Jazz Articles
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Jon Lloyd Quartet: Earth Songs
by Neil Duggan
Saxophonist Jon Lloyd has helped shape the UK jazz scene for several decades. Initially known for his energetic approach to free jazz, his creative ideas have gradually guided both himself and his group toward what he describes as “ECM quartet territory." Though ECM releases encompass a diverse range of musical styles, his description effectively evokes the quartet's sound. Their music features the contemplative soundscapes often associated with the label but also incorporates folk and classical influences, with space and stillness ...
Continue ReadingMisha Mullov-Abbado: Effra
by Neil Duggan
Effra is the fourth album from multi-award-winning bassist, composer and arranger Misha Mullov-Abbado. It is a collection of the music he has written for his long-standing sextet over the last four years. An experienced bandleader and multifaceted sideman, his talents have led to him working alongside Tim Garland and Rob Luft. He is probably best known to international audiences from the album Za Górami recorded with Alice Zawadzki and Fred Thomas (ECM, 2024). Effra is dedicated to Brixton, ...
Continue ReadingFabienne Ambuehl: Thrive
by Neil Duggan
Swiss singer and pianist Fabienne Ambuehl emerged onto the jazz scene with her debut album Glitterwoods (Traumton) in 2015. She cultivated her musical skills at the Lucerne School of Music, also studying with Asaf Sirkis and Gwilym Simcock. Following a move to London, she releases her follow-up album Thrive. To help realise her evolving musical vision, she has assembled a creative core trio of bassist Matt Ridley (known from the Darius Brubeck Quartet) and drummer Jon Scott (GoGo ...
Continue ReadingMike Chillingworth: Friday The Thirteenth
by Neil Duggan
London-based saxophonist and composer Mike Chillingworth is a frequent performer in many group formats in the UK and internationally. He has a distinctive and original style and is frequently found in the company of other like-minded musicians who like to expand boundaries and push through perceived barriers. The inspiration behind the album came in a strange way. Devoted educator Chillingworth was traveling with 50 teenagers on a multi- day bus tour (perhaps not an experience he would like ...
Continue ReadingMaya Belsitzman and Uriel Herman: Pauses in Shades
by Troy Dostert
Harnessing an amalgam of idioms and techniques on his instrument, Israeli pianist Uriel Herman has been carving a capacious niche in the jazz world since his debut release, Awake, in 2014 (self-produced). But it was his 2023 album, Different Eyes (Ubuntu Music), that started generating some serious buzz. With a wide-ranging aesthetic encompassing everything from Chopin to Antonio Carlos Jobim to Kurt Cobain, Herman's generous spirit and capable touch garnered well-deserved accolades. And now he has teamed with cellist Maya ...
Continue ReadingAsha Parkinson: Possession
by Neil Duggan
Possession, the debut album from Asha Parkinson, builds substantially on her previous 28-minute mini-album release. Parkinson composed and arranged the words and music, which as a theme explore the concept of possession. The innovative music has its roots in jazz with classical and Eastern Mediterranean influences. Parkinson displays considerable ambition, strong principles, cultural awareness and talent. Having graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2020, she plays in various ensembles, including the National Youth Jazz ...
Continue ReadingRichard Fairhurst: Inside Out
by Neil Duggan
Richard Fairhurst was 19 when he released the first of three albums as the leader of The Hungry Ants. Approaching his 50th birthday in 2024, he has gone on to become one of the most distinctive pianists and composers in the UK. He presents his ideas on Inside Out in a piano trio arrangement. This is a format he began exploring when he formed Richard Fairhurst's Triptych with Danish bassist Jasper Hoiby and New York drummer Chris Vatalaro and released ...
Continue ReadingVasilis Xenopoulos Paul Edis Quartet: Feels Like Home
by Neil Duggan
The various meanings of home are the themes behind Feels Like Home--somewhere to belong to, a place to rejoin loved ones, a birthplace. This is the second album from Vasilis Xenopoulos and Paul Edis. They began playing together 20 years ago, when they both relocated to London to study. It follows on from A Narrow Escape (Paul Edis Music, 2016). Leading Greek saxophonist Xenopoulos is a flag-waver for straight-ahead jazz and can be found as co-leader of the ...
Continue ReadingTim Garland: Moment Of Departure
by Neil Duggan
For Tim Garland, the title, Moment of Departure, describes the “dive into the fresh unknown as improvisors, leaving the solid ground of what has been composed." Many of the tracks were inspired by the free-flowing artwork of Turkish painter Esra Kizir Gokcen. Her own migrant narrative provides the alternative meaning for the title. This combination of musical control and liberty has been at the heart of the Lighthouse Trio, who will mark their 20th anniversary in 2024. The ...
Continue ReadingTrio HLK: Anthropometricks
by Neil Duggan
Albums featuring standards are fairly common. Trio HLK start with this approach and then bend and invert it to create their own musical dialect. All seven compositions on Anthropometricks use sections of jazz standards as their base. The trio then put these ingredients through their version of a musical blender to create something unique. As pianist and composer Richard Harrold says “Each piece is new but shards of the original can be glimpsed within." He does mean shards; these are ...
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