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Continue reading →: Jerome Sabbagh: HeartANALOG TONE FACTORY 001 (RECORDED JUNE 2022) Saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh is a jazz environmentalist. What’s that, you might ask?For starters, it is someone who does not waste a note. Rather than polluting the air withextraneous flourishes and bravado, Sabbagh’s poetic and delicate tone embraces each selection with a sense of…
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Continue reading →: Harry Skoler: Red Brick HillSUNNYSIDE RECORDS (RECORDED AUGUST 2022) Clarinetist Harry Skoler has a story to tell, and he tells it with elegance and pathos onRed Brick Hill. It’s a story about reconciling with a traumatic experience from his youth —the death of a childhood friend. It’s a story he shared with the musicians…
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Continue reading →: Greg Skaff: Re UpSOULMATION RECORDS 001. (RECORDED OCTOBER 2023) Guitarist Greg Skaff has nowhere to hide on Re Up. Unlike some of his past recordings, there is no organist comping chords for him. Unlike his performances in the bands of Stanley Turrentine, David “Fathead” Newman and Bobby Watson, there is no saxophonist playing…
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Continue reading →: Brian Landrus: Plays Ellington & StrayhornPALMETTO 202301 (RECORDED AUGUST 2023) Brian Landrus brings a new richness to the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn on Plays Ellington and Strayhorn. Some of that richness comes from the lyrical and luxurious sound of Landrus’ baritone, whose style is much like Harry Carney, Ellington’s long-time baritone player…
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Continue reading →: Jill McCarron: GinJAZZ BIRD RECORDS (RECORDED MAY 2023) Jill McCarron is a tease and it’s not just because of the seductive CD cover, it’s because of how she seduces you with her prowess as a pianist. On Gin, she channels Horace Silver on “The Jody Grind,” brings Bobby Timmons to mind on Kenny Dorham’s…
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Continue reading →: Bruno Raberg: EvolverORBIS MUSIC (NO RECORDING DATE) The best way to describe bassist’s Bruno Raberg’s Evolver is to use three other words that begin with the letter “E” — episodic, evocative and empowering. Episodic, because the atmospheric nature of the ten Raberg originals seem like loosely connected episodes, balancing somber ensemble playing…
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Continue reading →: Natsuki Tamura & Satoko Fujii: AloftLIBRA 102-75 (RECORDED DECEMBER 2023) According to Chinese philosophy, the concept of yin and yang is that all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites. The familiar black and white symbol of yin and yang illustrates that principle with each side of the relationship being unique, yet complimentary. If you want…
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Continue reading →: Espial: The Act of NoticingDISCUS-MUSIC 172 (NO RECORDING DATE) Inspired by nature as much as they are by each other, Espial delivers an impressionist approach to improvisation on their first outing as an ensemble. The trio of Josephine Davies on tenor and soprano saxophones, David Beebee on electric piano and effects and Martin Pyne…
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Continue reading →: Dan Pugach Big Band: BiancaOUTSIDE IN MUSIC 2401 (RECORDED FEBRUARY 2023) Bianca is a different type of a drummer-led big band session, Different, because it seems that Dan Pugach is more interested in being a leader than the star of the band. The few solos he takes on “Masa” and “Discourse This!” time out…
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Continue reading →: David Bixler: BeatitudeTIGER TURN (NO RECORDING DATE) Too often, musicians sacrifice taste for technique. Not the case on Beatitude, the latest release from alto saxophonist David Bixler. Bixler and a trio he has recorded with for the past several years (Jon Cowherd on piano, Ike Sturm on bass and Rogerio Boccato on…
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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