Harry Whitaker

Several Worthwhile Releases from the Last Few Months

by Jerome Wilson
July 10, 2025

Despite what is said about physical media going away, a steady supply of new jazz releases keeps showing up every week. Here are some worthy if underappreciated albums from the first half of 2025. Tobias Meinhart Sonic River Self Produced 2025 “Sonic River" is a good description ...

Spike Wilner Trio Contrafactus: The Children & The Warlock

by Jack Bowers
June 30, 2025

A parodist might quip that Trio Contrafactus is simply another name for a quartet, as that is what pianist and entreprenuer Spike Wilner is leading on his new recording, The Children & the Warlock, wherein Wilner and his rhythm section (Paul Gill, bass; Anthony Pinciotti, drums) are flanked by renowned tenor saxophonist George Garzone.

James "Plunky" Branch: Afrobeat, Funk e Spiritual Jazz

by Angelo Leonardi
November 6, 2023

Da circa un decennio il jazz statunitense e britannico vede l'emergere di giovani protagonisti che spezzano i confini tra i generi “colti" e popolari, operando una sintesi sfaccettata tra le molte espressioni della black music. Un torrente tumultuoso che viene alimentato dalle spinte politico-identitarie della comunit�� afroamericana (la rinascita dell'Afrofuturismo, il movimento Black Lives Matter), che ...

Pat Metheny, Howard Britz & Charles Goold

by Joe Dimino
May 15, 2022

We start the 751st Episode of Neon Jazz with a relatively new musician that has seen a lot of action in his young life. Drummer Charles Goold kicks things off with a song off his 2022 album Rhythm in Contrast. We also take a look into some new music from veterans of the jazz world in ...

Take Five with Mark Wade

by AAJ Staff
August 19, 2020

Meet Mark Wade Voted one of the top bassists of 2016, 2018, and 2019 in the prestigious Downbeat Magazine Reader's Poll, Mark Wade has been active in the NYC area for over 20 years. His debut album Event Horizon (2015) and follow up release Moving Day (2018) received international acclaim, and Moving Day was picked as ...

Tommaso Cappellato: Spiritual Jazz, Club Culture, Harry Whitaker e molte cose ancora

by Angelo Leonardi
December 9, 2019

Batterista, produttore e compositore, Tommaso Cappellato �� tra i pochi musicisti italiani in piena sintonia con le ultime tendenze del jazz, dove contenuti e spirito di questa musica si legano ad afrobeat, soul, hip-hop, house, elettronica e vari generi della Club Culture. Una scena musicale che ha il suo fulcro a Londra e pubblica le sue ...

Spike Wilner On Playing For Listeners

March 23, 2015

Spike Wilner is a pianist who operates two jazz clubs in New York City with his partners Chris Borden and Lee Kostrinsky. Smalls and Mezzrow are within a short walk of one another in Greenwich Village. They present familiar artists like Lew Tabackin, Frank Lacy, Pete Malinverni, Johnny O'Neal and Wilner himself, as well as those ...

Zara McFarlane: Norwich, UK, May 24, 2012

by Bruce Lindsay
June 12, 2012

Zara McFarlaneNorfolk and Norwich FestivalNorwich PlayhouseNorwich, UKMay 24, 2012The Norfolk and Norwich Festival is gaining a reputation as one of the finest arts festivals in the UK, one that's always willing to experiment, make use of street venues and the beautiful Norfolk countryside, and give rising stars as well ...

Zara McFarlane: Until Tomorrow

by Bruce Lindsay
October 10, 2011

Until Tomorrow, from young London-based singer and writer Zara McFarlane, is a delight. This is not McFarlane's first recording--her 2010 self-produced six-track EP, also called Until Tomorrow, debuted some of these songs, and she has also recorded with the Jazz Jamaica All Stars--but it's her first full-length album. Filled with fresh and beautifully crafted compositions, it ...