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Friday at Hulaween opens up The Meadow  stage and that’s where String Cheese Incident will play the first two of seven fest sets. I’ll be out at that stage early to catch a couple of Hula ’23 stars reprise their 2023 sets, TAND and Karina Rykman. I’ll likely bounce back and forth to The Hallows stage across the field where the Friday lineup starts off Ajeva, Dumpstaphunk, Cory Wong so it’ll be a SPF 50+ day going into the evening sets. Here’s my rundown of Friday highlights. Black Pumas headline Friday if things play out as I expect it’ll beContinue Reading

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Music at the Intersection will hold it’s fourth edition September 14th and 15th in St. Louis. It has quickly taken flight as one of the best heritage music festivals in the country with prior years’ luminaries including Herbie Hancock, Snarky Puppy,  Kamasi Washington, Erykah Badu and Lalah Hathaway, among others. This year continues adds living legends Chaka Khan and Stanley Clarke, and adds current stars like Black Pumas, Big Boi, and Trombone Shorty to the roster. It’s a fairly eclectic mix with everything from straight on jazz (Samara Joy, Esperanza Spaliding) to funk (Lettuce, Trombone Shorty) to afrofunk/Cuban (Cimafunk). There’sContinue Reading

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Cory Wong is a talent with an amazing aura and so prolific that it’s hard to keep up with all his undertakings. ‘Starship Syncopation’ is one that dropped very recently that you absolutely don’t want to miss. The album is a collaboration with The Metropole Orkest out of The Netherlands, which bills itself as the world’s leading pop and jazz orchestra. Fans of FunkCity.net will recognize them as collaborators on the Grammy-winning album ‘Sylva’ with Snarky Puppy and Grammy-nominated album ‘What Heat’ from Bokanté.  Cory had performed a set of his original tunes with the MO (click here for video)Continue Reading

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Suwannee Hulaween is one of my favorite festivals of the year and this year’s 11th edition lineup is stacked, as it always is. String Cheese Incident, the perennial sponsor-curator-headline performer is up for likely 5 sets PLUS a special The Bobby Weir Incident collaboration with the Dead’s long time member. The festival does an amazing job of showcasing multiple genres, ranging from international acts to local up-and-comers. It’s seems this year’s planning is way out in front as they’ve released the daily lineups far in advance. This is great and gives me the opportunity to give you a look intoContinue Reading

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Shaun Martin, the vibrant, entertaining keyboardist passed away last week after a long illness. He was renowned for his work with Snarky Puppy and Kirk Franklin as well as his fantastic solo albums. Shaun was a very special talent but an even more special person and I’m proud to say, a friend of mine. One of his superpowers was making everyone around him feel special. The evidence is all over social media, as news spread of his passing, hundreds of people posted pictures with Shaun, always smiling and always ready to chat (like the main picture, taken just prior toContinue Reading

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To say I’m excited to be going to Newport Jazz Festival 2024 is a huge understatement. I’ve only been once, about 30 years ago, and this is the first time I’ll be at all three days. And OMFG, what a packed three day schedule it is. It’d be virtually impossible to see every act, or even every one that I’m interested in due to the short sets with overlapping times. Nevertheless, this is one that will keep me boppin’ from the Friday start with Chief Adjuah to the closing crescendo with Nigel Rodgers & Chic. In lieu of covering everyContinue Reading

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How To Dream In Color is the 11th studio album from Lotus, and it’s a winning mix of a wide range of song stylings. There’s  a lot to like for long time fans and newbies as well. ‘How to Dream in Color’ has synth and airy-guitar tunes that sound like early Lotus (), guitar-driven, edgey rock tracks and songs with vocals making an eclectic blend. It’s the first album since the tragic passing of long-time percussionist Chuck Morris and it’s great to hear them continue in their traditional sound by layering in percussion. I’ve been listening to Lotus for 20Continue Reading

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Galáctico is the second studio album from the Joe Tatton Trio and it’s top notch. Joe’s made his bones as the keyboard player for The New Mastersounds for 18 years teams up here with guitarist Lucas De Mulder who released his first album on Color Red last year. This album is an excellent mix of uptempo funk and jazz as well as more dramatic cinematic pieces. It also comes full circle back to some of NMS’ roots, bringing in the Haggis Horns who played on early NMS albums. I’ve seen Joe’s impact on the NMS sound increase over the years,Continue Reading

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Nick Gerlach is an accomplished tenor saxophonist who as recently been features on albums from some of my favorite bands includng Lotus and Sunsquabi. Concrete Lullaby is his first solo release since the disbanding of his band Cosby Sweater in 2016. For this session he brought in Neal “Fro” Evans (Dopapod) and Tommy Shugart (Roosevelt Collier, The Groove Orient). In Nick’s words, “The instrumental album is a three-song journey that includes a dystopian allegory, a compelling cover of “Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden, and a funk track inspired by 80s horrors soundtracks and organ trio funk.  Have a listen andContinue Reading

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Tatiana Eva-Marie is the newest artist on the GroundUP Music roster and she brings one of the oldest music styles, manouche jazz or hot club music, to the label. It is one of the only music genres, jazz or otherwise, that is nearly universally attributed to one person, namely Django Reinhardt, a Romani born, French guitarist. He and his group, Quintette du Hot Club de France, featuring Stephane Grapelli on violin, were the delight of pre-WWII Paris.  Hot club music featured primarily string instruments, guitar, violin, bass and no percussion other than rhythm guitar and was a predecessor of swing.Continue Reading