Futuropaco Returns with The Groovy “Crollo Capitalista”; ‘Fortezza di Vetro, Vol. 2’ Coming Soon

Drum maestro and all around musical wizard Justin Pinkerton dropped his first record as Futuropaco back in 2018 on El Paraiso Records. Futuropaco’s debut was a mix of late 60s grooves and Italian countryside psychedelia. Fuzzy guitar lines intermingled with tight, groove-heavy drums and lean into the musical spirit of cats like Ennio Morricone, Fabio […]

Elephant9 & Terje Rydpal : Catching Fire

I’ve been listening to Elephant9 & Terje Rydpal’s live album Catching Fire for a couple months now. Letting the immense 80 minute concert recorded in 2017 soak into my brain just to try and put words together to describe it. Putting this into some narrative has eluded me, but I figured what the heck. Elephant9 […]

Out Of/Into : Motion I

Jazz quintet Out Of/Into – formerly known as The Blue Note Quintet – makes it perfectly clear that there are some exciting things happening in the world of jazz still. Following in the footsteps of the giants of jazz that came before, the band that consists of pianist Gerald Clayton, alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, vibraphonist Joel Ross, drummer Kendrick […]

Jeff Parker ETA IVtet : The Way Out of Easy

Jeff Parker is one of those unsuspecting musical geniuses. He’s been a figure in the Chicago underground music scene for years, having played in Tortoise, Chicago Underground Quartet, Chicago Underground Trio, and Isotope 217 to name a few. He’s also worked with Makaya McCraven, Rob Mazurek, Joshua Abrams and Hamid Drake. That doesn’t include his […]

Lotus : Synthbuljong

The European jazz/psych quartet Lotus’ debut release Synthbuljong is a force to be reckoned with. The band – which consists of percussionist Olaf Olsen (Fra Det Onde, Needlepoint), Chris Holm (Orions Belte, Sondre Lerches band), alto saxophonist Signe Emmeluth, and experimental electric guitarist Karl Bjorå – are not making your grandpa’s jazz music(unless grandpa was […]

Marc Moulin’s ‘Sam’ Suffy’

I first came across Belgian musician and journalist Marc Moulin back in 2014. I was visiting Neat Neat Neat Records in late April 2014 with my wife. We were there to pick up the LCD Soundsystem box set The Long Goodbye(a RSD 2014 release.) He still had a copy from the big day a week […]

“Mr. Clean”

Other names tend to pop up when you think of jazz trumpeters. Of course Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Dorham, and Louis Armstrong come to mind, as does Chet Baker and Lee Morgan. But there’s one cat that was born in Indianapolis, IN that for my money is one of the most underrated jazz trumpeters […]

Jazz/Psych Freak Outs ensue On Lotus’ Excellent “Synthbuljong”; Debut LP Out 8/30 Via El Paraiso Records

It’s been over 10 years since I first found that magical passageway that led to the door of El Paraiso Records, the Danish record label run and curated by Causa Sui members Jonas Munk and Jakob Skøtt. These two have built a library of sound with El Paraiso Records that is layered in progressive, thoughtful […]

Chris Cohen : Paint A Room

Chris Cohen is one of those musicians/songwriters that seems to ride a completely different wavelength than the rest of the world. As a collaborator he’s worked with everyone from Deerhoof to Ariel Pink to Cass McCombs to Weyes Blood. But as a solo artist is where his magic truly lies. His solo work feels aged […]

Sml : Small Medium Large

The latest to come out of Chicago’s forward-thinking record label International Anthem is by Sml. Sml consists of the quintet of bassist Anna Butterss, synthesist Jeremiah Chiu, saxophonist Josh Johnson, percussionist Booker Stardrum, and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann. The project began as a series of long form improvisations at the beloved but now closed LA venue […]