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Radio & Podcasts

Ben Allison, Anais Drago, Reinier Baas and Other Great New Releases

by Ludovico Granvassu
November 20, 2018

The new albums bonanza goes on! And we happily oblige, revelling in some gorgeous new releases, some of which will definitely end up on the “Best of 2018" lists of many critics. Surprises, confirmations, re-releases, unexpected collaborations and much more make up this week's playlist full of aural pleasures... Happy listening! Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Phillip Johnston & The Coolerators “Frankly" from Diggin' Bones on (Asynchronus) ...

Live Review

Alexander Hawkins/Elaine Mitchener Quartet at Sonorities Festival Belfast 2018

by Ian Patterson
May 5, 2018

Alexander Hawkins/Elaine Mitchener Quartet Sonic Lab Sonorities Festival Belfast Belfast, N. Ireland April 21, 2018 Sonorities Festival Belfast is one of Ireland's longest-running contemporary music festivals. This year saw the biannual SFB hit the thirty-year mark and to celebrate the milestone festival directors Miguel Ortiz and Simon Waters assembled an eclectic programme of contemporary musicians, composers and sound artists that straddled the worlds of multi-media performance, classical, contemporary string and choral, electronica, audio-visual ...

Album Review

Alexander Hawkins / Elaine Mitchener Quartet: UpRoot

by John Sharpe
May 4, 2018

Adventurous pianist Alexander Hawkins seems intent on exploring as many different avenues of expression as is humanly possible, having already released solo set Song Singular, (Babel, 2013), duo set Leaps In Leicester, (Clean Feed, 2016), trio set Alexander Hawkins Trio, (AHM, 2015), and ensemble set Unit[e], (AHM, 2017), as well as documents of rewarding encounters with outfits as diverse as Rob Mazurek's Chicago Underground and Turkey's Konstrukt. Uproot represents a new venture for him as he teams up with vocalist ...

Album Review

Alexander Hawkins / Elaine Mitchener Quartet: UpRoot

Read "UpRoot" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
April 13, 2018

Alexander Hawkins, pianista avventuroso pur senza eccessivi salti nel vuoto, frequenta svariati organici, di cui questo --piano trio più voce --potrebbe anche apparire abbastanza usuale, se non fosse che poi, alla prova dei fatti, tutto procede abbastanza eccentrico rispetto a tale assunto. La cointestataria del quartetto, la vocalista anglo-giamaicana Elaine Mitchener, per cominciare, non è minimamente una cantante tradizionale. Non è, anzi, neppure una cantante. Non solo, almeno. Dice, porge, declama, oltre a cantare (comunque secondo parametri ...

Album Review

Alexander Hawkins / Elaine Mitchener Quartet: UpRoot

Read "UpRoot" reviewed by David Rocheleau-Houle

by David Rocheleau-Houle
December 29, 2017

Taking risk is--among other things--the essence of free jazz and experimental music. It is by taking risk that musicians can develop their own identity and push further the too many musical borders. With the possibility to take risk, a sense of freedom emerges--whether this sense of freedom refers to something real is not important here--and a range of new possibilities are now being unleashed. A sure sense of freedom emanates from UpRoot, and The Alexander Hawkins / Elaine Mitchener Quartet ...

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Album Review

Alexander Hawkins / Elaine Mitchener Quartet: UpRoot

Read "UpRoot" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
December 2, 2017

Since the mid-2000s, British pianist, composer, Alexander Hawkins (Evan Parker, Chicago/London Underground) has become a force to be reckoned with, largely within Europe's exploratory progressive jazz and improvising circles. As a collaborator and solo artist, the pianist transmits a distinctive line of attack, where melody and free-form extrapolations enjoy a happy coexistence. On this studio set, he teams with notable performance artist, abstract vocalist and fellow Brit, Elaine Mitchener (Phil Minton, George Lewis) for a semi-structured set highlighted by the ...

Album Review

Alexander Hawkins: Unit[e]

Read "Unit[e]" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
June 25, 2017

With each subsequent release, pianist-composer Alexander Hawkins further cements his place in the top tier of modern, forward-thinking artists. The Oxford, UK native has worked as a leader in nonet, ensemble, quartet, trio and solo formats and is a member of the Convergence Quartet featuring cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, drummer Harris Eisenstadt, and bassist Dominic Lash. Increasingly in-demand, Hawkins has recently recorded with Evan Parker on the duo release Leaps in Leicester (Clean Feed, 2016) and with Rob Mazurek on ...