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Continue reading →: Ben Wolfe: The UnderstatedOUTSIDE IN A2418.1 (RELEASED AUGUST 2024) Ben Wolfe’s The Understated can best be described as cool, calm and collected. Cool, because it is reminiscent (but not a copy) of recordings from Lennie Tristano, Warne Marsh, Lee Konitz and other modernists of the cool era. Calm, because the music Wolfe presents…
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Continue reading →: No Codes: Usual SuspectsSUNSET HILL MUSIC 142401. (RELEASED AUGUST 2024) The Montreal jazz collective No Codes continues to mine the territory they explored in their 2018 debut release — challenging the expected norms and conventions in jazz. Driven by the dynamic drumming of Louis-Vincent Hamel and the powerful bass lines of Sebastien Pellerin,…
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Continue reading →: John Zorn: BalladesTZADIK 9310 (RELEASED JULY 2024) Many of the ballads we cherish from the Great American Songbook were written by Jewish composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern and others. So, it is no surprise that John Zorn, who introduced us to “Radical Jewish Music,” has turned his attention…
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Continue reading →: Greg Amirault: A Change of PaceSELF PRODUCED (RELEASED AUGUST 19, 2024) Montreal jazz fans are more than likely familiar with guitarist Greg Amirault. Since arriving in that city in 1987 from Nova Scotia, Amirault has made a name for himself as a busy player on the scene, the host of a weekly jam session (with…
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Continue reading →: AllianceSHIFTING PARADIGMS (RELEASED MARCH 2024) The debut recording from the cooperative Alliance starts with a bang — Mulgrew Miller’s upbeat “Wingspan,” with Sharel Cassity demonstrating why she was named Downbeat’s 2023 rising star on the alto saxophone. Her blistering solo and the support of a solid rhythm section suggest what…
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Continue reading →: Michael Wolff: MemoirSUNNYSIDE RECORDS (RELEASED AUGUST 2, 2024) It seems fitting that pianist Michael Wolff concludes Memoir with a heartfelt and evocative take on the classic ballad “You’ve Changed.” After all, his life has changed dramatically since growing up in the segregated South where he suffered from Tourette Syndrome, living through the…
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Continue reading →: Jake Noble: Letting Go of a DreamNO LABEL OR RECORDING DATE PROVIDED Much like Charlie Haden, one of his musical influences, Jake Noble’s bass playing is lyrical, strong and inventive. He demonstrates his command of the instrument as well as his composing and band leading skills on Letting Go of a Dream. Noble’s other sources of…
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Continue reading →: Luther Allison: I Owe It All To YouPOSI-TONE RECORDS (RECORDED MAY 2023) The “you” Luther Allison refers to on I Owe It All to You are the pianists who inspired him — Donald Brown (his mentor), Mulgrew Miller, Harold Mabern and James Williams. So, it should be no surprise that this recording is packed with hard-driving, gospel…
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Continue reading →: Eric Alexander & Mike LeDonne: TogetherCELLAR MUSIC 072023 (RECORDED JULY 2023) Together presents two familiar names in a not-so-familiar setting. Even though saxophonist Eric Alexander and pianist/organist Mike LeDonne have crossed paths on many recordings and club dates since their first meeting in 1992, this is the first time they have recorded as a duo.…
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Continue reading →: Livio Almeida: Brasilia SessionsZOHO 202406 (RECORDED JANUARY 2024) Don’t be fooled by “Sambasus,” the opening track on Brasilia Sessions. Although saxophonist Livio Almeida starts this tune with the chatter and clatter of a live jazz club, the music was recorded in a studio in his hometown of Brasilia, Brazil. If Almeida was trying…
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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