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James Carney: Pure Heart
by Peter J. Hoetjes
When a large ensemble like the one heard on Pure Heart contains such dynamic personalities as Ravi Coltrane, Oscar Noreiga and Dezron Douglas, it's a sure bet that a bandleader is going to have their hands full directing them through his compositions. However, with just five songs to the album, pianist James Carney is able to ...
Jimmy Heath: Love Letter
by Chris May
Love Letter is the final album to be made by saxophonist Jimmy Heath, who passed in January 2020 aged 93. It was completeted just a month earlier. The title is well chosen: the album is a love letter to jazz, a love letter to ballads, and a love letter to Heath's surviving family members, friends and ...
Verneri Pohjola: The Dead Don't Dream
by Ian Patterson
The photo on the front cover shows a levitating Verneri Pohjola. A rising star? That tag might have been appropriate at the time of Aurora (ACT Music, 2009), but the brilliant subsequent albums Bullhorn (2015) and Pekka (2017), both on Edition Records, confirmed the Finnish trumpeter's arrival at the top table of European jazz. Pohjola's distinctive ...
Matthew Shipp String Trio: Symbolic Reality
by John Sharpe
Pianist Matthew Shipp's String Trio reunites three familiar collaborators whose paths cross in multiple settings. Bassist William Parker and violist Mat Maneri complete a line-up unchanged since the triumvirate's debut By The Law Of Music (Hatology, 1997). In the twenty-plus years since that point, they have further cemented their standing in the jazz world as leading ...
Triosence: Hidden Beauty
by David Bruggink
Triosence may not yet be a household name among jazz aficionados in the United States, but since the turn of the millennium, they have become a fixture of the German jazz scene. In addition to performing internationally, they take a distinctly cosmopolitan approach to their sound. Past albums have shown the trio intermingling aromas of Asia, ...
Federica Michisanti Horn Trio: Jeux De Couleurs
by Angelo Leonardi
Il fermento creativo dell'Horn Trio di Federica Michisanti (con Francesco Bigoni al clarinetto/sax tenore e Francesco Lento alla tromba/flicorno) compie nuovi passi avanti. L'estetica di fondo è ovviamente in sintonia con il precedente Silent Rides e in parte con Isk (Filibusta Records, 2016), registrato col sassofonista Matt Renzi e il pianista Simone Maggio. Alla libertà armonica ...
Attila László: Concerto for Jazz Guitar & Chamber Orchestra
by Friedrich Kunzmann
A household name in Hungary's jazz topographic for about 40 years, Hungarian guitarist Attila Laszlo has made a lasting impact on the fusion guitar world with a number of critically acclaimed collaborations, and by performing alongside international heavy weights of the genre, such as Randy Brecker, Peter Erskine and Weather Report bassist Miroslav Vitous. More recently ...
Erroll Garner: Erroll Garner Plays Gershwin & Kern
by Chris May
The British newspaper The Times once nailed Abdullah Ibrahim's appeal thus: There are few musicians in jazz who can make you feel that essentially all is right in the world." The late Erroll Garner is another pianist whose music could be similarly described. You might argue that Ibrahim's task is harder, because much of his work ...
Nils Okland Band: Kjølvatn
by David Bruggink
A seasoned solo performer, sideman and leader, Nils Økland is a frequent ECM Records contributor capable of playing expressively across multiple styles. His hardanger fiddle and violin can range from poised and elegantsee Lysøen -Hommage à Ole Bull (2011), his collaboration with pianist Sigbjørn Apelandto raucous, as on the Dirty Three-esque Lumen Drones (2014).
Throttle Elevator Music: Emergency Exit
by Karl Ackermann
The sub-genre of punk jazz" has existedon paper since the 1970s when Patti Smith proposed a collaboration with Ornette Coleman. That partnership did not materialize. When all the moving pieces are pulled together there is little substance to suggest that the category ever shared specific practices or conventions. Then, in 2012, Throttle Elevator Music emerged with ...

