Marta Warelis, Marion Brown & Hypomaniac

Polish pianist Marta Warelis assembled a most eclectic group of musicians for a gig at Amsterdam's The Bimhuis in October 2024 (trumpet Ben LaMar Gay from Chicago, Dutch tenor saxophonist and clarinetist Ab Baars, Canadian tenor saxophonist and clarinetist Karen Ng, Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and drummer Frank Rosaly who's from Chicago but now making his home in Amsterdam). Warelis was fulfilling one of those Reflex commissions that The Bimhuis awards. The resulting music on Still Life With Lemons is some of the most original you'll hear this year. When American saxophonist Marion Brown moved to Europe in 1967 the favourable reaction in Europe was a factor, leaving behind so—so reception for his music in the US. He settled in Paris and eventually found other musicians who were eager to play with him, like Gunter Hampel and fellow emigré drummer Steve McCall. Brown made around five or six recordings while in Europe, including the seminal Afternoon Of A Georgia Faun for the new label, ECM. Recently, NoBusiness Records released Live In Europe 1968-1972, recorded at a Paris radio station and a French Festival. This was Brown's first real band in Europe. Hypermaniac is a hyper—free jazz trio that blows the lid off on its debut. French drummer Sylvain Darrifourcq, Portuguese bassist Gonçalo Almeida & Argentinian saxophonist Camila Nebbia leave no doubt where the juice is really happening. Other notable new releases sampled come from Tahmela Six from Finland, the trio of Bobby Bradford, Mark Dresser & Hafez Modirzadeh recorded in a house concert in California, guitar guru Michael Gregory Jackson, bassist Pedro Molina & a track from the Japanese King Records archives by Toshiaki Yokota.