A dog is a man’s best friend, indeed. And on this 2010 release, improvising sax great Lol Coxhill and eminent drummer/percussionist Roger Turner pay a bit of abstract homage to our much beloved canines. The improvisation is at times minimalist in scope, yet the continually moving parts equate into a polytonal feast for one’s psyche.Coxhill performs on his customary soprano saxophone and counters Turner’s bells hits, rim-shots, tom tom patterns and colorific integration of small percussion impl

Cornetist Eric Boeren leads his Dutch quartet with a crisp, compact and expressive sound through a program that toggles between inventive bop, free-bop and avant expressionism on this live date recorded in 2004. With legendary German drummer Paul Lovens garnering the most out of his sparse kit and generating a sparky underpinning, the program is underscored by contrasting tones and a vibrant stance. Lovens and superfine bassist Wilbert de Joode literally have the beat on dynamics throughout the

Filmed in High Definition, the footage captures eminent and highly-influential guitarist John Scofield with his quartet, largely performing within the progressive-jazz quartet mold, featuring longtime collaborator, drummer Bill Stewart. Captured at a Paris, France venue, Scofield’s animated and poetic delivery is in full form as he perpetuates his expressive bop imagery in concert with funky acid-jazz interludes and soul-blues inflections.Throughout the program, the guitarist aligns with keyboa

Gary Husband is a musical renaissance man. A ferocious progressive-rock and jazz drummer, he also handles the keyboard duties here and for guitar titan, John McLaughlin’s 4th Dimension band. This outing provides a glimpse of prominent artists he has performed with over the years. Subsequently, the program signifies the first time McLaughlin and guitarist Allan Holdsworth appear on the same album. Husband summons his comrades for a diverse program, teeming with copious angles, and variable de

With his second solo release for Norway’s SOFA record label, percussionist Ingar Zach spawns a strange, yet accessible panorama on this mind-bending studio session recorded in Spain. To augment drums, bells and cymbals, Zach employs a gran cassa, which is a horizontal bass drum, housing a resonating membrane that spawns an array of metrics and tones. He’s a crafty vet however, evidenced by unexpected cymbals hits, frenetic jangling bells and droning extended note backdrops. Zach is a musicall