For Michael Dease’s 10th album and fourth for Posi-Tone Records, the trombonist, composer and bandleader chooses to take us on a trip. An historical trip with twelve stops, that is, and the mode of transportation is his music.

All These Hands, out January 6, 2017, examines the birth and development of jazz as it moved from its New Orleans cradle, up to the Midwest and over to the east coast, eventually establishing its headquarter at NYC. As Dease has noted, the migration of jazz around the USA mirrored the migration of African Americans in the early and middle 20th century, and so an examination of the music form can’t be separated from the larger cultural and social phenomenon. Dease’s music traces the transformation of the culture through the transformation of the music itself, providing his most varied set of tunes he’s yet presented.

Something Else – S. Victor Aaron