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Alexi Tuomarila: Kingdom
by Roger Farbey
Piano-led power trios have proliferated over the last twenty years or more thanks to the likes of the Esbjörn SvenssonTrio and The Bad Plus whose respective approach was undeniably a more consciously dynamic one than the reflective approach of say Bill Evans or the redoubtable Keith Jarrett. There was also, inevitably, a move away from the ...
Jentsch Group Quartet: Fractured Pop
by Jerome Wilson
Chris Jentsch is a guitarist who, from the evidence of this recording, enjoys splashing around in the wide pool of music between jazz and rock. His work here goes all the way from grooving hardcore jazz to ambient nature sounds with a lot of fun things going on in between those two poles. The ...
Chicago / London Underground: A Night Walking Through Mirrors
by Glenn Astarita
Rob Mazurek (cornet, sampler & electronics) and Chad Taylor (drums, mbira & electronics) represent the Chicago delegation, aligning within Londoners Alexander Hawkins (piano) and John Edwards (bass) for a meeting of the experimental jazz minds on this exuberant live set. Hence, these prominent improvisers and progressive jazz laureates execute a surfeit of soul-jarring motifs, spiced with ...
Christian Sands: Reach
by Dan Bilawsky
A lot plays into the success of an artist's reach, with content and presentation obviously ranking high on the list. But above all, an artist has to be willing to extend a hand if they expect listeners to do the same. Many simply reach for the musical stars without really considering the need to reach out ...
Akua Dixon: Akua's Dance
by Hrayr Attarian
Lyricism and elegance are two words that come to mind while describing cellist Akua Dixon's third release under her own leadership, Akua's Dance. Two sessions comprise this engaging album on one of which Dixon plays, the rarely heard, baritone violin. The joyous ambience and the instrumentation, Dixon accompanied by guitar, bass and drums, are ...
Taj Mahal & Keb' Mo': TajMo
by James Nadal
When two generations of blues giants as Taj Mahal and Keb' Mo' teamed up for the production TajMo, the best of both personalities and talents merged for an adventurous take on traditional blues. Taj Mahal's recording trajectory goes back to the late 1960's, when he released Taj Mahal, quickly followed by The Natch'l Blues, both on ...
John Swana: Bright Moments
by Victor L. Schermer
Simply put, this album is so listenable and stood out so noticeably among the many CDs I've been spinning for myself recently, that I thought All About Jazz readers ought to know about it. I first heard then trumpeter John Swana a decade or more ago when he jammed at pianist Tom Lawton's memorable long-term gig ...
SE-Quartet: Going North
by Chris Mosey
This album is dedicated to the refugees who have arrived in Scandinavia in recent years. On the day it was released, April 7 2017, one of those refugees, Rakhmat Akilov, aged 39, drove a hijacked truck into the entrance of the Åhlens department store in the centre of Stockholm, the Swedish capital, killing four people.
Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band: Intenso!
by Angelo Leonardi
Il pianista, compositore e arrangiatore Clare Fischer scomparso nel 2012, resta uno dei grandi sottovalutati del jazz e questo splendido disco, prodotto dal figlio Brent, ce lo ricorda. Il suo multiforme talento espresso nel mondo della musica latina e nel pop, lo ha portatto a undici Grammy Nominations (con due vittorie postume) ma ...
Shawn Baltazor: Lionsong
by David A. Orthmann
It's difficult to resist the temptation to praise Shawn Baltazor's startling, diverse, incisive, multifaceted drumming at the expense of his equally impressive abilities as a composer and bandleader. Baltazor is one of the legions of young, gifted New York City area artists whose catholic tastes in music are transformed into idiosyncratic, open-ended methodologies, which ultimately engender ...

