On Finding Gabriel (Nonesuch), which dropped in May, Mehldau, who turns forty-nine in August, eschews the acoustic landscape and the written word for musical ruminations on Old Testament prophecy and wisdom.
Following the release of his third album this year, we catch up with leading rap wordsmith Milo to talk about how jazz has influenced his music, why myth building is important in hip-hop, and why he’ll no longer be recording under the name Milo.
Currently residing in Chicago, the pianist Stuart Mindeman spent his formative years in Santiago, Chile. His worldly travels and the influence of his distant past come together nicely in his album Woven Threads, a colourful, multi-scented bouquet.
After two decades of playing as sideman, Bobby Sparks has recorded all over and at all moments. Here, he brings together a part of his work never before released in a first album featuring Roy Hargrove, Marcus Miller, Lucky Peterson, Michael League and other members who play as part of Snarky Puppy.
“How many musicians do you know who can work with Ray Charles, Chick Corea, and Brad Mehldau, and also play completely free and make it work?” Lionel Loueke asks rhetorically in a promotional video for drum-master Jeff Ballard’s new release, Fairgrounds.
Aaron Parks' long-anticipated quartet recording, Little Big, on Ropeadope, marks a return to the eclectic, indie-rock vibe that he established on his brilliant but under appreciated 2008 debut Invisible Dreams (his sole Blue Note Records outing).
