In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hide out on the Mexican border. But Logan's attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, being pursued by dark forces. The superhero genre gets one of its all-time great entries as Hugh Jackman returns a final time to the role that made him a superstar, in director James Mangold's Logan. The supposed last chapter in the superhero Wolverine's cinematic saga, Logan brings with it an R-rating and a great deal of mystery about the exact nature of the story, how it all plays out for the beloved mutant character, and what it means for the future of the X-Men.

Standing impressively tall with an album and sound which plays like a mix of Rammstein, Poets Of the Fall, and Type O Negative yet emerges as something richly flavoursome in its originality; French metallers Radium Valley provide a seriously compelling and fascinating proposition. Radium Valley is a project which evolves in a musical universe at the same time Gothic, rock, electro and coldwave. The musical and scenographic visual environment which results from it is very close to the "apocalyptic comment".

Thanks to the fact that good music was heard in his house "all his life" Gabriel Peluffo was infected by the passion for tango that his parents showed. "One always has the Berretín to venture into another style," he says while laughing accomplice in the meeting he had with Underlining at the Museo del Tango. The themes chosen for the new album, which is called "De barro y asfalto", "try to recreate a personal world" and do not have a style or temporal logic. The frontman of Buitres is clear: "I'm not leaving anything." For the tranquility of fans around the world, the Vultures project is still standing. As it is said in the Rio de la Plata, "tango sooner or later comes to you", and surely this artistic proposal by Gabriel Peluffo will take him to the homes of many of his followers of multiple generations, thus fulfilling the sentence.

New Faces is the brainchild of producer Marc Free, who comingles the talents of six young jazzers, each of whom has led at least one session for Posi-Tone. With the exception of a Herbie Hancock composition, the material is comprised of attractive, catchy themes of varying degrees of complexity, penned by a number of the label's artists and originally released on records throughout Posi-Tone's two-decade plus history. The record was recorded in one day, the group sounds well prepared, and the results stand in contradistinction to a one off, all-star, blowing date.

It pays to listen to Dare To Be, Behn Gillece's second release as a leader for Posi-Tone Records, from the bottom up. Bassist Ugonna Okegwo and drummer Jason Tiemann are one of most congenial, articulate, and straightforward bass and drums team in recent memory. They're self-effacing, deeply focused and frisky. Regardless of the differences in the material and tempos of the individual tracks (not to mention additional percussive sounds fashioned by Gillece's vibes and Nate Radley's guitar) Okegwo and Tiemann make sure that the band stays centered and grounded. There's always enough space for the soloists to explore and create something fresh within the clearly established parameters.

After graduating with honors from the A. Buzzolla Conservatory in Adria and then graduating summa cum laude from the G. Frescobaldi Conservatory in Ferrara, Davide Palladin performs and records with many local and international musicians, mainly in the jazz scene. He has also frequently collaborated with various artistic spaces, composing and taking care of music for art exhibitions, performances and theater. Davide also had the honor of being one of the ten guitarists invited to play with M° Franco Cerri on the occasion of the "10 Guitars For Franco Cerri": a tribute to the most important guitarist in Italian Jazz history. In 2017 Davide was awarded Best Talent at the Bobby Durham Jazz Camp.

From one perspective, Doug Webb's Bright Side is basically twelve tracks clothed in very recognizable forms a few varieties of soul-jazz, a couple of heartfelt ballads, a taut bossa nova, and an array of middling and up tempo straight ahead swingers. Although the material is thoroughly enjoyable, it's tempting to succumb to a nagging notion that its all been done countless times before, and then simply move on to a record by yet another brave soul planting his/her flag in the jazz tradition. Fortunately, what enables Bright Side to add up to something more than a competent, professionally executed jazz record, is a slew of highlights, bright moments, and outright cool stuff that populates every track.

I have an idea that pianist Spike Wilner has read Kenny Werner's book Effortless Mastery: Liberating The Master Musician Within (1996), because Koan emulates Werner's lessons in surrendering one's self to music. Werner's teachings on enlightenment flow through this trio recording, Wilner's sixth as a leader. As a disciple of Harlem stride and ragtime, Wilner, like so many modern pianists from Thelonious Monk to McCoy Tyner, has the ability to open his own book at any page in the history of jazz. With his capable trio of bassist Tyler Mitchell and drummer Anthony Pinciotti, he delivers a dozen crisp and elegant compositions, half of which are his own.

Paul Moran high energy Hammond B3 organ Paul Moran – Smokin B3, Vol. 2: Still Smokin': I make “new” musical discoveries every single day (with the help of some excellent promoters, I might add)… Paul’s latest album is one of those, to be sure… in addition to his excellent Hammond organ work, he also plays trumpet & flugelhorn; the instruments & players in support of this marvelous music are – Electric and Acoustic Guitar- Nigel Price, Electric Bass- Laurence Cottle, Drums- Mez Clough, Percussion- Michael Osbourne, Electric Guitar- Jim Mullen Drums Adam Roman, Percussion- Jeff Scantlebury… just listen to the high-energy performance on Paul’s original composition, “Ruby Blues“, & you’ll be rockin’ right along with him & his krew in only a couple of bars.

One of the supreme musical geniuses and most loved composers of all time, Mozart wrote prolifically and excelled in every genre to which he turned his hand. His symphonies are among his greatest achievements, a consummate blend of dazzling invention and tender lyricism. Karl Böhm was one of the first conductors to set down on record his complete Mozart symphony cycle. His emphasis on rhythmic, textural and structural clarity are hallmarks of a Mozart style unaffected by fashion. Now Deutsche Grammophon collects his recordings with the Berliner Philharmoniker of the Mozart Symphonies.

Never underestimate a jazz musician's capacity for drawing on material from vastly different sources, deflating the ostensible dissimilarities, and producing vibrant sounds that don't hew to convention or expectations. From the music's early years, resourceful artists have been confounding audiences and critics alike by putting their stamp on anything that strikes their fancy, from gutbucket blues to pop ditties to art songs, and everything in between, ultimately leaving no stone unturned. Michael Dease's Father Figure, the trombonist's third disc for the Posi-Tone imprint in as many years, offers interpretations of Charlie Parker's "Confirmation" and Meredith Willson's "Marian The Librarian." Between Dease's arrangements and a fine band of young players, the bebop standard and the fluffy, endearing show tune from The Music Man sound as if they were meant to be on the same recording.

Will Bernard has received his due for sideman work in a variety of settings, but you rarely hear anybody talk about stylistic range when it comes to his own leader dates. This is the album that could and should change that. Over the course of eleven originals, Bernard continually frames himself in different ways, constantly redefining his outlook and mining fresh musical veins with some help from four A-list musicians organist Brian Charette, saxophonist John Ellis, bassist Ben Allison, and drummer Allison Miller. It's a winning formula, making Out & About an out-and-out success.

Guitarist Ed Cherry grooves back onto the scene with his second record for Posi-Tone, "Soul Tree." With organist Kyle Koehler and drummer Anwar Marshall, Cherry succeeds in offering listeners a fresh take on the art of the organ trio. While the session is definitely straight forward and features some hard swinging highlights, the music is also elegantly lyrical and brilliantly evocative of a more modern jazz sensibility. With an amazing combination of talents, some brilliant performances, and an evocative program of music, Ed Cherry's latest record "Soul Tree" is sure to bring bright moments to jazz fans everywhere.

While there are no liner notes to accompany pianist Jon Davis' third date for the Posi-Tone imprint, there's a quote inside the package, attributed to author Anne Rice, that gets to the heart of the matter: "None of us really changes over time. We only become more fully what we are." So is personal evolution and growth an illusion? Is development a figment of the individual's imagination? Yes and no would be the correct answer(s). It really just comes down to perspective. Plenty of people would say that deepening one's very being is change. Others would argue that change and self-actualization are two very different things. This writer's take? It's a semantics-based argument that's not worth having in this particular instance. Better to focus on the music than wax philosophical.