Jim Austin, Robert Baird, Thomas Conrad

August 2026 Jazz Record Reviews

Jim Austin, Robert Baird, Thomas Conrad Aug 11, 2026

Jim Snidero: Best of the Trio Recordings; Nils Petter Molvær: Be Quiet; Adam O'Farrill: Elephant; The Oscar Peterson Trio: At Baker's Keyboard Lounge; Joe Syrian Motor City Jazz Octet: A Blue Time;

Music and Recording Features

Sonny Rollins: A Titan Has Left Us

Thomas Conrad Jul 15, 2026

Photo by Tim Dickeson

The jazz world is accustomed to losing its greats too soon. Charlie Parker was gone at 34. John Coltrane at 40. Clifford Brown at 25. Rollins was, wonderfully, not one of them. He lived to 95.

Music and Recording Reviews

July 2026 Jazz Record Reviews

Thomas Conrad, Andrey Henkin Jul 13, 2026

Richard Andersson: Monk & More; Mal Waldron: Starlight & Sunlight: At the Jazz Showcase; Ben Stapp: Uzmic Ro'Samg (Live Solo Tuba); Dave Adewumi: The Flame Beneath the Silence.

Music and Recording Features

Lost Nights, Found Solos: The Penthouse Tapes

Thomas Conrad Jul 09, 2026

The Penthouse jazz club was on First and Cherry in Seattle. It had a seven-year run from 1962 to 1968 as one of the premier jazz venues on the West Coast. The site is a parking lot now. Yet the Penthouse lives. This is the story of why.

Music and Recording Reviews

June 2026 Jazz Record Reviews

Larry Birnbaum, Phil Brett, Thomas Conrad Jun 18, 2026

Michel Petrucciani: Kuumbwa; Tyrone Allen: Upward; Marilyn Crispell/Anders Jormin: Memento; Steve White Trio: Soul Drums; Gregory Hutchinson: Kind of Now: The Pulse of Miles Davis.

Music and Recording Reviews

May 2026 Jazz Record Reviews

Thomas Conrad, Andrey Henkin, Ken Micallef May 22, 2026

Gabrielle Cavassa: Diavola; Miroslav Vitous: Mountain Call; Pepper Adams Quintet; Cecil Taylor Unit: Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts; Javon Jackson: Jackson Plays Dylan.

Music and Recording Reviews

April 2026 Jazz Record Reviews

Thomas Conrad Apr 17, 2026

Out Of/Into: Motion II; Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: Strasbourg 82; Bijan Taghavi: Cactus Sessions.

Music and Recording Reviews

March 2026 Jazz Record Reviews

Thomas Conrad, Andrey Henkin, Anne E. Johnson Mar 13, 2026

ill Ware and The Club Bird All Stars: Martian Sunset; JD Allen: Love Letters (The Ballad Sessions); Pat Bianchi: Confluence; Melissa Errico: I Can Dream, Can't I? (Illusions and Conversations from the Great American Songbook); Joel Ross: Gospel Music.

Recording of the Month

Recording of March 2026: Easter Island Suite

Thomas Conrad Feb 12, 2026

John Vanore & Abstract Truth: Easter Island Suite
Vanore, trumpet, flugelhorn, compositions, arrangements; 27 others
Acoustical Concepts AC-160 (CD). 1989, 2012, 2024/2026. Vanore, prod.; Terry Hoffman, Richard King, John Senior, engs.

Music and Recording Reviews

February 2026 Jazz Record Reviews

Thomas Conrad, Andrey Henkin Feb 10, 2026

Billy Hart: Multidirectional; John O'Gallagher: Ancestral; Thomas Strønen's Time Is A Blind Guide: Off Stillness; Peter McEachern Quintet: Streamin'.