Darcy Cooke, who is based in Washington D.C., is a very appealing and swinging jazz singer. She has a warm and inviting voice, youthful enthusiasm, a mature delivery, and a full understanding of the lyrics that she interprets. Careless Love may be her debut recording as a leader but she already has a fully formed [...]

The Barrelhouse Wailers is a lively classic jazz group based in Ventura, California. Founded in 2013, they consist of leader-singer Karen Parkhouse, trumpeter Drue Chermak, trombonist “Skabone” Stan Middleton (who also takes occasional vocals), John Webb on tenor, clarinet and flute, banjoist Todd Temanson, Jim Wade on tuba, bassist David Leoncavallo, and Diamono Andreo on drums [...]

Pianist Matt Richard has been based in the New England area since 1990 and has performed in a wide variety of settings since then. He recorded with guitarist Jim Robataille and saxophonist Dave Liebman on a quintet set back in 2001. The other two musicians on that vintage date, bassist Dave Zinno and drummer Chris Poudrier [...]

Up until now, pianist Kevin O’Connell has only been on recordings as a sideman including with tenor-saxophonist Clifford Jordan (he was a member of the tenor’s quartet for six years). His career includes working for a long period with Billy Hart and such late greats as drummer Vernel Fournier, Philly Joe Jones, Junior Cook, Al Grey, [...]

Although he is not as well-known as his talent deserves, Eldad Tarmu has long been a top vibraphonist.  Born and raised in Southern California and originally a drummer and percussionist before switching to the vibes (his mentor was Dave Pike), Tarmu spent time living in Israel and was the head of a jazz department of a [...]

Doug MacDonald is not only a very skilled bop-oriented guitarist but has long been a busy bandleader too, whether heading small units or a big band. He grew up in Philadelphia, spent important periods performing in Hawaii and Las Vegas, and has been part of the Southern California jazz scene for decades. MacDonald has performed with [...]

Julian Tanaka is a very skilled and versatile clarinetist whose most notable prior recording was a sextet date led by keyboardist Michael Cain. In addition to his virtuosic piano playing, Uli Geissendoerfer is an award-winning film composer and a performer who has been heard in Latin jazz, free form improvisations, and World Music settings among other [...]

Guitarist Skip Grasso has long been a local legend in the Baltimore/Washington DC area where he has been heard with big bands, smaller combos, and as an unaccompanied soloist. While he has written two books filled with transcriptions of guitar solos by bluesmen Freddie King and Gatemouth Brown, he is actually a creative jazz improviser. He [...]

There have only been a handful of significant bassoon players in jazz history, and certainly the bassoon is not the first instrument that one would think of as an improvising instrument. However in his career, Michael Rabinowitz has proven that the instrument can be played with the fluidity and creativity of a saxophone. Along the way [...]