S. Victor Aaron

Soft Machine's peak roster playing at peak performance is reason enough to plunk down for 'Høvikodden 1971' if this boundary-pushing style of jazz-rock is your thing.

"Rock Lobster" arrived 45 years ago today on the B-52's debut, with a zany approach that softened the defenses of even the most stubborn music snob.

In many ways, Phillip Golub's astounding debut 'Abiding Memory' evokes the budding genius of early Vijay Iyer.

Gorilla Mask, a Brötzmann-meets-Black Flag highly improvised jazz with the raw power of a hardcore punk. Now, Van Huffel has moved on to a new project with a different approach that’s no less audacious, introducing it with his spring, 2024 release Meandering Demons. Callisto, as he calls it, is a Berlin-based quartet with Joe Hertenstein on drums, Antonis Anissegos on keyboards and electronics and Lina Allemano on trumpet. Van Huffel sticks with main reed, the baritone saxophone, and adds some additional electronic effects.

Dream Box, as the master plectrist continues chasing melodies by himself. But as personal as that 2023 release was, MoonDial opens the window into Metheny’s soul even wider, as he is using his Linda Manzer Baritone Nylon String Guitar exclusively, with zero overdubs or even loops.

Get the Knack, this band was just about as prevalent as the Ed Sullivan-era Beatles. (They looked like them too, although the Knack’s crunchy, direct brand of rock mimicked the Kinks more than their more famous British contemporaries.)

With 'Breaking Stretch,' Patricia Brennan continues to build upon her uniquely inventive style of jazz simply by building up her ensemble.

The Tim Berne/Bill Frisell duo’s Live In Someplace Nice ( Screwgun Records ) was taped about the same time the undersung treasure Berne/Frisell collaboration Theoretically came out, which until now has been the only released album from these two. Live In Someplace Nice adds more than just presenting the alto saxophonist and electric guitarist in a live tracking format; only “Inside The Brain” is a song also performed on the prior record. The rest are other Berne tunes with a Julius Hemphill number tossed in, which nominally makes this more of a Berne joint than a Frisell one. Characteristic of this guitar player, however, he’s no wallflower here.

At the beginning of 2024, the experimental trio Jupiter didn’t exist and by September of that year, they had a fully formed album out of music that takes a fresh approach to freeform music using jazz and rock concepts. The self-titled Jupiter

Lumination album features Dan Loomis on acoustic bass, and Ernesto Cervini on drums. Frahm’s trio is essentially a spinoff of Cervini’s celebrated Turboprop sextet, which additionally has a piano and two more horns. In this runt form, the playful, sympathetic discourse among the three is looser and more telepathic. Frahm is a tenor sax force unto himself but generously allows his bandmates to shine as much as he does, with Loomis and Cervini even contributing tunes alongside Frahm’s own originals.