Gideon Plays is apparently seen as a holy grail of South African jazz collectors. Judging by the performance of pianist and maribist Gideon Nxumalo, this should be seen for what it is – a spiritual jazz masterpiece. The album swings and grinds through eight tracks of bopping good music. Matsuli Continue Reading
Jazz
High Pulp – Motel Money (feat. Takuya Kuroda)
High Pulp hail from Seattle, Washington and are currently being published by Anti- Records, best known for releasing albums by Tom Waits, Neko Case and Antibalas. This sounds like none of them, and it caught my attention in a most pleasant way. Motel Money is a single track, and it’s Continue Reading
Miša Blam – Sećanja
This is one of the coolest archival recordings I’ve come across in some time! Serbian bassist Miša Blam (Serbian bio only) is a name known to jazz aficionados because of his work with legends like Chet Baker and Sal Nistico, but this album is a minor disco classic. A lot Continue Reading
Enji – Ursgal
Enji Erkhem is a jazz singer who is originally from Mongolia, but who currently calls Munich, Germany, home. She has quite an interesting personal story, growing up in a yurt to a working-class family, traveling to Germany to study music pedagogy, and getting utterly inspired by jazz singers like Carmen Continue Reading
John Coltrane – Coltrane ’58: The Prestige Recordings
As the Bandcamp site states, 1958 was John Coltrane’s breakout year, coming into his own after partnering so successfully with pianist Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis, though his heroin addiction slowed his progress up considerably. He is in fine condition musically in this 8-LP collection of his first recording session Continue Reading
Florian Arbenz, Hermon Mehari, Nelson Veras – Conversation #1: Condensed
Swiss drummer and percussionist Florian Arbenz was featured on our previous website, A Miscellany of Tasteful Music, some time in 2020 on a record he did with American saxophonist Greg Osby. This album is equally as engaging. This slightly unusual line up of guitar, trumpet & drums might, at first Continue Reading
Charlie Watts – If It Ain’t Got That Swing
Charlie Watts, the legendary bedrock of the Rolling Stones, has passed away today at the age of 80. He speaks about his experiences drumming in this video. Rest in peace, Charlie.
Roman Stolyar – Right Back from Bosnija
I’m delighted to share a piece from my old friend, the Siberian composer and multi-instrumentalist Roman Stolyar. This nearly 20-minute improvisation was recorded live on July 30, 2021 at the MMMESSS studio in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The piano-playing is quick, sharp, with each keystroke coming at you like waves of Continue Reading
Duke Jordan – Flight To Denmark (SteepleChase Records, 1973)
Denmark’s SteepleChase Records has a brilliant catalog worth exploring, featuring not only homegrown talent like Niels-Henning Ørsten Pedersen and Pierre Dørge but also internationally known stars like Lee Konitz, Cedar Walton, Sun Ra and the inimitable Chet Baker among others. This particular album is led by pianist Duke Jordan, and Continue Reading
Amir ElSaffar – Inana
Inana is the fourth album by Iraqi-American trumpeter Amir ElSaffar which came out in 2011. The trumpeter starts the album with eight tracks dedicated to Inanna, the Mesopotamian goddess of sex, beauty, war and political power. ElSaffar mixes microtonal jazz with Arabic scales such as maqam, which seems to be Continue Reading