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
Jazz
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
Shirley Scott – One For Me
No matter how ardent a collector of music you are, there are going to be some brilliant artists and albums you will miss. One could say that that’s part of the fun of discovering music. Credit for our surprise gem of the day goes squarely to Bandcamp’s blog, where Ashawnta Continue Reading
Gideon Nxumalo – Gideon Plays
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
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