You know the rap on baritone sax. It’s “cumbersome,” unwieldy” and requires a typhoon’s worth of wind just to air mezzo piano. These are mainly excuses granted to mediocre baritone players of which there are a very few; guys just don’t want to be heard playing an instrument that controls…

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It’s unclear what President Bush knew of Palestinian life when he visited the occupied city of Ramallah on the West Bank in January of this year. He had something of an eye opener when weather forced him to abandon his helicopter and take a motor caravan through a checkpoint in the…

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Charles Lloyd’s latest release, recorded live in 2007 at the Theater Basel in Switzerland, recalls his early live recording, Forest Flower: Charles Lloyd at Monterey. That LP introduced those of a certain generation to the saxophonist-flutist and jazz in general. The similarities between the two recordings, though separated by some…

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John Zorn’s interest in film music flickers through all his recordings. His latest project seems a soundtrack for a spaghetti western too twisted to be shot, all sauce and corkscrew pasta (reference his 1985 collection of Enrico Morricone movie music The Big Gundown). Varied and accessible like his 2001 release…

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