Jazz Articles
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Fergus McCreadie: The Shieling
by Geno Thackara
Music themed around landscapes and natural beauty is common enough, but it is much more rare for the sheer wildness of nature to come through as much as it does for the Fergus McCreadie Trio. His evolving niche of folk-jazz seems to lean a bit more toward the folky side of that equation with every outing--hearing these hands caper across the piano keys is like watching a wide-screen film camera sweeping across a rugged stretch of hills splashed in sunlight. ...
Continue ReadingSebastian Rochford: Finding Ways
by Neil Duggan
Finding Ways is the first chapter in a major project for British drummer and composer Sebastian Rochford. He is one of the most versatile drummers working today, as evidenced by his work with his band Polar Bear and collaborations with major artists as diverse as David Byrne, Herbie Hancock, Adele, Kit Downes and Brian Eno. This album focuses on the guitar. It features eight guitarists in various combinations, all mixed by Tchad Blake and anchored by Rochford's drums, ...
Continue ReadingFergus McCreadie Trio: The Shieling
by Neil Duggan
After four thoughtfully crafted releases, the Fergus McCreadie Trio adopted an entirely different approach for their fifth album. They journeyed to the Isle of Skye, took the ferry to North Uist in the Scottish Outer Hebrides and spent five days recording The Shieling in a remote cottage. Whoever was responsible for transporting McCreadie's piano to this isolated location certainly deserves recognition for their efforts. A shieling is the Gaelic word for a simple dwelling, typically constructed of stone ...
Continue ReadingJoe Webb: Hamstrings & Hurricanes
by Neil Duggan
Open to all musical genres from the UK and Ireland, encompassing pop, rock, folk, urban, dance, jazz, blues, electronica and classical, the Mercury Prize stands as music's equivalent to literature's Booker Prize or art's Turner Prize. Past winners span from Arctic Monkeys and PJ Harvey to Arlo Parks, representing the award's diverse scope. Jazz has rarely featured among Mercury Prize winners, with Ezra Collective's Where I'm Meant To Be (Partisan, 2022) marking a historic breakthrough as the first ...
Continue ReadingDonny McCaslin: Lullaby for the Lost
by Neil Duggan
Saxophonist Donny McCaslin and his band's collaboration on David Bowie's final album Blackstar (ISO Records, 2016) marked a pivotal moment in McCaslin's career. Following Bowie's death just two days after the album's release, McCaslin transitioned from being a well-respected jazz musician to achieving international recognition. His band's innovative contributions helped make Bowie's final album a critically acclaimed late-career highlight. Since then, McCaslin's brand of innovative, contemporary jazz fusion has continued breaking through barriers to define a distinctive sound ...
Continue ReadingAki Rissanen: Imaginary Mountains
by Neil Duggan
Finnish pianist Aki Rissanen has built an impressive discography through collaborations with artists including Rick Margitza, Dave Liebman and Randy Brecker, contributing to 18 albums as either leader or co-leader. Yet he is perhaps best known for the part he plays in leading one of European jazz's most distinctive piano trios, the Aki Rissanen Trio. The album Imaginary Mountains, the title of which is a nod to the influence of Keith Jarrett's Personal Mountains (ECM, 1989), features jazz ...
Continue ReadingOlga Amelchenko: Howling Silence
by Andrew Hunter
Olga Amelchenko, the Russian born, Paris based saxophonist and composer, is joined here on her fourth recording as leader by a strong ensemble with members old and new. Jesus Vega has been playing drums with Amelchenko for a long while. Canadian guitarist Matthew Stevens, who did such great work with Walter Smith iii, is a new addition to the group. It is not obvious that this particular iteration of Amelchenka's band is recent; They play as if they have known ...
Continue ReadingSnowpoet: Heartstrings
by Andrew Hunter
Snowpoet, led by the creative partnership of Lauren Kinsella and Chris Hyson has been releasing reliably engaging, curious music since 2014's self-released Butterfly. Heartstrings, their fourth full length record, was written through a series of group improvisations from which the ten songs here grew. Moving away from their accustomed writing habits was a bold decision considering the strength of their carefully crafted writing in the past. Regardless of approach, Heartstrings opens on reassuringly familiar ground. Hyson's harmonic sense ...
Continue ReadingSnowpoet (Lauren Kinsella & Chris Hyson): Heartstrings
by Geno Thackara
If the soul of a poet is determined to follow the muse anywhere, that means being ready to accept some emotional ups and downs--or if not always ready, then willing to take the ride anyway. Wordsmith Lauren Kinsella and sonic craftsman Chris Hyson have certainly taken their share of creative swings under the Snowpoet name, crossing her emotive musings with his instrumental backing of experimental-electro-chamber-folk. It makes for a colorful and often whimsical melange, like an exhibit of impressionist paintings ...
Continue ReadingSultan Stevenson: El Roi
by Neil Duggan
Following on from his modern but classic-sounding debut, Faithful One (Whirlwind Recordings, 2023), Sultan Stevenson, a London-born pianist of West Indian descent, brings us his second album, El Roi. The title comes from a term in the Hebrew Bible for God of Sight, with faith and identity serving as the driving concepts behind Stevenson's compositions. This album employs the same group format as its predecessor with a core piano trio with bassist Jacob Gryn and drummer Joel Waters, ...
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