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Satoko Fujii: Message
by John Sharpe
Even within the remarkably consistent output of prolific Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii, certain ensembles command special attention. The This Is It! Trio --named for her conviction that the group represented an ideal working unit has become one such forum. Message, the trio's third release, reunites Fujii with her crew -husband and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura ...
Duo Réflections: Duo Réflections
by Nenad Georgievski
Piano and guitar duos walk a fine line. Too much harmony, and the sound collapses into density; too little, and the music drifts apart. In the hands of the French group Duo Réflections, this fragile balance becomes something alive and breathing. Pianist Sylvain Rey and guitarist Leandro López-Nussa have been refining their partnership for nearly a ...
Noah Garabedian: Quartets and Solos
by Jack Bowers
If ever an album were in need of liner notes--or at least some further clarification--it is this one, Quartets and Solos, by New York-based bassist Noah Garabedian's quartet; or quintet, if one includes album producer Samuel Adams' special effects and programming. The playlist consists of 13 songs. According to a press release, they alternate ...
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders: Ecliptic
by John Sharpe
Scrubbed piano strings, malleted drums and a tenor saxophone testing the air may not conjure the usual Sunday-afternoon reverie, yet that is how the trio Shifa ignited its early-2023 matinee at north London's Café Oto. Ecliptic, the group's third document following Live at Café Oto (577 Records, 2019) and Live in Oslo (577 Records, 2020), captures ...
Domo Branch: Hand of Gifts
by Jack Bowers
Even though Oregon-bred Domo Branch is traversing an enviable path as a drummer and composer, he hasn't forgotten how he got where he is and those to whose wisdom and guidance he owes a large measure of his success. On Hand of Gifts, his second recording as leader of his own group, Branch salutes his high ...
Harper Trio: Dialogue of Thoughts
by Nenad Georgievski
With their sophomore album, Dialogue of Thoughts , the Harper Trio returns with a record that feels both intimate and expansive, a journey through sound that. is subtly exhilarating. Maria-Christina Harper's electric harp, paired with Josephine Davies' expressive saxophone and Evan Jenkins' precise, yet fluid drumming, forms a trio that listens as much as it plays. ...
EH3: Close to Nothing
by Glenn Astarita
EH3, comprising guitarist Erland Helbø, bassist Frode Berg, and drummer Erik Smith, presents a vibrant fusion of jazz-rock on Close to Nothing. Recorded in January 2025 at Schizophonia Studio in Jessheim, Norway, the album draws from American traditions of blues, soul, and funk, while infusing Scandinavian precision and exploratory spirit. The group demonstrates tight ensemble work, ...
ErbtMäderAmBerg? & Lehn: In Echoes' Shadow
by Glenn Astarita
The Swiss German quartet ErbMäderAmBerg? & Thomas Lehn offers a striking and complex exploration of electroacoustic improvisation with In Echoes' Shadow,, released in May 2025 on Lucerne-based Veto Records. The ensemble brings together three of Switzerland's most adventurous bass clarinetists--Christoph Erb (Veto Records founder), Elio Amberg, and Niklaus Mader--alongside German electronic music veteran Thomas Lehn on ...
Elijah Shiffer: City Of Birds, Volume 3: Fly By Night Blues
by Max Kutner
Few current composers are as restlessly inventive as saxophonist-clarinetist Elijah Shiffer. Over the past decade, Shiffer has led numerous ensembles and written an ever-expanding catalog of original music, all crafted and thematically tied closely to and informed by distinct aspects of his interests and tastes. Fly by Night Blues, the third volume in his City of ...
Cheryl Duvall: The Plains
by John Eyles
Canadian composer Linda Catlin Smith was born in New York City in 1957. She began her composition studies in high school in New York and continued music study at SUNY Stony Brook. In 1977 she went to Canada to study composition and theory at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. In 1981 she moved to ...
