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Sophie Agnel: Song (Sophie Agnel)
by John Sharpe
With Song, Sophie Agnel confirms her place as one of the most stimulating and inventive pianists on the European improvising scheme. While she has long been a formidable partner to the likes of John Butcher, John Edwards and Steve Noble, here she underscores her worth as a soloist. But that is not quite ...
Alexander Hawkins: Song Unconditional
by John Sharpe
Where on the first solo outing by British pianist Alexander Hawkins, Song Singular (Babel, 2014), his influences strode in plain sight, and the second, Iron Into Wind (Intakt, 2019), in its austerity, nodded toward Hawkins' classical schooling, Song Unconditional feels simultaneously more personal and more welcoming. It finds Hawkins not only consolidating the vocabulary of his ...
Jimmy Lyons: Live From Studio Rivbea (Jimmy Lyons)
by John Sharpe
Alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons was underappreciated even at the height of his powers, but to those with ears attuned to the radical innovations of the loft jazz era, he was a galvanizing presence. That his legacy remains under-lit is due in part to his long-standing tenure in Cecil Taylor's incandescent orbit. Lyons was more than a ...
Larry Stabbins & Mark Sanders: Cup & Ring
by John Sharpe
Inspired by the 5000 year old Neolithic rock carvings pictured on the sleeve, Cup & Ring opens and closes with brooding, ritualistic pieces in which Larry Stabbins' breathy flute drifts like mist over Mark Sanders' deliberate, processional percussion. These atmospheric bookends, along with similarly spare interludes throughout, frame a set grounded more deeply in the language ...
Adam O'Farrill: For These Streets
by John Sharpe
With For These Streets, trumpeter and composer Adam O'Farrill presents a sharply contoured, richly imagined statement for mid-sized band--his most complete vision to date. Drawing on an eclectic range of influences, from 1930s-era music, literature and film to the rhythms of contemporary urban life, O'Farrill leads a wily crew of his peers through a program that ...
Sergio Armaroli / Francesca Gemmo / Barry Guy: At Sotto Il Mare First Visit
by John Sharpe
Deep hinterlands distinguish the three protagonists on this exceptionally simpatico date and imbue it with a sharpened sense of purpose. You might call it freely improvised, but as the liner notes reveal, unplanned might be a better descriptor. Italian vibraphonist Sergio Armaroli, who seems to be the principal mover, reportedly gave short verbal instructions before the ...
Sun Ra: Nuits De La Fondation Maeght (Sun Ra)
by John Sharpe
Discoveries of lost tapes are often trumpeted as legendary or revelatory, but in the case of the greatly expanded Nuits De La Fondation Maeght, the hype feels entirely warranted. The release offers a comprehensive view of a pivotal moment in Sun Ra's career. In 1970, Sun Ra was invited to play at the ...
Paul Dunmall New Quartet: World Without
by John Sharpe
Amid the torrent of recordings that mark British saxophone legend Paul Dunmall's prolific creative output, World Without might have slipped beneath the radar. Recorded in 2021, the album bypasses preambles entirely: no themes, no heads, just immediate immersion into two expansive studio explorations that unfold with the confidence of deep familiarity. Dunmall has long ...
Satoko Fujii: Dream a Dream
by John Sharpe
Japanese pianist and composer Satoko Fujii has long demonstrated her ability to marshal ensembles of varying size--from intimate duos to sprawling orchestras--with an ear attuned to both spontaneity and design. On Dream A Dream, the second release from her Tokyo Trio, she reaffirms that a small group can still conjure orchestral breadth when agency and imagination ...
Phillip Golub / Lesley Mok: Dream Brigade
by John Sharpe
Pianist Phillip Golub and drummer Lesley Mok explore the porous boundaries between form and freedom on their exploratory debut as Dream Brigade, blending spontaneous composition with intuitive interplay in a wide-ranging program of six spontaneous inventions and two dives into the Great American Songbook. An in-demand side person, Mok can be heard in the ...
