jazz albums
Album Review: Rising bassist Mauricio Morales releases debut long player, ‘Luna’
‘Luna’ is the debut album from rising jazz bassist and composer, Mauricio Morales. It’s a conceptual work that echoes with the sounds of spring, childhood innocence, and a beautiful tapestry of cinematic string arrangements worthy of the highest merit. A odyssey through time, movement and everything in between. Unlike quite a few contemporary instrumental jazz …
Album Review: Femi Kuti + Made Kuti – Legacy +
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m no afrobeat scholar, but there’s something undeniably enticing about a double album calling itself Legacy+ that’s attached to the Kuti name. I don’t even think this is necessarily limited or limiting, either, because the work of Fela Kuti is something that you’re likely aware of even if …
Album Review: Coma World – Coma World
The London nu-jazz/electronic scene is one ecosystem that does more than sustain itself. From the Steamdown/Trinity/Deptford/Greenwich source point to the hubbub around Hackney’s Total Refreshment Centre to the outflow from vibrant labels like Walthamstow’s Byrd Out, it’s a community that continues to create through crossovers, connections and collaborations. Cue yet more evidence of the surge, …
Album Review: Lee Ritenour – ‘Dreamcatcher’
OUT RIGHT now on the Players Club label is the new album by one of LA’s finest session guitarists, Lee Ritenour, and his first solo record. The list of who Lee has played for is simply jaw dropping. Aretha Franklin, Art Garfunkel, Quincy Jones, Frank Sinatra, BB King to name only a few, but this …
EP: Mylow – Voyager
Founded by the Berlin band Jazzanova, the Sonar Kollectiv label has been steadily releasing enticing music of the nu-jazz/dance/electronica blend for over 20 years now. So any new name that they sign is always worth a sneak. Cue Milo Tomasovic (a.k.a Mylow) a young DJ, producer and electronic musician from Amsterdam who releases his EP …
Album Review: Tori Handsley – ‘As We Stand’
FOREVER associated with folklore whimsy, celestial mystery and the delicate songstress, maybe the harp will always have an image problem? Of course in jazz there have inevitably been those who have been able to shove this immovable object away from its own clichés – think the improvisational drive of Dorothy Ashby or spiritual lift of …
Album Review: Emily Kuhn – Sky Stories
New jazz… Chicago… must be another International Anthem release right? Well no, this is something from outside that powerhouse, the debut by Emily Kuhn, trumpet player out now on the BACE records. As a label BACE has been steadily releasing music from the jazz-tinged, electronic, experimental, post-rock whirlpool for a couple of years now and …
EP: Oscar Jerome- Breathe Deep Remixes
Although it’s been robbed of its live connection this year, the UK Nu- jazz train has kept up the momentum with a roll of dynamic and defining releases. Oscar Jerome’s ‘Breathe Deep’ album was one of those touchstones. It saw the KOKOROKO guitarist and super collaborator (with buddies like Shabaka Hutchings, Moses Boyd and Yussef …
EP: Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes – What Kinda Music Bonus Tracks
If you got into Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes stellar album ‘What Kinda Music’ released in April this year, then here’s something to help you through the winter wilderness. Blue Note have just released bonus tracks from the album sessions , available via the usual digital suspects or cannily stitched onto a new deluxe vinyl …
EP: Bryony Jarman-Pinto – Fish Factory Sessions
Out now on the ever brilliant Tru Thought label is the latest EP from songwriter and vocalist Bryony Jarman-Pinto, Fish Factory Sessions EP. They are as-live recordings of songs from her much lauded ‘Cage and Aviary’ album recorded at (unsurprisingly) London’s Fish Factory Studios. Of the sessions, Bryony says “The Fish Factory Sessions were meant …