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Various Artists: Blue Note Re:imagined
by Chris May
The ideahonouring Blue Note's legacy while mapping out a possible futurepromises much. The actuality is a curate's egg. The sixteen artists each interpreting a classic Blue Note-associated tune are not, as the label's American publicity has it, among the London scene's most exciting young talents." A few are, but not many. The sixteen are instead an ...
Sun of Goldfinger: Congratulations to You
by Mike Jurkovic
As if Tim Berne were a pied piper bearing the eleventh hour of democracy solely on his back, on the fourteen-minute opener Bat Tears" (recorded in 2010) his rebel alto and now-retired baritone saxophones presciently pierce the abhorrent now under which we all labor, with a viscerally ecstatic, David Torn-Dopplered, sweeping, urgency which seizes the senses ...
Bertrand Denzler / Antonin Gerbal: Sbatax
by Mark Corroto
With six and one-half minutes remaining in this single thirty-eight minute live tenor saxophone/drums recording, an audience member at a club in Berlin begins howling. Listeners to this recording will probably be saying to themselves, where have you been? I've been shouting encouragement since I pressed play!" It's that kind of record. The two ...
Tim Garland: ReFocus
by Ian Patterson
Strings and Tim Garland have always resonated well together. A leading figure of British jazz since the early 2000s, Garland emerged from a classical background, having studied classical composition at the Guildhall School of Music. His dual idioms have converged persuasively on albums such as If The Sea Replied (Sirocco Music Limited, 2005), Libra (Global Mix, ...
Shifa: Live in Oslo
by Mike Jurkovic
A spectrum of subversive, seemingly sinister ambitions erupt upon entering the very vigorous other-world proposed on Live In Oslo, a true mind-meld of London's free-jazz highest order, led by saxophonist Rachel Musson, pianist Pat Thomas and drummer Mark Sanders known collectively as Shifa. Recorded at Oslo's Blow Out Festival in August 2019, the trio ...
Andreas Vollenweider: Quiet Places
by Robin B James
Music for the heart and mind, bliss and joy for the ears and spirit. It has been 10 years since the last album from Andreas Vollenweider and now he emerges with new music--three new albums, the first is Quiet Places. The new album has 10 tracks and features several homages to ancient arts as well as ...
John Blum and Jackson Krall: Duplexity
by Troy Dostert
A pianist of undeniable virtuosity and uncompromising intensity, John Blum has impressed free-jazz aficionados since the early 2000s with his uniquely potent approach to his instrument. One can easily hear the influence of Cecil Taylor in his ferocious, jaw-dropping power; but just as important are his ties to earlier pianists. There is just as much Art ...
Lafayette Gilchrist: Now
by Geno Thackara
In some alternate world somewhere, Lafayette Gilchrist is a great modern American novelist, spinning real-life stories that vividly evoke the spirit of the times. In our world, he ended up as a comparable spirit doing the same thing in the music realm instead. His piano playing nonetheless criss-crosses the span of jazz, blues, funk, gospel, ragtime, ...
DUX Orchestra: Duck Walks Dog (With Mixed Results)
by John Sharpe
The cover of the 1994 archival recording Duck Walks Dog (With Mixed Results) by the DUX Orchestra presents an intriguing line up which combines American free jazzers with Swedish baritone saxophonist Mats Gustafsson. Even within the New York City contingent there is diversity, as veteran stickman Walter Perkins (who played with Sonny Rollins, Roland Kirk and ...
Edward Simon: 25 Years
by Dan McClenaghan
Pianist Edward Simon immigrated to the United States from his native Venezuela while still in his teens. He stayed, and carved out a successful career in music. His fiftieth birthday rolled around, and the artist decided it was time to take a look and listen back. In a musical journey that spans the titular 25 Years, ...

