jazz albums
Album Review: Tony Glausi – Everything At Once
Raised in Portland, Oregon and currently based in New York City, Tony Glausi is widely known for his accomplishments as a trumpet player. But with his latest album Everything At Once, which is out now via outside in music see’s Glausi shift into roles of bandleader, producer, songwriter, and singer. “Coming out of high school …
Album Review: ISQ – ‘Requiem for the Faithful 2.0’ – The Remixes
There’s something to be said about the mere act of dancing, post-covid. Let’s just start with that. Whether you’re into club culture or not, we’ve all had a burning desire to dance, with other people. That free flow ecstatic waltz into movement, that enables us to feel human again. Enter ISQ. A powerhouse of a …
Album Review: Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – ‘We’re OK. But we’re lost anyway’
Is it a band, is it a group, is it a collective or an ensemble- no it’s the one and only Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp, the multi-European makers of the most essential music that may just have passed you by.Revolving around the mercurial bassist/composer Vincent Bertholet and emerging from the Geneva avant music scene …
Album review: Peace Flag Ensemble – ‘Noteland’: intelligent, warm and melodic jazz improv from Canadian collective
LADIES and gentlemen of the more recherché musical persuasion: introducing a new act to especially intrigue the weird jazzers among you, Peace Flag Ensemble, an experimental collective drawn from various points across the verdant central Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The quintet are set to release their first venture into long-playing recordings this coming Friday, June …
Album review: Mind Maintenance – ‘Mind Maintenance’: Chicago rhythm masters produce a deeply contemplative, mantric set to guard against the world
TAKE one of the finest and most intuitive leftfield-into-indie jazz rhythm sections of past decades, Chicago drummer Chad Taylor and bassist Joshua Abrams, who between them amass waay over a couple hundred performance credits to their name on Discogs: for artists such as the Chicago Underground Trio and all its various spiralling iterations, Brokeback, Sam …
Album review: Final Step – ‘Disconnections’: passionate, rhythmic and unashamedly funky
I LOVE fusion bands. I really do. You never know what to expect, and that’s because they’re a fusion of flavours. Italian musicians in particular have always delivered when it comes to jazz music, a truly energetic burst of blues, funk and rock and roll. From the multi-lingual border region of Ticino, in Switzerland, guitarist …
Album review: Portico Quartet – ‘Terrain’: a truly reflective journey
PORTICO QUARTET have always been a vibe. Since their formation, in my opinion they’re one of the few instrumental jazz-psyechedelic-electronic bands to live up to that musical blend, and furthermore, they’ve always been able to tell a story. Their latest album, Terrain, actually exceeded all my expectations in that sense, delivering a much more emotionally …
Album review: Sven Wunder – ‘Natura Morta’: Swedish maestro jet sets for the retro Italian film score sound and delivers beautifully
THERE’S not actually a lot we can reveal about the wonder that is Sweden’s Sven Wunder, except to say: he’s got this. He understands this, the music; he knows it from the inside, moves beyond tribute and mimicry to the very heart of what makes records beloved by the real sonic addict, the compulsive crate-digger, …
Album review: Graham Costello/STRATA – ‘Second Lives’: energised modern jazz for the world today
SOMETIMES it pays to step back and remember that the kaleidoscope of UK jazz has many focal points beyond the frequently illuminated London scene. There’s the Worm Disc massive in Bristol, Ishmael Ensemble and all; the Gondwana northern powerhouse of Matthew Halsall; Brighton’s Sola Terra (home of Ebi Soda, etc.) and Mammal Hands lurking in …
Album Review: Serendip Quartet – Queen of Fire; a homage to the Women of Congo.
There is a need to begin this review with a direct quote from its band leader, saxophonist Arnaud Guichard : “This record is dedicated to all the victims of sexual violences in DRC and to Dr. Denis Mukwege and his team who work hard at restoring the pride and dignity of all the victims of …