Trumpeter Emily Kuhn is another in a string of Oberlin grads who is finding Chicago to be a fertile place to hone her chops and artistic vision among welcoming peers. She set the bar high in 2020 with her debut recording “Sky Stories” that feat...

Cisco Bradley is a noted historian and professor whose new book documents the experimental avant garde music scene on the Brooklyn waterfront between 1988 and 2014. The scene sprouted in the harsh post-industrial landscape of Williamsburg and g...

The band TwinTalk—Dustin Laurenzi, Andrew Green, and Katie Ernst—is a saxophone (and voice) trio named for the unique language spoken by the most genetically linked siblings. The band demonstrates this familiarity with deep exploration of a fai...

Jeb Bishop has been an important member of the improvised music scenes in Chicago, Boston, and Chicago again. Along the way he’s figured out how to sustain his musical efforts—which are, by the way, some of the most engaging anywhere—over the l...

Scott Amendola is as adventurous with his playing as he is with his exploration of live looping and electronic effects. From the freest side of improvisation to the deepest pocket, he’s developed a mastery of eclecticism. And if the stellar lis...

The Chris Speed Trio, with Chris Tordini and Dave King represents the peak of what’s possible when three musicians whose capacity is limitless get together to explore the language and heart of Jazz–and choose to speak with a unified voice. But ...

Pianist Pandelis Karayorgis has spent nearly 40 years here in the U.S. developing a distinctive voice that extends from the foundations built by such heroes as Thelonious Monk and Paul Bley. While much of his work has emerged from the creative ...

If you stop in at the Uptowner in Milwaukee on any given Tuesday, you’ll be treated to the Dave Bayles Trio working it out, keeping it spontaneous and real. If you happen to hear the gears grinding and skipping a bit as they engage it’s because...

On his new record “Deep Breath” Kenny Reichert engages a longstanding group of stalwart collaborators, to showcase his growth as a composer, bandleader, and guitarist over the nearly nine years since his previous outing as leader.

Anna Webber has worked hard to establish herself as an elevating force in the rarefied world at the intersection of creative jazz and new music. An accomplished composer whose first mission was to develop her potential as an instrumentalist, sh...

On this episode Showbiz Roundup welcomes guest host John Christensen who will be interviewing me about the jazz octet Michael Brenneis and the Plutonium Players (or Plutonium for short) in advance of our show coming up at the North Street Cabar...

Arp of the Covenant, a trio of electro-acoustic improvisers, draws its inspiration from the ARP 2600, a 1970s era analog synthesizer known for being unpredictable except in the most expert hands. While Arp of the Covenant may be unpredictable t...

Pianist Paul Hecht returns with a new trio and a new mélange of music in his pursuit of new avenues of expression. Named after a work by American poet John Ashbury, the Pyrography Trio ignites a thread between Paul’s life as an English professo...

The performers coming to the 2023 BlueStem Jazz/North Street Cabaret Piano Summit invite listeners to open themselves to the layers of sound and harmonic landscape that an acoustic piano can generate, layers not routinely thought about or explo...

Zakk Jones is a guitarist who thrives on variety as evidenced by the range of groups he plays with and the repertoire he plays with his own trio. He’s also someone who believes in giving back, which he does through teaching at a couple of Ohio ...

Trumpeter Chad McCullough began a fruitful collaboration with Belgian pianist Bram Weijters in 2009 while both were attending the acclaimed Banff Jazz Workshop. Fourteen years later, with a half dozen quartet and duo recordings behind them, thi...

The tireless and adventurous improviser Dave Rempis has once again assembled a heavyweight cast to probe the reaches of collective improvisation. Joined on this outing by world-class trumpeter Russ Johnson, celebrated catalyst Jeremy Cunningham...

With the Joe Policastro Trio, everything is on the table: eccentric repertoire, unique orchestration, and an approach that veers from the center to the frontier. Among the elements that are not up for grabs, however, are outstanding musicianshi...

Javier Red’s Imagery Converter is a device that transforms ideas about music from the Jazz tradition and contemporary composers into an organic sonic ecosystem. Oh, and they’re also a band of accomplished musicians pushing the boundaries of the...

I interrupted the breakfast of Luke Leavitt, Ari Smith, and Tim Russell—the band Laminal Animil—to chat about their improvising, experimental trio and the way they purposefully subvert language, music, and everything else they can think of in t...

At one time legendary saxophonist Chico Freeman was himself a young lion on the scene breathing the life of a new generation into this music. Now the internationally renowned artist and statesman is mentoring the next generation to advance this...

Mr. Chair opens a new chapter with the release of “Better Days,” an album full of optimism, joy, and, of course–as Mark Hetzler puts it “lots of notes.” Mark joins me on this episode to talk about this collective, collaborative band and his car...

The Esthesis Quartet took the adversity of a global pandemic head on by supporting each other's need to stay creative and focused. These adventurous musician-composers–with deep roots in the continuum of this music–have crafted a compelling uni...

Amina Figarova looks to a brighter future full of positive vibes with her new album ‘Joy’. Also, surrounding herself with the kind of extraordinary players who will be joining her on this tour, opens a limitless canvas for the realization of he...

Larry Ochs makes up one-quarter of the world renowned ROVA Saxophone Quartet (he’s the “O” in the name) which formed in San Francisco during the mid-1970s. Drawing inspiration from a spectrum of music that includes everything from Free Jazz to ...