Stephen J Malkmus
Traditional Techniques
Former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus seems to have a romantic side, maybe that’s a bit strong, but on this lovely album there’s not much obvious angst. Made with Decemberist Chris Funk and a bunch of great instruments and musicians Traditional Techniques is a feast of acoustic guitars with very little in the way of the […]
Wayne Shorter’s lifelong fascination with comic books spurred Blue Note’s boss Don Was to propose the idea of a graphic novel to be created as an integral part of a musical project. The story created by Shorter and co-written with Monica Sly with illustrations by Randy Du Burke talks of Emanon, a super hero on […]
Ehud Asherie Trio
Wild Man Blues
Warning! This is a straight, old fashioned, pure wonderful jazz. No hocus pocus or complex musical expression. All such is replaced by the type of piano trio that will raise a smile in spite of and especially despite the best efforts of politicians to wipe such things away.The outrageous lack of pretence and joyful notes […]
Collectif Medz Bazar
Poshmanella
Yet again a musical set of juxtapositions with styles, languages and harmonies not often heard on this sceptred isle. Collectif Medz Bazar is a largely French Armenian band that calls Paris home. The sound, tones and colours of the album are minor Asia-centric, with melodies and harmonies that migrated via the near east from India and […]
Pinhas & Sons (פנחסובניו)
About An Album
Pinhas and Sons or in their native Hebrew, Pinhas ve Banav, is an extraordinary collaboration of around 30 musicians. They weave remarkable textures, notes and styles, with classical, pop, prog rock, Arabic, Greek, Yemenite, Balkan, flamenco and samba elements, with some tunes managing to contain all of the above. The Pinhas tribe contains woodwind, brass, […]
Szun Waves
New Hymn To Freedom
This album is difficult to describe but both musically intriguing and sonically appealing thanks to the use of acoustic as well as electronic instruments. Especially if you music that provides an escape into rich and undulating soundscape that touch on the ambient but have plenty going on. This is what the record label says about […]
Wayne Horvitz
The Snowghost Sessions
Wayne Horvitz is a New York based jazz composer and musician who has collaborated with the likes of Bill Frisell, John Zorn, Fred Frith and Carla Bley among many others. Here the keyboard player and his rhythm section, Geoff Harper (double bass) and Eric Eagle (drums and percussion), navigates his way between a bit of […]
Ritualsees Erik Lindgren’s Mannen utan väg (The Man Without a Way) a Swedish modernist poem noted for its unconventional imagery and syntax, brought to life in a musical format by the Fire!Orchestra in the shape of five long suites. Originally the simple trio of Mats Gustaffson on sax, Johan Berthling on bass and Andreas Werliin […]
Susie Arioli Swing Band
Pennies From Heaven
Hailing from Montreal, Susie Arioli has championed jazz swing with a host of musicians and bands for nigh on twenty years. Pennies From Heavenwas released in 2002 and is her second album, it’s a smile inducing foot tapping affair. A perfect antidote to the endless stream of politics, news and other negative tales of wow and […]
Kjell Tore Innervik – Percussion
Utopias – Radical Interpretations of Iconic Works for Percussion
I must confess that I enjoy listening to well recorded percussion music, which probably puts me into a minority. Back in the day I was one of those who didn’t treat the inevitable drum solo at a gig as an excuse to retreat to the bar. Instead, I marvel at the dexterity and co-ordination as […]
Tord Gustavsen Trio
The Other Side
Recorded at Oslo’s Rainbow Studio in January 2018, this is Gustavsen’s eighth album. It is also his return to a trio form after a number of albums that the Norwegian pianist made with quartets. Joining him on this occasion are drummer Jarle Vespestad his long musical partner who helped to cement the Gustavson sound, and […]
Jan Gunnar Hoff – piano Anders Jormin – bass Audun Kleive – drums This is very much Jan Gunnar Hoff’s project. As a composer and pianist he has delivered a cohesive album, having selected the trio format and invited two other extremely talented musicians to join him. The recording was produced by the owner of […]
Kacy & Clayton
The Siren’s Song
Kacy Anderson and Clayton Linthicum hail from the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. With a small band of musicians the two distant cousins who reside in rural agricultural area have produced one hell of an album that evokes CSNY, the Marshall Tucker band, the Band, Grateful Dead, Fairport Convention and other giants of the late sixties rock-folk scene. […]
Freddie Hubbard
First Light
This is the album that placed Freddie Hubbard right in the blossoming fusion mainstream, winning him in the process a Grammy for best commercial jazz album. It comes back to life in the guise of a 180gm vinyl reissue courtesy of Pure Pleasure Records who have established quite a respectable catalogue across a number of […]
Various
Binaural Baroque / España / Mozart By Candlelight
If you’ve been fortunate enough to experience a symphony orchestra in a concert hall, you’ll appreciate how exceptionally difficult it is to capture the sound in a way that not only does justice to the intricacies, scale and emotional impact of the performance but also reflects the distinctive sonic qualities of the venue. Mike Valentine […]
DeJohnette, Grenadier, Medeski, Scofield
Hudson
In essence Hudson is all about a bunch of long time friends getting together and playing to their hearts’ content. Only those four friends just so happen to be elder statesman of jazz at their peak, the result is sheer musical magic. The quartet of Jack DeJohnette, Larry Grenadier, John Medeski and John Scofield have […]