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Xhosa Cole: On A Modern Genius (Vol.1)
by Jack Kenny
Xhosa Cole has moved forward constantly, since winning the 2018 BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year award. He has released two studio albums: K(no)w Them, K(no)w Us (Stoney Lane Records, 2021) featuring saxophonist, Soweto Kinch and pianist, Reuben James and Ibeji (Stoney Lane Records, 2022), featuring seven percussionists with African roots. This 2025 release has Cole with his quartet during their 38-date spring tour of the UK in 2023 playing the music of Thelonious Monk. Cole is ...
Continue ReadingXhosa Cole, Nicola Miller & Art Jackson’s Atrocity
by Maurice Hogue
There's a seemingly endless pool of great saxophonists that have emerged from Birmingham, England's scene---Andy Hamilton, Soweto Kinch & Shabaka Hutchings to name a few--with the latest, Xhosa Cole whose career is taking off. Named the 2018 BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year Award, Cole has gained much attention, and his third release On A Modern Genius Vol. 1 focused on the music of Thelonious Monk will no doubt boost the interest further. It's the feature recording in this ...
Continue ReadingLoz Speyer's Inner Space: Live in Leipzig
by Glenn Astarita
Loz Speyer, a British trumpeter and composer known for his inventive blend of jazz traditions and free improvisation, leads the quintet Inner Space through its inaugural release. With a background spanning a wide range of influences within the jazz realm, Speyer channels these into compositions that allow each band member room for dynamic improvisation. In Live in Leipzig, recorded in the historic city during a well-received concert, Speyer's ensemble delivers a set marked by a delicate balance between ...
Continue ReadingPaul Dunmall: Bright Light A Joyous Celebration
by John Sharpe
While the opener suggests a blowing session from veteran British saxophonist Paul Dunmall, as good as that promises to be, the reality is better still. Joining him is a starry cast drawn from succeeding generations, with the addition of American drummer Hamid Drake. With the drummer touring in the UK. Dunmall took the opportunity to renew a friendship that stretches back almost two decades, one first heard on the fiery Peace And Joy (Slam, 2006). Alongside them in the studio ...
Continue ReadingBalimaya Project: When The Dust Settles
by Chris May
Formed in 2019 by London-based drummer and percussionist Yahael Camara Onono, the sixteen-piece Balimaya Project blends traditional West African Mandé music with modal jazz and other sounds out of modern Black London. The ensemble's closest comparator, albeit at some remove, is the veteran Senegalese band Orchestra Baobab who, in the 1980s, were hugely popular at home and abroad. But Baobab's repertoire, although it included Mandé folk music, was based chiefly on the Wolof tradition. There is more ...
Continue ReadingXhosa Cole, Lakecia Benjamin, J.D.Hive, Jason Yaeger & More New Releases
by Ludovico Granvassu
A playlist built around the work of impressive emerging saxophonists (Lakecia Benjamin, Xhosa Cole, Jason Marshall, and Alex Hitchcock), and guitarists (Ant Law and David Doruzka). Together with a tribute to Kurt Vonnegut, the reissue of an Acid Jazz classic, and much more, this is an hour of music that should keep you happy and full engaged.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Mother Earth “Stoned Woman" Stoned Woman ...
Continue ReadingXhosa Cole: Ibeji
by Karl Ackermann
Few places on the global jazz scene are enjoying the enthusiastic resurgence of the genre more than the UK. Names that are becoming more familiar—Binker Golding, Nubya Garcia, Idris Rahman, Shabaka Hutchings and others—have triggered something of a youth movement. Emerging in that group is yet another top-notch saxophonist, Xhosa Cole. Cole's sophomore release, Ibeji is full of terrific music, wrapped in a missed opportunity. Ibeji takes its name from the Yoruba religion, and features six percussionists individually ...
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