For the years Columbus was lucky enough to call him ours, drummer Ryan Jewell was our leading proponent of Emily Dickinson’s maxim “tell the truth but tell it slant.” He placed an idiosyncratic, indelible, and always swinging stamp on any context he assailed, from the insidiously catchy quirk of Terribly EmptyContinue Reading
Since his debut album in 1995, Ben Monder has reshaped jazz guitar with a keen eye for history – lending an unmistakable voice to the work of giants including David Bowie, Lee Konitz, Maria Schneider, Paul Motian, Ingrid Jensen, and Tim Berne – and a firm grip on the futureContinue Reading
Early this year, clarinetist-vocalist-composer Angel Bat Dawid’s debut album The Oracle hit the creative music scene with the impact of a meteor; landing as a lesson and an invocation of something greater. I don’t remember the last time I felt such a deeply personal, visceral connection with a record thatContinue Reading
For over 20 years, pianist Andy Milne has played at the forefront of the creative improvised music scene in New York. Milne lends his distinctive, vibrant sound to larger groups like Dapp Theory (whose Seasons of Being won a Juno in his native Canada), on soundtracks like The Captains (forContinue Reading
One After Another, After Another, After Another, the sophomore studio release from saxophonist-composer Alex Burgoyne’s band Small Songs (available for purchase on Bandcamp and from Burgoyne at shows) comes on with the sticky heat and mix of sweet comfort and ominous dread perfect for those days when summer takes flight.Continue Reading
Franklinton venue Filament brings another exciting tour to Columbus with drummer-composer Dan Pugach’s Nonet on Wednesday, May 15th at 9pm. Tickets and details here. Pugach and band come to town riding high on 2018’s acclaimed album Plus One, which earned Pugach and vocalist Nicole Zuraitis a Grammy nomination for theirContinue Reading
Brian Krock released one of the most acclaimed jazz records of 2018, the self-titled debut outing from his big band, Big Heart Machine. His compositions drew raves from outlets like the New York Times (“suspenseful, layered music”) and Chicago Reader (“tricky, multipartite compositions that breathlessly wend their way through shiftingContinue Reading
Synchronicity doesn’t get much more righteous than Columbus’ preeminent modern interdisciplinary arts institution, the Wexner Center, awarding our finest composer, Mark Lomax II, with their residency award for one of the most ambitious projects in Columbus music, 400: An Afrikan Epic (pre-order at the link). Lomax premieres a suite ofContinue Reading
This Mark Twain quote from The Innocents Abroad has been circulating recently, a reminder of one of the truest things the American father of the aphorism ever said: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitableContinue Reading