Jazz lovers often lament the fact that the genre does not enjoy more widespread appeal. It’s no mystery why that is the case, as jazz as a popular art form died the second its audience could no longer dance to it. However, there have always been musicians who understand and appreciate a strong groove while maintaining a commitment to the improvisational elements of jazz. Mocean Worker (rhymes with ocean) is such a band and last…

The first thing we noticed when City-State’s first full-length, Monument, arrived is that it looked very professional. Often with local bands the CDs look (and usually are) homemade. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just something that stuck out as a good sign. The CD cover has a picture of Vladimir Tatlin’s unbuilt sculpture “Monument to the Third International,” one of those things that pops up in architecture books from time to time, superimposed over…

You may have seen them lurking in such venues as Wonderland in Columbia Heights, or Iota Club in Arlington, VA, or perhaps you read about them in our Three Stars feature back in April where we mentioned that Alec and his band were in the process of putting together a follow-up to their last full length album, What Lasts. With their latest LP, Win?orLose?, Alec Gross and the Districts pose yet another question, and one…