Contemporary Jazz

The first of two CDs of ballads put out by RCA that are meant to attenuate that "special mood," this is a hodgepodge collection of music easily available elsewhere. Starting [more]

Michel Camilo is a very powerful Latin jazz pianist who is quite capable of playing several rhythms at once. He emulates an orchestra even when playing solo, so it is not surprising [more]

Nnenna Freelon ought to know. She leads music education workshops for singers, kids and families. She taps into her own creativity on Listen, writing or co-writing [more]

Cassandra Wilson has long been one of the most intriguing of today's jazz singers. Although she started out singing modern jazz/funk and standards a la [more]

For some time, many have been under the impression that the sound of big band swing music had taken a Ford Model T out of town never to [more]

The consistent pianist Mulgrew Miller leads his trio (which includes bassist Richie Good and drummer Tony Reedus) through a set dominated by his originals but also including [more]

Michel Camilo was one of the most stimulating jazz pianists to emerge in the mid- to late '80s. His powerful two-handed attack (full of impressive technical skills), his knowledge of [more]

On paper, this meeting might seem to be an unlikely collaboration, as keyboardist/sound designer and jingle composer Jane Mangini aligns her faculties with heavy metal guitarist Al Pitrelli. It's an [more]

All of a sudden, George Benson became a pop superstar with this album, thanks to its least representative track. Most of Breezin' is a softer-focused variation of Benson's R&B/jazz-flavored [more]

The Essential George Benson covers 28 years and spans two discs, so it lives up to its claim of having the widest scope of all the Benson compilations that surfaced before [more]

Creative vocalist Bobby McFerrin's return to Blue Note after a nearly ten-year absence indicates a possible desire for a return to improvised jazz, and in a way distancing himself [more]

Likely to be termed by many as a super group, Garage a Trois certainly is seen by youth-oriented jazz listeners as their prime-time all-star combo of the 2000s. Saxophonist Skerik, [more]

On First Love, contemporary jazz saxophonist and composer Everette Harp moves deeper into the space he addressed on 2007's excellent My Inspiration. Whereas on that album, he was still [more]

Guitarist Roni Ben-Hur is clearly influenced by his mentor, Barry Harris, and his biggest influence, Kenny Burrell. Slowly but surely, he's breaking away from their bop-oriented persuasion [more]