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Continue reading →: Noah Haidu: Standards IIIINFINITE DISTANCES (RELEASED JUNE 6, 2025) The third installment in pianist Noah Haidu’s Standards series is a mixed bag. Four of the tunes were recorded in 2023 (perhaps for the Standards I session) and the remaining seven tunes were recorded specifically for this session. As a result, various groups appear…
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Continue reading →: James Brandon Lewis: Abstraction is DeliveranceINTAKT (RELEASED MAY 30, 2025) It’s time for a “compare and contrast” essay, remember those? This time the topic is John Coltrane’s 1963 Ballads and James Brandon Lewis’ 2025 Abstraction is Deliverance. The similarities are uncanny. For starters, both recordings were the fifth session for each leader featuring quartets with…
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Continue reading →: Sandra-Mae Lux: Seasons in JazzECN MUSIC (RELEASED MAY 30, 2025) Many jazz vocalists take songs from the Great American Songbook and make them their own. Not Sandra-Mae Lux. On her latest release, Seasons in Jazz, Lux performs 11 originals in the tradition of the Great American Songbook and owns them! With an uncomplicated, natural…
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Continue reading →: Tyler Henderson: Love EnduresCELLAR MUSIC (RELEASED MAY 30, 2025) I go to our local farmers’ market for fresh, clean, crisp, flavorful and tasty fruits and vegetables. The freshman release from pianist Tyler Henderson has those same qualities. Having workshopped the material in New York’s finest clubs, Henderson and his trio bring a fresh…
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Continue reading →: Ryan Truesdell: Shades of SoundOUTSIDE IN MUSIC 2515 (RELEASED MAY 30, 2025) With the release of Shades of Sound, a new word needs to be added to the jazz lexicon — Gilophile. There is no better word to describe multi-Grammy award winning arranger Ryan Truesdell who is on a mission to unearth lost Gil…
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Continue reading →: Gillian Margot & Geoffrey KeezerMARKEEZ RECORDS (RELEASED JUNE 23, 2025) The directions for this new release from vocalist Gillian Margot and pianist Geoffrey Keezer are hidden in the lyrics of Jimmy Rowles’ “A Timeless Place (The Peacock),” one of ten tunes on this session — “Find a quiet place inside and listen.” Listen to…
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Continue reading →: Roelofs, Janssen & Bennink: Rite of SpringICP (RELEASED MAY 8, 2025) Many musicians play Thelonius Monk compositions, but there are only a handful that have the chutzpah to play around with Monk compositions and get away with it! Bass clarinetist Joris Roelofs, pianist Guus Janssen and drummer Han Bennink do just that on Rite of Spring.…
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Continue reading →: Frank Amsallem: The Summer KnowsCONTINUO JAZZ (RELEASED MAY 23, 2025) The Summer Knows is an album as soothing, warm and refreshing as the season it celebrates. For this, his 11th recording, pianist Frank Amsallem enlisted the musical support of bassist David Wong and drummer Kush Abedey. Like his first recording in 1991 with Gary…
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Continue reading →: Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra: Mixed BagSUMMIT RECORDS 834 (RELEASED MAY 23, 2025) Pete McGuinness chose the title Mixed Bag to reflect the diverse musical styles represented on the latest outing from his jazz orchestra. True, the 11 selections range from up tempo swingers to bossa novas, ballads to more “outside” compositions. Despite the musical ground…
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Continue reading →: Charles Chen: Building CharactersCELLAR MUSIC (RELEASED MAY 16, 2025) If you’re a child of the 1950s you probably remember the television show “To Tell the Truth?” and the classic line, “Will the real [name of person] please stand up.” That’s the way I feel about pianist Charles Chen’s Building Characters. After listening to…
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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