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Sylvie Courvoisier: Angel Falls
by Mike Jurkovic
The history of humankind resounds with the sound of piano/trumpet duets. But not like this one. Not like Angel Falls. Because the true beauty of Angel Falls is that grandmaster Wadada Leo Smith, aided and abetted by the fervent curiosity of Brooklyn- based/Switzerland native pianist Sylvie Courvoisier, enlists the listener as an active creator in truly ...
Pharoah Sanders: Love Is Here The Complete Paris 1975 ORTF Recordings
by Jack Kenny
The saxophonist Pharoah Sanders was often described as an enigma of jazz, once famously characterized as “a mad wind screeching through the root-cellars of Hell." That “mad wind" is absent on Love Is Here: The Complete Paris 1975 ORTF Recordings, but the enigma remains. This pivotal album captures Sanders stretching out, away from his Impulse! Records ...
BLINK: BLINK
by Mark Corroto
It bears repeating: collective improvisation is far more challenging than individual soloing. It demands discipline, trust, and, as musicians like to say, exceptional ears. Composer and alto saxophonist Jorrit Dijkstra's BLINK demonstrates all three, bringing together five musicians whose listening skills are as sharp as their instincts. The project is built on Dijkstra's long-running ...
Yakir Arbib & Conti Bilong: Afro Baroque
by Neil Duggan
The fusion of jazz, baroque piano, vocals and traditional Central African and Middle Eastern rhythms might sound like an ambitious overreach, with too many influences competing for space. Yet Afro Baroque proves that what could have been a chaotic collision of styles instead shows how rhythm, melody and cultural expression can complement each other to produce ...
Heather McKay: Life Got in the Way
by Jack Bowers
Guitarist Heather McKay, who has performed with artists in a variety of styes from Latin jazz to rock, rhythm and blues to Afro- Caribbean, even Persian music and beyond in a career that has spanned more than twenty-five years and counting, provides a rationale for writing every song (save one) on her debut recording, Life Got ...
Howl Quartet: Night Song
by Neil Duggan
Drawing influences from rock and folk alongside contemporary jazz, the Howl Quartet was formed in 2017 by Dan Smith, Pete Komor, Harry Brunt and Matt Parkinson, though their musical partnership predates the group's inception. These years of collaboration and shared performance experience have fostered an open and co-operative environment that serves as the ideal foundation for ...
Christy Doran's May 95 Sextet: Same But Different
by Ian Patterson
Curse or blessing? A festival handing a musician carte blanche for a one-off adventure sounds liberating, but the allure of artistic freedom can be tempered by pressure: what if the personalities do not gel? What if it bombs? Christy Doran, the Ireland-born Lucerne-based guitarist, has never been one to dodge a challenge. His entire ...
Pete Mills: For the Record
by Jack Bowers
On For the Record, tenor saxophonist Pete Mills and his quartet hit their swinging stride on “Bird Lives," a radiant salute to the peerless Charlie Parker that serves as the centerpiece of an otherwise consistently strong and engaging studio date that spans a wide-ranging area of contemporary post-bop jazz. The Canadian-born, Ohio-based Mills ...
Datadyr: This We Know
by Glenn Astarita
Norwegian jazz trio Datadyr delivers a compelling sophomore album with This We Know, refining their sound into a sophisticated gem of modern fusion. Guitarist Odd Erlend Mikkelsen, bassist Øystein Høynes, and drummer Amund Nordstrøm draw from their Bergen roots, blending American blues, country and jazz with a cool Nordic reserve. Their previous album, Woolgathering (Is It ...
Sarah Wilson: Incandescence
by Angelo Leonardi
Dopo l'eclettico e multiforme Kaleidoscope, la trombettista e compositrice californiana presenta un nuovo progetto privilegiando alcuni elementi di quel lavoro, in particolare la dimensione della brass band. Il nuovo organico--Brass Tonic--vede una front line tutta femminile con l'aggiunta di Kasey Knudsen al sax contralto e Mara Fox al trombone, mentre la sezione ritmica comprende il chitarrista ...
