Mike Pope

Bassist and composer Mike Pope builds significant musical, personal and spiritual bridges between the past, present and future with his third release, Cold Truth, Warm Heart. The new album shows him to be a visionary composer, arranger and bandleader.

The 2014 offering is the first in a decade and establishes a new threshold of leadership for the virtuoso acoustic and electric bassist who has toured extensively with Chick Corea, David Sanborn, Al DiMeola and Bill Bruford, and more recently, Joe Locke and Eldar Djangirov.

Pope’s 2002 album, The Lay of the Land, delivered contemporary straight ahead jazz with help from stellar players: Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, John Patitucci, Jeff ”Tain” Watts and others. It was warmly received, but tours with other ensembles took up the bulk of his time.

Skyline

By Dave Pope

Label: Blue Canoe Records
Released: 2025
Track listing: Hermitage; Skyline; Very Early; Falling Grace; ESP; Country Nocturne; Minority

The Parts You Keep

By Mike Pope

Label: Origin Records
Released: 2025
Track listing: Misgivings; Steeplechase; Giant Steps; Dashan��s Flying Ubercar; That Old Feeling; Barolo Blue; Past is Prologue; The Parts You Keep; Winterreigen, Op. 13: V. Sph?renmusik.

Country Nocturne

September 17, 2025

Album: Skyline
By Dave Pope
Label: Blue Canoe Records
Released: 2025
Duration: 5:21

Barolo Blue

September 12, 2025

Album: The Parts You Keep
By Mike Pope
Label: Origin Records
Released: 2025
Duration: 04:33

Eric Alexander & Vincent Herring, Tierney Suttion, George Coleman, Christian McBride and more

by Benjamin Boddie
September 3, 2025

Today's Music--Right Now! Fantastic music by Eric Alexander & Vincent Herring, Josh Lawrence, Michika Fukumori, Tierney Sutton, Linda Dachtyl, Mike Pope, Marc Seales, Jen Allen, Joe Bowden, Randy Napoleon, George Coleman, Alberto Pibiri, Jaleel Shaw, Christian McBride, Kelly Green, Irving Flores, Caelan Cardello, Eric Byrd, Roger Glenn, Birdland Big Band, Conrad Herwig, Ira B. Liss, Paul ...

Mike Pope: The Parts You Keep

by Jack Bowers
September 1, 2025

You have to admire a bandleader who enhances an album by dedicating one of his compositions to an Uber driver and inviting his 85-year-old mother to play piano on the last two numbers. That is exactly what bassist Mike Pope does on The Parts You Keep, and they are two of the recording's more pleasing episodes. ...

Patricia Brennan, Eddie Palmieri, Tatum Langley & Eric Alexander

by Joe Dimino
August 24, 2025

We blast into the 920th episode of Neon Jazz with the powerhouse duo of Eric Alexander & Vincent Herring, featuring music from their brand-new 2025 release Split Decision. From there, the journey takes us deep into the treasure chest of fresh sounds landing in the Neon Jazz mailbox--spotlighting Tatum Langley, Emma Hedrick, Randy Napoleon, Marc Seals, ...

Take Five with Kristin Callahan

by AAJ Staff
July 15, 2021

Meet Kristin Callahan Kristin has been singing and performing since she was eight years old. She began studying jazz and piano in 2009 and performs at festivals and venues such as the Mid Atlantic Jazz Festival, SOUTH, Montpelier Arts Center, Wine in the Woods, Woodmere Art Museum, Rockwood Music Hall, Twins Jazz, and Rams Head On ...

Dave Pope

Born: June 1, 1963

Dave Pope is an Atlanta based multi-instrumentalist performing on drums, guitar and bass guitar. Dave grew up in a musical family with parents, Ann Almond Pope and David Pope Sr., both virtuoso classical pianists, and teachers. His brother Pete is a pianist who performs in the Austin TX area and his brother Mike has had an extensive career as a touring bassist, pianist, producer, composer and most recently as Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music.

Dave began his music career in the Toledo OH area at the age of 14 playing in garage bands and subbing for college jazz musicians who were double booked for gigs. With the instruction and mentoring from local musicians such as drummer Bob Breithaupt, bassist Jeff Halsey, guitarist Chris Buzzelli, and multi-instrumentalist Gene Parker, Dave began performing with some of the best musicians in the region. Among those musicians were pianists, Larry Fuller, Mark Kieswetter and Ron Oswanski; guitarist Dan Faehnle and trumpeter Jimmy Cook, to name only a few. During his Toledo days, Dave had a brief stint in Chicago in the late 80’s where he studied with drummers Joel Spencer and Paul Wertico and performed with guitarist Akio Sasajima. After returning to Toledo, Dave embarked on several projects as a bandleader, some of which included his brother Mike and a group featuring trumpeter Randy Brecker.