Articles by John Sharpe
Larry Stabbins: Aurora
by John Sharpe
After a long hiatus, reedman Larry Stabbins' renewed presence on the British scene offers cause for celebration. All the more so as Sarost, one of his prime contemporary outlets, matches him with partners of equal standing. Flanking him in a co-operative trio--whose name, derived from the first two letters of their constituent surnames, affirms the group's egalitarian ethos--reside drummer Mark Sanders and bassist Paul Rogers. Four studio cuts unfold a spacious dialogue built on sensitive listening and instrumental virtuosity, whether ...
Continue ReadingSophie Agnel / Michael Zerang: Draw Bridge
by John Sharpe
Draw Bridge showcases yet another unlikely but rewarding product of the well-trodden thoroughfare between France and Chicago. Under the aegis of the Transatlantic Bridge initiative, now in its 12th year, pianist Sophie Agnel enters the studio with percussionist Michael Zerang for a series of nine collective duets. The pair traffics in a unconventional language wrested from prepared piano and an augmented drum kit, a music that intrigues as much as it unsettles. Agnel's dissatisfaction with the limitations of ...
Continue ReadingMisha Mengelberg / Sabu Toyozumi: The Analects Of Confucius
by John Sharpe
As the reputations of Japanese free players grew during the 1970s, they lured a procession of Europeans and Americans eager to collaborate, among them Steve Lacy, Peter Brotzmann, Derek Bailey, and John Zorn. Dutch pianist Misha Mengelberg also made the journey, first with the Instant Composers Pool (ICP) in 1982 and later independently. One of the most frequent partners awaiting visiting musicians was drummer Sabu Toyozumi. A 1994 meeting yielded The Untrammeled Traveller (Chap Chap, 2013); The Analects Of Confucius, ...
Continue ReadingJohn Dikeman: No Kings
by John Sharpe
Recorded live in 2022, No Kings documents a volatile meeting between a formidable European horn partnership and American free jazz royalty. In 2015, expat American saxophonist John Dikeman initiated a trio with bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake. Five years later, he invited Portuguese trumpeter Luis Vicente to join them, resulting in the quartet heard here on its second album, following Goes Without Saying, But It's Got To Be Said (JACC Records, 2020). The reedman and brass player share ...
Continue ReadingRodrigo Amado: The Healing
by John Sharpe
The Healing unites tenor saxophonist Rodrigo Amado and drummer Chris Corsano in a tremendous set that tempers visceral power with nuanced exchange. An archival release, it documents a 2016 live date at Lisbon's ZBD Club, marking the second recording by this duo, after a 2014 session issued as No Place To Fall (Astral Spirits, 2019). However the Portuguese reed player and American percussionist have been comrades since 2012 in a quartet completed by bassist Kent Kessler and saxophonist-trumpeter Joe McPhee ...
Continue ReadingJohn Sharpe's Best Jazz Albums Of 2025
by John Sharpe
From the 200 or so discs that I heard in 2025, here are the ten new issues, one archival reissue and one gem saved from obscurity, which gave me the most pleasure, in roughly the order that I came across them. As always these selections are entirely subjective, and take no account of the many other albums which I would no doubt have loved if I had heard them. So perhaps it's better to view these selections as a chance ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii: Message
by John Sharpe
Even within the remarkably consistent output of prolific Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii, certain ensembles command special attention. The This Is It! Trio --named for her conviction that the group represented an ideal working unit has become one such forum. Message, the trio's third release, reunites Fujii with her crew -husband and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and drummer Takashi Itani -for a program that underscores her strengths as both composer and catalytic improviser. Unlike in some of her other bands ...
Continue ReadingShifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders: Ecliptic
by John Sharpe
Scrubbed piano strings, malleted drums and a tenor saxophone testing the air may not conjure the usual Sunday-afternoon reverie, yet that is how the trio Shifa ignited its early-2023 matinee at north London's Café Oto. Ecliptic, the group's third document following Live at Café Oto (577 Records, 2019) and Live in Oslo (577 Records, 2020), captures pianist Pat Thomas, saxophonist Rachel Musson, and drummer Mark Sanders in the sort of unpremeditated council that has made them pillars of the UK ...
Continue ReadingPaul Dunmall: Here Today Gone Tomorrow
by John Sharpe
Much improvised music may be ephemeral, but Here Today Gone Tomorrow, captures British saxophonist Paul Dunmall's long-standing quartet at a peak of collective lucidity. Featuring pianist Liam Noble, bassist John Edwards and drummer Mark Sanders, the ensemble works through three slabs of unapologetic free jazz that display the rare assurance of a band that has put in its time together. Over the years they have honed such rapport that, in a feature which distinguishes ...
Continue ReadingPatricia Brennan: Of the Near and Far
by John Sharpe
Vibraphonist Patricia Brennan continues to redefine her creative horizons on Of The Near And Far, a fourth leadership date that expands her sonic blueprint without tempering the imagination that has marked her rise. Each of its predecessors has been completely different, from the horn-rich Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic, 2024), to the percussion-centered More Touch (Pyroclastic, 2022), to her debut, the solo Maquishti (Valley Of Search, 2021). She avoids familiar paths once again here, writing for an accomplished ten-strong unit which merges ...
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