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About Alexander Hawkins
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Alexander Hawkins
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Alexander Hawkins is a composer, pianist, organist, and bandleader who is ‘unlike anything else in modern creative music’ (Ni Kantu) and whose recent work has reached a ‘dazzling new apex’ (Downbeat). A largely self-taught improviser, he works in a vast array of creative contexts. His own highly distinctive soundworld is forged through the search to reconcile both his love of free improvisation and profound fascination with composition and structure. His writing has been said to represent ‘a fundamental reassertion of composition within improvised music’ (Point of Departure), and his voice one of the ‘most vividly distinctive...in modern jazz’ (The Jazzmann). As a pianist, he has been described as ‘remarkable...possessing staggering technical ability and a fecund imagination as both player and composer.’ Concerning his organ playing, critic Brian Morton recently commented that ‘[t]he most interesting Hammond player of the last decade and more, [Hawkins] has already extended what can be done on the instrument.’ He is a frequent solo performer, and also appears in groupings ranging from duo (with the likes of Evan Parker, John Surman, Han Bennink and Sofia Jernberg), via his co-led quartet with the vocalist Elaine Mitchener ('probably a new standard for improvised music with song', Jazzism), through to large ensembles ('Unit[e]...is a free-jazz masterpiece', Free Jazz). An in-demand sideman, Hawkins continues to be heard live and on record with vast array of contemporary leaders of all generations, including the likes of Evan Parker, John Surman, Joe McPhee, Mulatu Astatke, Wadada Leo Smith, Anthony Braxton, Marshall Allen, Han Bennink, Hamid Drake, Rob Mazurek, Taylor Ho Bynum, Harris Eisenstadt, Matana Roberts, and Shabaka Hutchings, amongst many others
New Digs
Label: Intakt Records
Released: 2026
Track listing: New Old World; Prequel; It Was; For My Consideration; aka the Stinger; Gone Home / Interlude for Susan Alcorn; Braxes; Quinze; Nigh Total.
A Near Permanent State Of Wonder
Label: Rogue Art
Released: 2026
Track listing: Catalogue (Part 1); Aria Far Away; Q (Index); Anderson Knows; X (Index); Song Of Clarity; Catalogue (Part 2); A Near Permanent State Of Wonder.
No Nation but Imagination
Label: Intakt Records
Released: 2026
Track listing: Solo Way Far Gone; Resolution Each and Every; Mirror No Border;
Circles in the Celestial Garden: Lullaby Much Further; Hocket
Fierce Peaceful; Joy Beyond Blazing; Open Sea, Boat's Land; Coda
Over the Fence.
2026 New Releases, Part 2
by Jon Greenbaum
This is part 2. And in case you missed it, here's Part 1. Like I said last week, I came across hundreds and hundreds of releases. These are the other 2026 highlights that reconfigured the chemicals in my bloodstream. Playlist Dandy Dandie “23 septembre" from Helios y Selene (Yolk Records) 00:04 Diego Pinera 4x4 ...
Virginia MacDonald, Andre Bachleda, Ben Wolfe, Milena Granci & more
by Marek J. Śmietański
The 127th episode is a regular edition dedicated to jazz releases from May 2026. This month's selection showcases the remarkable diversity of today's scene, bringing together established voices and emerging artists from Europe, North America, Australia and beyond. The programme flows through contemporary jazz, improvised music, ambient textures and genre-crossing projects that expand the language of ...
Alexander Hawkins & Taylor Ho Bynum: A Near Permanent State Of Wonder
by John Sharpe
Nearly two decades after first crossing paths in the transatlantic Convergence Quartet, cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum and pianist Alexander Hawkins reunite on A Near Permanent State Of Wonder, a recording that finds their rapport undimmed and their curiosity intact. In the intervening period Hawkins has become one of the most in demand pianists in Europe, as ...
Virginia MacDonald, David Sánchez, Marta Sánchez, Rachele Amore & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
Striking debuts, new chapters in established careers, and yet more surprises from relentlessly curious artists--this is a playlist designed to keep your ears on high alert.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 David Sánchez “Lumbalú" Tambó (Ropeadope) 0:16 Host talks 7:21 Virginia MacDonald “Stardust" In ...
Alexander Hawkins: No Nation but Imagination
by Kevin Poindexter
Pianist and composer Alexander Hawkins has spent years at the forefront of the European jazz avant- garde scene, leading various mutations of the standard group format, from solo piano to large ensembles and everything in between. Experimenting with different dynamics, instruments, and musicians, and adapting them to fulfill the needs of the music has been his ...
Michael Formanek: New Digs
by Glenn Astarita
Michael Formanek has never been content to anchor a bandstand and call it a career. Over decades of work--from sideman stints with Stan Getz and Joe Henderson to the long-running Thumbscrew trio with Mary Halvorson and Tomas Fujiwara--he has operated as a composer and architect, building rooms rather than merely inhabiting them. New Digs recorded over ...
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