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JON GARELICK

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Poemjazz is for real, man!

Dig it!
Listen: Robert Pinsky's PoemJazz .

By: JON GARELICK | February 22, 2012

Dominique Eade at Scullers

All about transparency
"I'm discontented with homes that I've rented/so I have invented my own," sang Dominque Eade slowly, over a simple bass accompaniment.

By: JON GARELICK | February 10, 2012

Can the Charles River Esplanade be transformed into the world's best park?

Seeing green
What if — in place of the current three-story Museum of Science parking garage overlooking the Charles River — there loomed a giant Ferris wheel, on the order of the London Eye?

By: JON GARELICK | February 17, 2012

Tim Berne composes himself

Freedom Writer
It's been almost exactly four years since Tim Berne's last visit to Boston— March 2008, to be precise, with jazz-prog guitarist David Torn's band Prezens.

By: JON GARELICK | February 07, 2012

Jason Moran at Jordan Hall

"In My Mind"
I have to admit, I was not sanguine at the beginning of this highly anticipated concert by pianist and composer Jason Moran.

By: JON GARELICK | February 03, 2012

Marissa and Charles Licata at Scullers

Full of surprises
I can't remember the last time I saw a costume change in the middle of a jazz show — if ever — but violinist Marissa Licata's performance with her father, saxophonist Charles Licata, and their band held all kinds of surprises.

By: JON GARELICK | February 02, 2012

New vision for the Esplanade

Urban Affairs
On February 9, Boston is due to get an eye-popping new look at one of the city's oldest, most beloved public spaces — the Charles River Esplanade.

By: JON GARELICK | February 01, 2012

Review: Luck

HBO goes to the races
You get the feeling that Milch and Mann just want to show off what they know about horse racing. When one of Marcus's crew keeps screaming out during the big Pick Six race, "What's going on!?," he speaking for the audience.

By: JON GARELICK | January 24, 2012

A young jazz master looks to a personal hero

Moran's Monk
Jason Moran — 37-year-old MacArthur Fellow and New England Conservatory teacher — epitomizes what's best about the current jazz scene: a composer and pianist who can — and does — draw on all eras.

By: JON GARELICK | January 24, 2012

Ed Reed sings it his way

Life stories
It's almost cliché to describe the sound of a veteran jazz singer as "lived in."

By: JON GARELICK | January 10, 2012

Old favorites and debuts make the scene

Rich choices
We have to wait for spring to see Charlie Haden's Quartet West and the Joshua Redman/Brad Mehldau duo, but there are still plenty of ways to keep an eye and ear on jazz in the winter months.

By: JON GARELICK | December 30, 2011

10 Boston jazz acts that blew through the roof in 2011

Mystics and monsters
Here, in no particular order, are some of my favorite things from among the people, CDs, and performances I wrote about this year.

By: JON GARELICK | December 21, 2011

A jazz-piano master clears his own path

Iyer calling
When I got the pianist and composer Vijay Iyer on the phone to talk about his upcoming Celebrity Series double-bill with the Miguel Zenón Quartet, I meant to talk to him about his serene and absorbing new album Tirtha (ACT), with the tabla player Nitin Mitta and guitarist Prasanna.

By: JON GARELICK | December 07, 2011

Confessin' the blues ... and a whole lot more

Agachiko
Gabrielle Agachiko's resume is impressive by any standards — studied at Juilliard, played in musical theater off-Broadway as well as with a touring production of Godspell, sang jazz with both Charlie Watts and Steve Lacy.

By: JON GARELICK | November 22, 2011

A new book says 'smaller' cities could be the way of the future

Thinking small
This month sees the publication by MIT Press of Small, Gritty, and Green: The Promise of America's Smaller Industrial Cities in a Low-Carbon World by Catherine Tumber.

By: JON GARELICK | November 17, 2011

Yoko Miwa's life cycles

ID check
When she was a 16-year-old piano student in her hometown of Kobe, Japan, Yoko Miwa decided it was time to see if she had what it takes.

By: JON GARELICK | November 09, 2011

More jazz to catch live

Mark your calendars
Here are just a few upcoming jazz events that should be on your calendar.

By: JON GARELICK | October 27, 2011

Daniel Rosenthal steps out; plus, Sanchez and Blanchard do ''Chano y Dizzy''

Streaming
Trumpeter Daniel Rosenthal's Lines (American Melody) is one of those little gems of an album that comes along with regularity from Boston's indie-jazz scene.

By: JON GARELICK | October 27, 2011

Laszlo Gardony | Signature Time

Sunnyside (2011)
Boston pianist Gardony isn't known for musical reticence, but even so, this — his ninth release — is one of his more exuberant outings.

By: JON GARELICK | October 25, 2011

The Ghost Train Orchestra makes a whistle stop

Drink up!
If part of what's grabbed you about HBO's Boardwalk Empire is the music, then you owe it to yourself to get over to the Regattabar on October 18 to catch Brian Carpenter's Ghost Train Orchestra.

By: JON GARELICK | October 12, 2011

John Malkovich freaks out at ArtsEmerson

You don't know Jack
In the flesh, the thing itself was about as odd and amusing as it had appeared on paper: John Malkovich delivering the "confessions" of convicted Austrian serial killer Jack Unterweger while accompanied onstage by a Baroque orchestra and a couple of sopranos singing arias.

By: JON GARELICK | September 30, 2011