Jeff Torbert
This Weather Honest (independent)
Torbert’s first release under his own name sends listeners on an
improvisatory trip down the open roads of jazz and folk, bringing a
stellar cast of Halifax’s new guard of jazz players along as he makes
serious headway on his compositional path.
Easley Stevenson Arsenault
Nine Steps (Superhigh)
This top-notch trio of the east coast’s finest musicians has
produced a solid collection of original and totally spirited
blues-rooted jazz tunes (plus one beautiful Dylan cover).
Darcy James Argue
Secret Society Infernal Machines (New
Amsterdam)
NYC’s dynamic 18-piece steampunk big-band churns out seven original
masterpieces that meld rock, classical and orchestral jazz on their
debut studio recording.
Little Dragon
Machine Dreams (Peacefrog)
Swedish avant-guard pop quartet take the cult throne in the
retro-synth kindom. Singer Yukimi Nagario’s wispy croon ventures into a
new frontier of electro-experimentalism, reviving the windswept
atmospherics coined by Depeche Mode and Cocteau Twins.
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This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 2, 2009.