jazz
Track: aramii – Tidal
aramii is the new moniker for the long time collaborative project between prolific artists Maria Chiara Argirò and Jamie Leeming, the duo behind one of Backseat Mafia’s favourite albums ‘Flow‘. The latest EP, ‘Dusk’ (Cavalo Records), combines their signature blend of lofi, electronica and cinematic jazz with vocals. It presents a fresh and unique take …
Album Review: Tomorrow comes the harvest – Evolution
Tomorrow Comes The Harvest project started with late Tony Allen, one of the originators of AfroBeat and Jeff Mills to get together to create an improvisational type of performance. The idea was to not pre-prepare or to preplan anything, but just to play in the moment spontaneously and to reach for the same understanding musically. Jean-Phi …
Album Review: Slow Knife – A Hymn Supreme
Todmorden experimentalists Slow Knife have returned with a second album, the fully improvised two track long player, A Hymn Supreme. Taking its lead more than likely (as well as half of its title) fromJohn Coltrane opus, it’s explores spiritual jazz, but alongside noise electronics and lyrically explores the ‘authenticity of spiritual transcendence’. Part 1 lies …
Live Review: The Comet Is Coming / Snapped Ankles – Somerset House, London 14.07.2023
Since being Mercury prize-nominated for their first album ‘Channel the Spirits’ in 2016, The Comet is Coming have continued to evolve through our cosmic plane! It’s hard to avoid the astronomical comparisons with this band, as they are truly a galactic force to be reckoned with! The jazz trio (in the loosest term) are all …
Album Review: Peace Flag Ensemble – Astral Plains : Shimmering electro-acoustic jazz for wide horizons.
The first time you hear the music of experimental jazz collective Peace Flag Ensemble, you sense that it will be good for you. This is a band that make soundscapes, often spacious, often serene, so fluid, so open that as you listen there’s a sense you are being listened to. It’s music that leaves room …
Track/Video : Saxophonist, composer and jazz chronicler Matana Roberts announces new album ‘In The Garden’, Chapter Five in the visionary Coin Coin series.
Many new releases are anticipated but few have the added importance of Matana Roberts fifth instalment in their Coin Coin series ‘In The Garden’, due via Constellation on 29th September. The jazz composer, saxophonist and multi-disciplinary artist’s significant song cycle began in 2011 with ‘Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens de couleur libres’. This staggeringly visceral …
Album Review: Jonny Wickham – Terra Boa: Vibrant new jazz with a Brazilian heartbeat
Well you can’t say that Jonny Wickham’s first solo album lacks ambition. ‘Terra Boa‘, out now via Fresh Sound Records sees the jazz bassist and composer leading a sizeable band through a set of originals that in his words make up a ‘love letter’ to the complex tapestry of Afro-Brazilian rhythms. Added to that he’s …
Live Review: Love Supreme Festival – Glynde Place, East Sussex 30.06.2023
By Henry Groves I didn’t really know what to expect from Love Supreme festival. The lineup was packed full of phenomenal artists and bands, but it was also in the middle of nowhere in East Sussex. Before going, I couldn’t quite fathom why artists like Thunercat and Grace Jones had agreed to play a Jazz …
Album Review: Emily Kuhn – Ghosts Of Us : Bouyant, melodic, refreshing jazz from the Chicago trumpeter.
Emily Kuhn’s new album ‘Ghosts of Us’, out now via the consistently impressive BACE Records, may have been written during the cloying pall of pandemic times but it represents an artist emerging with regenerated focus. Not that the Chicago based jazz trumpeter and composer’s 2020 debut ‘Sky Stories’ lacked vitality or purpose. It captured Kuhn’s …
Album Review: Scrimshire – Paroxysm : profound and passionate cinematic soul-jazz from the influential producer/composer.
Some music just has to happen and London producer/composer Adam Scrimshire’s latest, ‘Paroxysm’ (available now from Albert’s Favourites) falls into that exclusive clutch of necessary releases. Well established as a crafter and co-ordinator of cinematic soul-jazz inspirations, Scrimshire’s sound work has always grabbed attention from his early energetic Wah Wah 45s albums up to the …