Jazz Articles about Conor Chaplin

About Conor Chaplin

Album Review

Iiro Rantala HEL trio: Tough Stuff

Read "Tough Stuff" reviewed by Neil Duggan

by Neil Duggan
August 20, 2024

There has always been a hint of playfulness evident in the work of Finnish pianist Iiro Rantala. That was clear in his much-admired recordings with Trio Töykeät. That trio called it a day in 2006 after multiple worldwide tours and 20 years together. Since then, the multi-talented Rantala has been involved in a range of activities, including orchestral recordings, presenting TV comedies and music programs, pop, opera, rock, podcasts and a variety of jazz formats. He has now ...

Album Review

Alex Hitchcock: Dream Band: Live in London

Read "Dream Band: Live in London" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
February 29, 2024

This is a bold expedition into the heart of progressive jazz, rendered across a vast canvas of three enthralling nights at the Vortex Jazz Club in London. This three-CD collection is not just a mere album, but a grand, audacious gathering of talents which blurs the line between a larger ensemble setup and a more intimate, modern band experience. Hitchcock's nifty approach to ensemble creation is at the core of this live recording. Rather than sticking ...

Album Review

Alex Hitchcock: Dream Band Live In London

Read "Dream Band Live In London" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
January 18, 2024

Viewed in retrospect, the abiding memory of 2023 is that it produced too many jazz albums prioritizing technical facility over emotional engagement. In London, New York and elsewhere (but not, so it seemed, in Chicago), musicians appeared to focus on virtuosity rather than feeling. Dullsville. For the record, some of those albums that did put soul on, at the least, an equal footing with cerebralism, are to be found in the Best Albums of 2023 round-up which can be read ...

Album Review

Marius Neset: Geyser

by Chris May
October 13, 2023

Geyser is Norwegian saxophonist Marius Neset's third album with new-music ensemble London Sinfonietta. The piece was commissioned for the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, where this recording was made on September 3, 2022. As on the two previous albums, the Sinfonietta are joined by Neset's high-voltage jazz quintet with pianist Ivo Neame, vibraphonist Jim Hart, bassist Conor Chaplin and drummers Anton Eger. Geyser is a striking wide-screen work that justifies the use of the frequently ...

Album Review

Emma Rawicz: Chroma

by Tom Spargo
September 1, 2023

There are only so many times that one can use phrases such as “emerging talent" or “upcoming star" before one must concede that the artist in question has in fact made it into the major league of jazz. With the August 2023 release of her second full-length album Chroma on the label ACT, this is precisely the point that tenor saxophonist Emma Rawicz has reached in her career. Building upon her successes from 2022, which involved featuring as a finalist ...

Album Review

Tom Ollendorff: Open House

by Chris May
June 3, 2023

There is technical excellence, there is pretty, there is a well-honed trio, there is an in-sync guest saxophonist, and yet, and yet.... Open House is London-based guitarist Tom Ollendorff's follow-up to A Song For You (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2021), his debut, which also featured bassist Conor Chaplin and drummer Marc Michel. The vibe is the same as on the earlier album, but there are differences in the detail. This time out, five, rather than eight, of ...

Album Review

Emma Smith: Meshuga Baby

Read "Meshuga Baby" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
July 8, 2022

In early 2012, Emma Smith, already an established member of Britain's National Youth Jazz Orchestra but still only 21 years old, released her debut album. The record mixed standards with Smith's own compositions and established the London-based artist as a talented singer and songwriter. Another album would usually have been expected within a year or two, but it would be another decade before the second album, Meshuga Baby, saw the light of day. It's been worth the wait: Smith's early ...