• Music

    Fumio Itabashi – Watarase

    March 16, 2024 - By 

    Our friends over at Wewantsounds have released a post-bop gem by pianist Fumio Itabashi which will be available in April 5th, 2024.  From their Bandcamp site: “Wewantsounds is delighted to reissue Fumio Itabashi’s sought-after album “Watarase” hailed as one of the great Japanese jazz albums and featuring Itabashi on piano playing an inspired mix of standards and originals. Recorded in 1981 for Denon and released the following year, the album has since reached cult status among jazz connoisseurs, thanks to Itabashi’s inventive piano playing and to its cult title track, a superb soulful and spiritual composition. Newly remastered by Nippon…

  • Music

    Thelonious Monk – Mønk

    December 6, 2023 - By 

    Thelonious Monk will need no introduction from my readers.  He is the quintessential jazz pianist, and this unreleased album comes from a 1963 Danish recording session.  It is Monk playing at his peak.  From the release’s Bandcamp site: “Hot on the heels of Impulse’s recently unearthed Coltrane number one hit album comes another beauty from Jazz’s ‘Holy Trinity’. This is a previously unreleased, precious lost treasure from Monk’s most critically acclaimed line-up; Charlie Rouse on saxophone, John Ore on double bass, and Frankie Dunlop on drums. The music was recorded live in Copenhagen in 1963 at the peak of Monk’s…

  • Music

    Roedelius & Arnold Kasar – Zensibility

    November 28, 2023 - By 

    On December 1, the maestro will again collaborate with Arnold Kasar (whom he paired with on a Deutsche Grammophon release 5 years ago) on a new album of piano and electronics.  Judging by the two tracks available for listening, this will be perfect winter music to meditate to. From the Bandcamp release site: “Five years after their first and critically-acclaimed collaborative work in the form of their full-length album “Einfluss” (Deutsche Grammophon), Roedelius & Arnold Kasar now release their second album “Zensibility” on the Berlin-based label 7K!. This new work encompasses eight collaboratively composed instrumental tracks, eight modern call-and-response pieces…

  • Music

    Chris McGregor – In His Good Time

    December 8, 2022 - By 

    London served as the home of many magnificent South African musicians, and it is safe to say that pianist Chris McGregor and his band, the Brotherhood of Breath, was the linchpin of the expat community.  This particular album was released in 1979 and originally reissued in 2012 with bonus material.  This is a shiny, well-remastered digital version, and as the material is all solo, McGregor is in fine form on his piano.