Chris Potter : Alive With Ghosts Today Review
by Steven Miller
Josh Lawrence’s Still We Dream, released on August 15, 2025, bridges the structural angularity of Thelonious Monk with the lyrical depth of Frédéric Chopin. The twelve songs bring these two composers together through careful arranging and inspired improvisation. The music finds the common thread of form, melody, and risk.
With Diego Rivera on saxophones, Art Hirahara on piano, Boris Kozlov on bass, Rudy Royston on drums, and Mason Bryant joining on guitar for two tracks, Lawrence has surrounded himself with musicians who understand the weight of history and the joy of invention.
The album makes its case [...]
by Shannon Smith
From the first song of Wildflower, Zandi Holup makes it clear she is here to bare her voice to tell stories in song. It’s a debut that feels like a set of songs that understands restraint is as powerful as release. Producer Ryan Hadlock frames her in warm sonic settings of Bear Creek Studios’ warm wood and Pacific Northwest stillness. The album’s mood leaving space for her to work her magic of instinct and craft. You hear her draw from the long tradition of country storytellers, a well of emotional honesty that makes vocal performances stay with you.
“All That’s Left Is Me” is the first seed in this garden, a medium-tempo [...]
by Shannon Smith
Reneé Rapp’s BITE ME is a sophomore album that realigns vocal charisma with production choices that finally match her natural intensity. Where 2023’s Snow Angel often paired Rapp’s voice with too much restraint, thin arrangements, and overly safe balladry, BITE ME brings her into a louder, rougher, and more stylized soundscape. This time, the production invites her to push, snarl, and smirk.
The album opens with “Leave Me Alone,” a genre-establishing track that frames the rest of the record: guitar-forward, percussive, and unafraid to let Rapp’s vocals sit hot in the mix. The fuzzed-out [...]
by Steven Miller
Catalyst: The Music of Gregg Hill is a striking testament to the adaptability of Hill’s compositions, illustrating how his works can be reinterpreted and transformed when placed in the hands of a visionary ensemble, resulting in a very enjoyable world music album. The album marks a departure from the straight-ahead jazz settings that Hill’s music has historically inhabited. Hill’s compositions have long been fixtures in jazz contexts. However, on Catalyst, the Dave Sharp Worlds Quartet, under the direction of bassist Dave Sharp and with arrangements from Elden Kelly, takes [...]
By Steven Miller
YUNGBLUD is the kind of artist who lives like a flame, too unruly to cage, too luminous to ignore. On Idols, YUNGBLUD lights the match and dares us to watch him burn. Part rock opera, part Britpop homage, and part raw nerve confession, this album flirts with chaos and invites listeners to scrawl its lyrics across the walls of their minds and scream into the night until the neighbors feel seen.
From its grandiose opener to its quieter farewells, Idols is a rallying cry for the misfits, a record drenched in yearning and reclamation. It’s loud, it’s theatrical, it’s flawed, and in a few moments, it’s [...]
By Steven Miller
In The River, pianist and composer Silvano Monasterios offers a suite of textured Latin jazz. His ensemble writing and musical storytelling are framed by the metaphor of a river. The seven-part work unfolds as a dialogue between the written and improvised contemporary Latin jazz language. It is a flowing, textural narrative brought to life by a Venezuelan Nonet of exceptional caliber. Rather than spotlighting one or two star voices, the album thrives on a collective approach where every instrumentalist adds to the music’s feeling and precision as it becomes musical poetry.
From its tranquil beginnings to its [...]
Colter Wall is a plains-bred and now based in Nashville-based folk singer. He is blessed with a rich baritone tone and a gift for writing songs that he frames with sparse acoustic instruments. Wall’s music is surprisingly non-commercial in its form and lyrical style.
Songs of the Plains is Wall’s sophomore record. With images of a mythic Canada, a western region of lonesome plains and weathered frontiersmen. The music comes across as honest and his approach to a bigger more complicated story through simple segments of songs is a testament to his evocative style. Wall has caught the ear of Americana luminaries who have stood [...]
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma has been performing and studying Bach’s cello suites for almost six decades. The first piece he learned on the cello was from the suite and through his constant dedication and perseverance, Ma has developed a repertoire and connection with this music that is deeply personal. His tone is warm, beautiful and always projecting confidence in its intent.
