Robert Plant
Saving Grace is an unexpected and charming musical surprise, courtesy of one of rock’s most revered crooners. Warning! This album is mostly folk, country, and bluegrass music. And to add to the shock it is well recorded to boot. Robert Plant’s recent musical collaborations have led him away from rock into the arms into country, by […]
Iiro Rantala / Kaisa Mäensivu / Morten Lund
It would appear that the Nordics are a hotbed for some hot expressions of great creative noise. Trinity explodes with both joyful creativity and is delivered in a 24-bit/96kHz format to ensure that the sound is dialled in to the very max. The trio featured here includes Finnish pianist Iiro Rantala, who is no stranger […]
Bugge Wesseltoft
Bugge Wesseltoft is no stranger to the pages of The Ear. His prodigious talent and ability to command a wide range of musical styles is unique, at its best his keyboard playing is mesmerising and those who discover as much become fans for life. Wesseltoft’s phrasing and sound can easily be recognised be it used in […]
McCoy Tyner Quartet
The Chesky label isn’t dead, apparently. The name may not be familiar, though it used to be a port of call for recordings of the highest quality, capturing creative artists that for the most part were unknown in a marvellous clean and far less compressed fashion than usual, bringing oodles of extra sonic joy, finesse […]
Vincent Peirani
Living Being IV (Time Reflections) approaches levels of ‘cuteness’ hitherto not seen or heard on a jazz album. It is an energetic, creative, gently exploding and addictive soundtrack that will usher smiles and relaxation at a time that is not known for bringing either all too often. The album contains a mixture of jazz, European […]
Little Barrie
Nottingham trio Little Barrie released their debut We Are Little Barrie in 2005, the original line up included Barrie Cadogan (guitars, vocals, piano, electronic organ), Wayne Fullwood (drums, vocals, piano, melodica, xylophone) and Lewis Wharton (bass guitar). The album was a funky, raucous rock album inspired by the sound and style of the late sixties rock scene. It is a hoot and one that I have […]
Majid Bekkas
Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic XVII: Gnawa World Blues is a homage to American blues and jazz and in places even a bit of prog rock. It is a love letter sent from north Africa that was recorded during a live show in Germany. It has a beguiling amount of musical talent and to top it all […]
Bromide Tap
She’s blown It is a compelling collection that showcases Bromide Tap’s growth as artists and their deep understanding of the dance music landscape and recreational drugs. Their ability to create emotional connections through electrifying sounds and smoke signals is commendable though extremely repetitive and annoying. This album not only secures their place in the Latvian […]
Vega Trails
Vega Trails is described as a chamber-jazz project led by Milo Fitzpatrick (Portico Quartet), featuring saxophonist Jordan Smart, pianist Taz Modi, and an ensemble that includes cello, orchestral strings, vibraphone, and piano. Sierra Tracks was inspired by the foothills of the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains, north-west of Madrid, Fitzpatrick’s home since August 2022. I first discovered Vega […]
Anouar Brahem
In many respects this album sounds like a continuation of Brahem’s Blue Maqams album from 2017, it features Dave Holland (bass) and Django Bates on (piano), who played alongside Anouar Brahem (oud) on Blue Maqams and adds the haunting sound of Anja Lechner’s violoncello. The achingly beautiful gentle, spell binding melodies one expects from Brahem […]
Paolo Fresu, Richard Galliano, Jan Lundgren
All three of the protagonists that have collaborated on this album have been reviewed on the Ear in past years, be it as collaborators or leaders, this is the first time that they have released an album as a trio. Mare Nostrum IV is loosely translated as ‘our sea’, while Galliano and Fresu are share a possible […]
Prepared
Prepared are a trio from Munich who play a fairly conventional array of acoustic instruments in an unconventional style, Chris Gall is a pianist with a predilection for preparing his instrument with devices placed on the strings, Flo Riedl is on bass clarinet and Christopher Holzhauser plays the drums. Their music is distinctly metronomic, reminiscent […]
Johanna Summer & Jakob Manz
Cameo highlights many juxtapositions, be they temperamental, stylistic or musical. The album combines the sound of Johanna Summer’s piano with the saxophone of the very young Jakob Manz, who featured on the All That Matters lead by Simon Oslender and featuring Steve Gadd which we covered recently. Cameo pays homage to jazz but in many […]
Moses Yoofee Trio
Most will need a whole new arsenal of definitions to pin down the style that best describes this musical gem. Few will have any difficulty describing enjoying the creativity of MYT. MYT features soul music, it contains hip hop, it has Satriani like guitar licks and conversely tuneful guitar tunes that remind one of Khruangbin, […]
Tord Gustavsen
Seeing is Tord Gustavsen’s 11th album. Gustavsen released his debut album Changing Places 21 years ago and in many respects Seeing is a revisit of his musical id, one in which Gustavsen and his trio weave a spellbinding musical tour. There are clues in the track names that lead one to suspect that Gustavsen may be […]
Simon Oslender, Will Lee, Steve Gadd
Autumn, short days cooler temperatures colourful leaves and yes you guessed it, funky jazz. This album features one of the most famous drummers in the solar system, Steve Gadd, and in addition to being a mostly happy foot stomping album, All That Matters sets a challenge of sorts to any future NATO (Germany, US and […]