Results for "Friedrich Kunzmann"
Eivind Austad: That Feeling

Presenting an equal amount of originals and covers/standards, Norwegian pianist Eivind Austad's New Orleans Trio channels The Big Easy's musical spirit through gospel-tinged ruminations, extended blues forms and a healthy portion of New Orleans shuffle on the collaboration's debut effort. Following only a year after Austad's sophomore outing Northbound (Losen Records, 2019) saw the light of ...
Guillermo Bazzola: Lost & Found

Argentinian guitarist Guillermo Bazzola's deep admiration for late flugelhornist and composer Kenny Wheeler began to blossom back in 1979, when Bazzola was only 17 years old and first discovered the trumpet player's early oeuvre. His love for the Canadian pioneer of post-romantic jazz manifests itself in, among other things, the name of the independent label the ...
Tomoko Omura: Branches Vol. 1

Violinists come in many shapes, colors and sizes. In jazz, there are those who bridge the gap between classical music and a more improvised repertoire seamlessly, as seen with pioneers such as American avant-gardist Mark Feldman. There are others who go about their craft with a more rootsy approach to the improvised music traditionas ...
A Musical Tryptich: Between Jazz, Folklore And Song

The three albums below come from international European groups (among them one with a substantial Asian infusion) who recognize no boundaries in music nor borders between nations. Taking a variety of musical idioms and traditions and turning them into something new, each musician here is inspired by the lack of musical limitations that allows them to ...
Matthieu Bordenave: La Traversée

The French word La Traversée may equally refer to a crossing, a passage or a journey. Surely related yet with disparate meanings, the three terms have a sense of motion in common. How defined that motion is and whether it's backward, forward, or even sideways, remains unknown. The only thing for certain is its determination to ...
Jeff Williams: Road Tales - Live At London Jazz Festival

Some live albums impress with the sophistication of restraint or sonic clarity, others simply boast energy. Veteran drummer Jeff Williams' Road Tales: Live At London Jazz Festival unmistakably belongs to the latter. Vested with two handfuls of original compositions and an adept cast of sidemen, Williams delivers a fiery set of saxophone-led post-bop that revisits a ...
Friedrich Kunzmann's Best Releases Of 2020

Coronavirus, lockdown, election recount, fake news, inspector Javert, Hans Gruber and Lord Voldemort. So, now that most of the uncomfortable topics are dealt with, let's get to the joyful part of 2020, namely the music. As is increasingly the case during the course of the 21st century, the year was filled to the brim with it. ...
Kasperi Sarikoski: Three Plus One

The trombone seems to be going through somewhat of a renaissance in 2020. That's only if a period when albums such as Grachan Moncur III's Some Other Stuff (Blue Note, 1965) were released can be considered the instrument's heyday in jazz. But fresh Norwegian input--captured on Oyvind Braekke's sextet release Wilderness (Oslo Recording Sessions, 2020)--graced the ...
Sverre Gjørvad: Elegy Of Skies

Sverre Gjørvad's 2019 offering Voi River (Losen Records) saw the Norwegian drummer painting minimalist sketches that mirrored his native environment. Taking up that thematic thread, his follow up effort opts for the gaze upward, reflecting on Norway's firmament in a musical Elegy of Skies. As compared to the predecessor, Gjørvad's 2020 sketchbook of ideas is even ...
Lucia Cadotsch: Speak Low II

On their sophomore effort, the multinational European trio around Swiss vocalist Lucia Cadotsch follows the band's initial instinct of organically dissecting and rearranging old favorites of the respective band members. This time around the trio is expanded by English keyboartdist Kit Downes' occasional organ embellishments and Lucy Railton's additions of odd melodic cello lines to conceptually ...