Joe Mcphee

The thing about free jazz is that it is very much like abstract expressionist painting. Many an inexperienced museum goer will spot a Jackson Pollock and say to herself, "I coulda done that." Actually, you couldn't. Same thing with free jazz. From a distance, it's all hubbub and din, but try your hand at it, and you're just creating babel. In the hands of masters like the Flow Trio and their guest Joe McPhee, that cacophony becomes a beautiful thing, like that Pollock painting, discharging its energy.

Here is where I post, at a frequency of about once a week, a list of the new music that has caught my attention that week. All of the releases listed below I’ve heard for the first time this week and come recommended. Goldberger / Jermyn / Maneri / Cleaver...