Gard Nilssen Settles in

The Norwegian drummer has fully reconciled his love of jazz tradition with a forward-looking sensibility

Jacob Wick is back even though he’s been here all along

The inventive trumpeter unleashes a bevy of recordings in disparate styles

Øyvind Torvund imagines his own vision of twined modernism on The Exotica Album

The idiosyncratic Norwegian composer continues to bring rigor to whimsy, confusion to the serious

New avenues of percussion from Carlo Costa and Hannes Lingens

New releases from Carlo Costa and Hannes Lingens testify to endless possibilities for striking, rubbing, and scraping shit

Lost in sound: Catherine Lamb, Johnny Chang & Matchess

Peter MargasakMarch 22, 2019Catherine Lamb, Johnny Chang, Whitney Johnson, Matchess, Bryan Eubanks, Ensemble Dedalus, Viola Torros, Simon Reynell, Atmosphere Transparent/Opaque, Prisma Interius IX, Overlays Transparent/Opaque, V.T Augmentations II, secondary rainbow synthesizer, Fundamental 256 Hz, Rebecca Lane, La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela

The dazzling piano trios of Pandelis Karayorgis and Sam Harris

Recordings I overlooked as I compiled my list of year-end favorites are sticking with me

My 40 favorite albums of 2018

A snapshot of my thinking about the year in music, taken at a particular time.

Peter MargasakJanuary 8, 2019

Ryley Walker makes Dave Matthews good for the first time

A front-to-back cover of DMB’s The Lillywhite Sessions thrives because Walker makes it his own

New albums from Julia Holter, Eiko Ishibashi and Josephine Foster close out 2018 on a high note

I spent an inordinate amount of time pleasurably and confoundedly trying to dissect the charms, mysteries, and depth of their dazzling albums

My favorite jazz albums of 2018

My ballot for the 2018 NPR jazz critic’s poll

Wendy Eisenberg serves notice with two bracing, disparate new guitar albums

The recordings provide plenty of reason to pay serious attention.

Peter MargasakNovember 21, 2018Wendy Eisenberg, The Machinic Unconscious, Trevor Dunn, Ches Smith, Its Shape Is Your Touch, Early NovemberComment

A recent discovery from Sublime Frequencies: the simmering funk of Burkina Faso's Baba Commandant

The new record maintains the tough funk drive of its predecessor while navigating more meditative modes of the west Sahara greats from Mali and Guinea, albeit with a ferocious scrappiness.

Meg Baird and Mary Lattimore fully collaborate as adopted Californians

The new collaborative album reinforces their natural rapport, joining forces to meld ethereal psych-folk and haunted ambience.

Peter MargasakNovember 14, 2018Meg Baird, Mary Lattimore, Espers, Ghost Forests, In CedarsComment

Eli Keszler finds a powerful complement to his kinetic percussion in tweaked field recordings

His percussion twitches, throbs, and sizzles amid serene electronic scapes.

Peter MargasakNovember 5, 2018Eli Keszler, Stadium, Simple Act of Inverting the EpisodeComment

The Dogmatics take minimalism from a whisper to a scream

Pianist Chris Abrahams and clarinetist Kai Fagaschinski refine their singular purpose to a razor-sharp edge

Swedish trumpeter Magnus Broo makes time-worn standards sound brand-new

The Atomic member provides a reminder about the joyfulness of jazz

Peter MargasakOctober 30, 2018Magnus Broo, Rules, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Easy Living, Atomic, Håkon Mjåset JohansenComment

Ultramodernist Cuban pianist David Virelles digs deep into his Santiago roots

He makes a delightfully unexpected u-turn on the new Igbó Alákorin (The Singer’s Grove) Vol. I and II

Brazilian expat Ricardo Dias Gomes digs deeper into his interior sound world

The Brazilian bassist pushes toward noise and turbulent soundscapes but also maintains a fragile lyricism.

Peter MargasakOctober 25, 2018Ricardo Dias Gomes, Aa, -11, Caetano Veloso, 1 2 3 Nenéns, Joana QueriozComment

Stine Janvin gets seriously otherworldly on her powerful new album "Fake Synthetic Music"

Using a variety of electronic manipulations she transforms simple utterances into a visceral experience, by turns maddening and harrowing.

Peter MargasakOctober 22, 2018Stine Janvin, Stine Janvin Motland, Lasse Marhaug, Fake Synthetic Music, PAN Recordings, Tripple AComment

Sarah Davachi draws inspiration from the sonic properties of sacred spaces on her gorgeous new album "Gave in Rest"

The seven stunning pieces on the album clearly reflect a deep sense of meditation, enhancing Davachi’s previously established genius at casting hypnotic drone music of uncommon detail and richness.

Peter MargasakOctober 17, 2018Sarah Davachi, Gave in Rest, Third Hour, Howard Bilerman, Thierry Amar, Jessica Moss, Lisa McGeeComment

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