Jazz Articles
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Sam Leak and Dan Tepfer: Adrift
by Roger Farbey
Adrift is an unusual recording featuring two pianos in an original work by Sam Leak. It's hard to neatly categorise since it presumably draws its influences from a variety of sources. It could be described as neo-classical, minimalist or chamber jazz but is most probably a mixture of all these elements since it assiduously resists any generic definition. Leak might have been influenced by a whole swathe of composers; the ghosts of Erik Satie, Arnold Schoenberg, Duke Ellington and perhaps ...
read moreDuncan Lamont Big Band: As If By Magic
by Bruce Lindsay
Mention Mr Benn to people who were young children (or university students) in early 1970s Britain. They may well smile ruefully, develop a far-away look in their eyes and mutter something about things having been much better back then. Nostalgia is a wonderful feeling. At least some of that warm feel-good glow can be put down to the music on this album-- As If By Magic--and its composer, saxophonist Duncan Lamont.The bowler-hatted Mr Benn lived in 52 Festive ...
read moreHenrik Jensen's Followed By Thirteen: Henrik Jensen's Followed by Thirteen: Blackwater
by Phil Barnes
What does it mean to be 'Followed by Thirteen'? It immediately conjures pictures of some cold war spy thriller--Orson Welles in Greene's “The Third Man," Matt Damon in the Bourne films maybe, as the protagonist is followed by shadowy agents through decaying European cities in defence of unspecified freedoms. Good though it is, it seems unlikely that Henrik Jensen's splendid new album of modern jazz could be construed by our governments as a threat to our comfortable western liberal democratic ...
read moreHenrik Jensen's Followed By Thirteen: Blackwater
by Bruce Lindsay
Blackwater is the second album from London-based Henrik Jensen's Followed By Thirteen. There's one change in personnel from debut album Qualia (Jellymould Jazz, 2013)--Antonio Fusco replacing original drummer Peter Ibbetson--but the instrumentation remains the same. Three years on, the band's increasing experience and maturity as a unit is reflected in the compositions and musicianship displayed here.The band may be based in the UK, but its members are an international bunch. Bassist and leader Jensen is Danish, as is ...
read moreHannes Riepler: Wild Life
by Bruce Lindsay
Austrian-born guitarist and composer Hannes Riepler moved to the UK a decade ago, releasing debut album The Brave (Jellymould Jazz) in 2012. Wild Life is his second album: with a new and slightly stripped-down line-up (no keyboards this time around) it's an equally impressive outing.Most of the tunes are Riepler's originals--there's also experienced saxophonist and new band member Chris Cheek's “Sailing Ships" and a cover of Beck's “Modern Guilt." The tracks are all between four and eight minutes ...
read moreParagon: Cerca
by Phil Barnes
The art of conversation is surely dying. Too many people prepared to shout out the first thought that comes into their empty head, or repeat some banal corporate half-truth intended to drown out dissenting views. Self-importance, simple bad manners and selfishness rule the world with little space to reflect on or listen to what others have to say. In jazz though things can be different--take Anglo-German collaboration Paragon for example -they describe their music as ..."the sound of four people ...
read moreParagon: Cerca
by Bruce Lindsay
It's been a decade since Anglo-German quartet Paragon formed. Cerca, recorded on an unspecified two days in Cologne, is the band's third release. The sax and Rhodes frontline, backed up by Matthias Nowak's bass and Jon Scott's drums, creates an elegant repertoire of tunes that draws on influences as diverse as '60s spiritual jazz and hip-hop grooves. Although the band's been around for ten years, Paragon's members can still be classed as part of the younger generation of ...
read moreKristian Borring: Urban Novel
by Bruce Lindsay
Danish guitarist Kristian Borring has been based in London since 2006, establishing himself as a leader and sideman on the UK scene. Urban Novel is his second album, his first for the small indie label Jellymould Jazz. Recorded in London in December 2012, Urban Novel is filled with Borring's original compositions and performed by the guitarist in the company of some of the best sidemen in Britain. It's an album that readily enhances Borring's reputation. Borring's debut release, ...
read moreTommy Andrews Quintet: The Crux
by Bruce Lindsay
Saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and rock climber Tommy Andrews is part of a burgeoning British jazz scene, a scene that's notable for its wide range of talented young players. For The Crux, his first album, Andrews joins with four more members of the scene to form his quintet. It proves to be a fine band, sympathetic to Andrews' melodic, accessible, compositions: the result is a promising debut. On the evidence of The Crux Andrews' compositions are characterized by an ...
read moreCompassionate Dictatorship: Entertaining Tyrants
by Bruce Lindsay
Six years after its debut album, Coup D'Etat (FMR Records, 2007), and three years after its follow-up, Cash Cows (FMR Records, 2010), Compassionate Dictatorship returns with Entertaining Tyrants. Album number three finds the London-based quartet moving away from the influence of progressive rock, which shaped some of Cash Cows, and into a sound that is much more focused on contemporary jazz. The band's musicianship and accessibility remain high, though, ensuring that Entertaining Tyrants is highly enjoyable.But first, the ...
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