I can’t say for sure if Evgeny Ponomarev’s 2021 release, Clockwise, counts as spiritual jazz, but it is holding it’s own as one of the best jazz releases of the year. Ponomarev plays piano, and is solidly supported by a large cast, incuding: Andrey Polovko — tenor saxophone (1-6), soprano Continue Reading
Jazz
La Montaña Rusa 44.2021. Especial Pat Martino
blockquote class=”wp-embedded-content”>La Montaña Rusa 44.2021. Especial Pat Martino. Today is a rest day for me, so I spent it listening to my friends at Spain’s greatest jazz podcasts, La Montaña Rusa. The program is dedicated to guitarist Pat Martino, who passed away recently. The tracklist: El Hombre (06:00). El Hombre, Continue Reading
Zhang Si’an (Djang San 张思安) – Hutong Jazz – 胡同爵士
Jean-Sébastien Héry is a French ex-pat musician living in China. He has a very impressive body of work covering over 50 albums of music ranging from electro music to rock performed on traditional Chinese instruments like the zhonguran and pipa. His work is singular, as there doesn’t seem to be Continue Reading
Muva – Yum Cháak
Mexico’s new music scene is criminally underrated, which is a shame considering the immense talent hidden there. Yes, of course, we love boleros, the folk songs out of Veracruz and Yucatan, and the insanely good psychedelic music of the 1960s and 1970s, the Rock-In-Opposition of bands like Nazca, Decibel and Continue Reading
Rosie Turton – Expansions and Transformations: Part I & II
Rosie Turton came to my attention a while ago with her EP Rosie’s 5ive, which served as a stellar introduction to her work, but this latest album shows how incredibly expressive a trombone-led band can be. So many players in London’s Nu-Jazz scene are leaving a mark that there will Continue Reading
Various Artists – Pyramid Pieces 2
This is a comp we won’t have to wait too terribly long for. The Roundtable is a record label out of Melbourne, Australia which documents some phenomenal jazz from down under. Apparently, the first installment of Pyramid Pieces was a tour-de-force of Australian spiritual jazz, and the comp sold briskly, Continue Reading
Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen – The Bass in the Background
Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen was a phenomenal jazz bassist originally out of Roskilde, Denmark. He was good enough to be drafted by Count Basie’s touring band but had to reject it due to age restrictions. Imagine working with pianists like Kenny Drew, Tete Montoliu, Lee Konitz, Dexter Gordon, Palle Mikkelborg, Continue Reading
Bester Quartet – Piazzolla Angels
Poland’s For-Tune Records have been consistently releasing high-quality jazz and improv music for some time now, but their latest has a special place for me. This collection, with the exception of Por Una Cabeza (composed by Carlos Gardel) was composed by the inimitable Ástor Piazzólla and arranged Bester Quartet leader Continue Reading
Alex Malheiros – Tempos Futuros
The London-based record label Far Out Recordings is killing me a little these days! I was honored to receive tracks from Alex Malheiros’ new album, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be picking it up on disc, but I loathe having to wait too long such treasures to come out. Still, Continue Reading
Matthew Halsall – Salute to the Sun – Live at Hallé St. Peter’s
There’s not much to say about Matthew Halsall that hasn’t been thoroughly discussed over the past decade. He deserves the accolades, of course, but this live album is quite a treat. This is really going to appeal to fusion fans, especially Bitches Brew and Live-Evil-era Miles Davis, as well as Continue Reading