer Bill McClellan. With more than eight recordings…
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Continue reading →: Satoko Fujii Orchestra Nagoya: KorekaraLIBRA RECORDS 216-086 (RELEASED OCTOBER 2) Robert Rusch, founder of Cadence magazine and the original author of Papatamus, described pianist, composer and bandleader Satoko Fujii as “the Ellington of free jazz.” The fourth of her five 2026 orchestral releases, Korekara, clearly supports his assessment. Consider the way Duke Ellington combined the various…
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Continue reading →: Chad Fowler/Eri Yamamoto: Polkadots & MoonbeamsMAHAKALA MUSIC (RELEASED SEPTEMBER 6, 2026) British historian Theodore Zeldin described conversation as a “meeting of minds with different memories and habits. When minds meet, they don’t just exchange facts: they transform them, reshape them, draw different implications from them and engage in new trains of thought.” That is exactly what…
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Continue reading →: Jason Kao Hwang: Second LifeTRUE SOUND RECORINGS T5017 (RELEASED OCTOBER 1, 2026) Violinist Jason Kao Hwang’s discography of 20 recordings reflects his diverse influences and musical experiences. Some, including Caverns (1994), The Floating Box: A Story in Chinatown (2005), and Burning Bridges (2018), are clearly rooted in his Chinese American heritage. Others, including Conjure (2019), Sing House (2017), and Human Rites Trio (2020), reflect the…
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Continue reading →: Kris Davis: Lost in Geneva4166 RECORDS (RELEASED SEPTEMBER 25, 2026) In the late 1950s, critics began describing the Bill Evans Trio as having transformed the piano trio from a hierarchical format into a genuinely conversational ensemble. More than 65 years later, the same could be said of the Kris Davis Trio—Kris Davis on piano,…
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Continue reading →: Doug Webb: Watch Your StepCELLAR MUSIC 120525 (RELEASED SEPTEMBER 25, 2026)) Although the quartet on Watch Your Step had appeared together at Frankie’s Jazz Club in Vancouver prior to the recording session, saxophonist Doug Webb didn’t send any music in advance or give much direction to organist Brian Charette, guitarist Dave Sikula and drummer John Lee…
Hello,
Welcome to Papatamus Redux
I started reading Cadence in the early 1980s. Since that time, I have come to respect editor and jazz critic Robert Rusch for his intelligent, succinct and unbiased reviews. Over the past twenty years, it has been my pleasure to get to know Robert and his family, making frequent trips from our home in Iowa to New York’s North Country. Several years ago, I was honored to be asked to help edit Robert’s Papatamus column.
I was equally honored to be asked by his family to keep Robert’s legacy of intelligent, succinct and unbiased jazz reviews alive with Papatamus Redux. You can view older editions of Papatamus at papatamus.com.
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