Month: April 2021

In 1947, vocalist Billy Eckstine became a solo performer, much the way Frank Sinatra had in 1942. Signing with MGM, Eckstine played to the young female market that dreamed of love. At first marketed to the Black urban market, Eckstine on MGM crossed over to the pop charts, racking up 18 hits between 1947 and '51. Lanky with movie-star looks and a bass-baritone voice, Eckstine specialized humid, romantic ballads that […]

(Astigmatic Records)Jaubi continue to stretch the boundaries of Indian classical music using guitars, synths and multi-genre guestsThe Pakistani improvisational quartet Jaubi gained international recognition with 2020’s Ragas from Lahore LP, a collaboration with London-based jazz instrumentalist Tenderlonious that tapped into the spiritual jazz tradition of reworking Indian classical compositions to create a new improvisatory hybrid – a gesturing from the outside in, as the likes of Yusef Lateef and Don […]

Each Thursday in the Disquiet Junto group, a new compositional challenge is set before the group’s members, who then have just over four days to upload a track in response to the assignment. Membership in the Junto is open: just join and participate. (A SoundCloud account is helpful but not required.) There’s no pressure to do every project. It’s weekly so that you know it’s there, every Thursday through Monday, […]