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Continue reading →: Ted Brown: Just You, Just MeNEW ARTISTS 1079 (RELEASED NOVEMBER, 2025) Bassist Don Messina was lucky enough to play with tenor sax legend Ted Brown in the mid 1990s. He was even luckier when he began to play regularly with Brown in groups that included drummer Bill Chattin, saxophonist Jimmy Halperin or pianist Jon Easton.…
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Continue reading →: The Top Ten for 2025I was honored to be asked by Cadence Magazine to submit by top ten releases for 2025,many of which I have reviewed this past years. So, with the stream of new releases slowing up for the holiday season I though I would share my picks for 2025. NEW RELEASES:Eric McPherson:…
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Continue reading →: Christian Marien: Beyond the FingertipsMARMADE RECORDS (RELEASED DECEMBER 15, 2025) Imagine listening to a kaleidoscope? It might very well sound like the second releasefrom the Christian Marien Quartet. Shards of melodies, rhythms and harmonies are constantly in flux as drummer Marien, saxophonist/clarinetist Tobias Delius, guitarist Jasper Stadhouders and bassist Antonio Borghini let things take…
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Continue reading →: Things of This NatureMAHAKALA RECORDS (RELEASED DECEMBER 5, 2025) The pianoless quartet of sax, trumpet, bass and drums might have you thinking you are listening to the Ornette Coleman Quartet, but you are not. The intensity of some of the solos might have you thinking you are listening to Albert and Donald Ayler,…
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Continue reading →: Vancouver Jazz Orchestra: Meets Brian CharetteCELLAR MUSIC (RELEASED DECEMBER 5, 2025) There are some outstanding soloists on this debut recording from the newly formed Vancouver Jazz Orchestra (VJO). Organist Brian Charette is just one of them. VJO artistic director James Dandefer has fully integrated Charette into the band while showcasing the music written and arranged…
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Continue reading →: Joe Fonda: My Life in the World of MusicSELF PUBLISHED BOOK Much like his bass playing and compositions, Joe Fonda’s recent autobiography, My Life in the World of Music, is straight-forward and compelling. It chronicles the journey of a young electric bassist infatuated with the rock, R&B and blues of the late 1960s and early 1970s to a…
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Continue reading →: Keith Oxman: HomeCAPRI RECORDS (RELEASED DECEMBER 5, 2025 On some of his earlier recordings, Denver-based saxophonist Keith Oxman was inspired by bandmates such as Curtis Fuller (Dues in Progress, 2006), Dave Liebman (Glimpses, 2008) and Houston Person (Two Cigarettes in the Dark, 2020). On Home, Oxman’s inspiration comes from those who made…
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Continue reading →: Frantisek Uhlir: Coming HomeSELF PRODUCED (RELEASED OCTOBER 17, 2025) Like the bass players he heard in his youth on Voice of America (i.e., Ray Brown, Paul Chambers. Ron Carter and Sam Jones) and the Czech bassists of his generation (i.e.,George Mraz and Miroslav Vitous), Frantisek Uhlir is a master of all things bass.…
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Continue reading →: Sean Fyfe: Follow-UpCELLAR MUSIC (RELEASED NOVEMBER 14) Follow-Up, the newest recording from Canadian pianist Sean Fyfe and his quartet lives up to its name. This collection of ten tunes is indeed a wonderful follow-up to their 2024 Stepping Stones release. There are more tunes inspired by some of Fyfe’s favorite piano players…
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Continue reading →: Greg Burrows: Let’s Not Wait – The Music of Ed BonoffGREBU RECORDS 1002 (RELEASED OCTOBER 31) Trombonist Eddie Bert introduced jazz fans to the music of composer/arranger Ed Bonoff on his 1997 recording The Human Factor. Twenty-eight years later, drummer Greg Burrows brings more of Bonoff’s music to life on Let’s Not Wait. Burrows, a longtime friend and musical partner…
Hello,
Welcome to Papatamus Redux
I started reading Cadence in the early 1980s. Since that time, I have come to respect editor and jazz critic Robert Rusch for his intelligent, succinct and unbiased reviews. Over the past twenty years, it has been my pleasure to get to know Robert and his family, making frequent trips from our home in Iowa to New York’s North Country. Several years ago, I was honored to be asked to help edit Robert’s Papatamus column.
I was equally honored to be asked by his family to keep Robert’s legacy of intelligent, succinct and unbiased jazz reviews alive with Papatamus Redux. You can view older editions of Papatamus at papatamus.com.
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