Cruising Heights From February 2017

Nate Smith‘s visceral, instinctive, and deep-rooted style of drumming has already established him as a key piece in reinvigorating the international jazz scene, and now his rising career reaches a new benchmark with the release of his bandleader debut, KINFOLK: Postcards from Everywhere (February 3, 2017 via Ropeadope Records). Much like his diverse and ample résumé (which includes esteemed leading lights such as Dave Holland, Chris Potter, Ravi Coltrane, José James, Somi, and Patricia Barber, among others), this album sees Smith fusing his original modern jazz compositions with R&B, pop, and hip-hop.

Yes have announced the release of a new live album, Topographic Drama, that was recorded during the band’s U.S. tour in 2016-17. The set arrives on Nov. 24 in double-CD and triple-vinyl formats, with sleeve artwork by longtime collaborator Roger Dean.

The Chhau & Nagpuri Group performs mask dances depicting battles of famous heroes and scenes from Indian mythology as well as village ceremonies, dances and folk songs. The music, played on purely ethnic instruments, is energetic and exciting.

Pianist Vijay Iyer's fifth album for ECM, 2017's fiery sextet date Far from Over, follows his superb 2016 collaboration with trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke. Where that album found Iyer and Smith engaged in a deeply interconnected series of often abstract chamber improvisations, here we find him exploding outward, but with no less interconnectedness between him and his bandmates.

Tyketto’s debut album, “Don’t Come Easy” is considered a landmark release amongst melodic hard rock albums of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s. While the band has continuously put out quality recordings over the years, fans and critics alike hold the debut album in especially high regard…