Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Blindfold Test: Buster Williams
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
Bassist Ben Allison’s new album, Little Things Run The World (Palmetto), features a rendition of John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy” plus six of Allison’s original compositions and a song by guitarist Steve Cardenas. Allison arranged “Jealous Guy” for his band Man Size Safe as a nod to Donny Hathaway’s rendition of Lennon’s song.
Fusing rock, jazz, americana, blues and soul music, Little Things Run The World was inspired by biologist E.O. Wilson’s acceptance speech for the 2007 TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Prize. Wilson’s commentary on the interdependence of all creatures great and small is an underlying theme on the record and a direct inspiration for the album’s title.
Palmetto will sell Little Things Run The World CDs and mp3s exclusively on its website, palmetto-records.com, starting Dec. 4. The album will be available in stores starting Jan. 22.
The album features:
Ben Allison, bass
Michael Sarin, drums
Steve Cardenas, guitar
Ron Horton, trumpet
Michael Blake, saxophone
More info: benallison.com
“What I got from Percy was the dignity of playing the bass,” Buster Williams said of Percy Heath.
Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
Don and Maureen Sickler serve as the keepers of engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s flame at Van Gelder Studio, perhaps the most famous recording studio in jazz history.
Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
The Free Slave, Cosmos Nucleus and Sunset To Dawn: three classic Muse albums being reissued this fall by Timer Traveler Recordings.
Aug 26, 2025 1:32 PM
Record producer and “Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman has launched his next endeavor, the archival label Time Traveler…
Butcher Brown, clockwise from top left: Marcus Tenney, DJ Harrison, Morgan Burrs, Corey Fonville and Andrew Randazzo. (Keyboardist Harrison couldn’t make the gig, so special guest Jacob Mann sat in with the band at the Reno Jazz Festival.)
Aug 19, 2025 12:41 PM
The band known as Butcher Brown has enjoyed the last half-decade basking in the glow from the twin engines of critical…
This year’s Jazz em Agosto set by the Darius Jones Trio captured the titular alto saxophonist at his most ferocious.
Aug 26, 2025 1:31 PM
The organizers of Lisbon, Portugal’s Jazz em Agosto Festival assume its audience is thoughtful and independent. Over…
