Peter Evans’s Being & Becoming // @roulettenyc.bsky.social // Long Play Festival // May 2

Fantastic set. Dense, heady and at times (like here!) extremely hard-grooving. Joel Ross, Nick Joz, Tyshawn Sorey

I doubt there’s another writer alive who would think to compare Otis Redding and Keiji Haino. Just one among dozens of reasons why a new Ben Ratliff book is always a gift. ‘Run the Song’ is Ratliff at his most undiluted. Rambling by design (befitting its theme), it’s also startlingly lucid.

A marvelous experience to finally behold one of my greatest drumming heroes live. Absolute poetry; the sound and feel add up to an unmistakable fingerprint.

(Damon Che / Yesness / Mercury Lounge, NYC / April 25, 2025)

Really enjoyed this one. Captures the chronology and important background context but also, crucially, the spirit of the subject. Made me feel the enormity of his loss all over again and sent me back to the music (lately: ‘Song Sentimentale’) with a fresh appreciation of his singular greatness

Pardon the poor sightline but the sublime sounds — from Public Records last night —ought to suffice. Jeff Parker and his ETA IVtet (Josh Johnson, Anna Butterss, Jay Bellerose) have cultivated something patient and immersive, like a sound bath that grooves.