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…
Bandleader John Raymond is set for a short run of dates beginning Oct. 1 in Detroit.
(Photo: Matthew Johnson)Flugelhornist John Raymond knows not to overwhelm folks with a flurry of notes—or a flurry of recordings.
During the past several years, the assistant professor at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music has issued a steady stream of bucolically tinged, deeply personal recordings with his Real Feels ensemble. It’s a band with a ruthlessly unique make-up and an equally distinctive sound.
“Where We Grew Up,” a tune being released ahead of Raymond’s upcoming live dates, is perhaps his most pastoral effort, something that solders together Bill Frisell’s sonic ideal with the hint of a Milsean tone. But Raymond’s band—which includes Gilad Hekselman on electric guitar, Jesse Lewis on acoustic guitar and Ben Lester on pedal steel—dashes the proceedings with the character of a 21st-century troupe steeped in as much contemporary music as in the history of jazz.
“I wrote the song years ago, thinking nostalgically about the people, places and things that were a part of my formative ‘coming of age’ years,” Raymond said in a recent email. “For me, these were spent in Eau Claire, [Wisconsin], which is now a booming arts city ... and home of the band Bon Iver, among others.”
Live dates are below. But for additional information about Raymond, visit the bandleader’s website. DB
Oct. 1: Cliff Bell’s, Detroit
Oct. 2: Bop Stop, Cleveland
Oct. 3: An Die Musik, Baltimore
Oct. 4: Nublu, New York, NY
“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…
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…
Trio aRT with its avalanche of instrumentation: from left, Pheeroan akLaff, Scott Robinson and Julian Thayer.
Sep 3, 2025 12:03 PM
Trio aRT, a working unit since 1988, shockingly released its very first studio recording this summer. Recorded in…