May 26, 2026 11:08 AM
Sonny Rollins Passes Away at 95
Sonny Rollins, the iconic saxophonist, composer and improviser whose career stretched from the origins of bebop to 21st…
Damon Smith (left) and Ra-Kalam Bob Moses
(Photo: Craig Marshall)Why did you decide on Native Pulse as a recording location?
The studio is in Moses’ home, and he has an amazing expanded kit there. The primary reason was to work with the sounds he’s developed on that kit. It meant playing in very close quarters, but that’s something Henry has always loved anyway, and it actually gives good results in the interactions. Engineer David Sullivan runs Native Pulse, and got an incredible sound.
What’s the manifesto of your label, Balance Point Acoustics?
It started in 2001 with a duo bass recording I made with the great Peter Kowald. The focus is free improvisation and free jazz. The artwork for each album is very important to me, and I like having a place where I can make a release look and sound exactly how I want, which helps when I work with other labels. I can just go with the concepts they are working with, knowing I have an outlet for making releases exactly how I want. I have good luck getting labels to release my music, but BPA is really for releases I want to keep control of, and release when I want to.
One of the reasons this was able to come out so soon after recording is that we’d chosen the cover art before we even played. I saw an article on the pastel drawings of the important abstract filmmaker Jordan Belson. Henry knows the family and was able to get permission to use them; the CD release of Astral Plane Crash has a 12-page booklet with 10 of the drawings, instead of liner notes. DB
Onstage, Rollins would move about restlessly, thrusting his tenor sax in the air as he blew.
May 26, 2026 11:08 AM
Sonny Rollins, the iconic saxophonist, composer and improviser whose career stretched from the origins of bebop to 21st…
To the world, James Blood Ulmer was a legend, a visionary and a musical force whose sound was distinctive and unique. To his family, he was their teacher, their storyteller and a source of strength.
Jun 9, 2026 10:54 AM
With deep sorrow and profound love, we announce the passing of James Blood Ulmer, a boldly innovative guitarist,…
How best to mark Miles Davis’ centennial? By allowing the stories to flow, and cross-discussions to happen.
May 26, 2026 10:40 AM
Editor’s Note: The iconic trumpeter, composer and bandleader Miles Davis would have turned 100 today (May 26, 2026).…
“I wanted to get into the real feeling,” Melissa Aldana says of studying the work of singers from Cuba’s filin tradition in preparation for her collaboration with pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba.
May 19, 2026 11:46 AM
Melissa Aldana is an investigator. She’s not comfortable resting on what she knows, instead seeking to learn more and…
“There was something about her tone and sound and phrasing — an intimacy, a vulnerability, an honesty,” says Joshua Redman, who produced Cavassa’s record after she toured with his band.
Jun 16, 2026 1:27 AM
Gabrielle Cavassa is an avowed perfectionist. So when she failed to place despite becoming a finalist in the 2018 Sarah…
