Album Review
NEEB: Take To The Sky

by Neil Duggan
For over two decades, UK collective NEEB have evolved their musical style. On the way, they have traversed drum and bass, house and techno influences, eventually reaching a distinctive niche at the intersection of song-based soul, jazz and ambient electronic music. The group began as a trio with bassist Tony Waite and drummer Mark Lloyd, along with Mark Hand on Rhodes piano and synthesizers. In 2023, they expanded into a quartet with the addition of vocalist Jasmine Weatherill, marking a ...
Continue ReadingFred Van Hove: WIM FANFARE - Free Music (1975 -1988)

by Fran Kursztejn
Parallel to the intrigue and innovation of the music, Jazz is a story of political and economic reorganization. In America, from the days of swing, bebop, and eventually free jazz, the story is repeatedly one of the musicians against the record companies, venues and financiers that seek to control both their wages and their artistic development. This art, beloved and respected globally, but it is also tainted by the legacies of disenfranchisement, ruthless commodification and socioeconomic neglect of even its ...
Continue ReadingTrance Map (Evan Parker & Matthew Wright): Horizons Held Close

by John Sharpe
Although there have been more populous versions of Trance Map on Crepuscule in Nickelsdorf (Intakt, 2019), and Marconi's Drift (False Walls, 2024), Horizons Held Close presents the outfit pared back to its original core: the soprano saxophone of Evan Parker and the electronics of Matt Wright. Parker's solo work often reaches beyond the possibilities open to normal mortals into something with an electronic vibe, a realm he explored even more thoroughly through his Electro-Acoustic Ensemble, first heard in 1996. While ...
Continue ReadingZahili Gonzalez Zamora: Overcoming

by Andy Crowther
Zahili Zamora's journey from Cuba to Boston via Southeast Asia is reflected in her aptly titled five-track album, Overcoming. A pianist, composer and now educator, she tackles her fears and difficult life experiences head-on in the work, through sound, emotion and rhythm. At 22 Zamora was in a high-calibre all-female band that toured often outside of Cuba, when on a whim the band decided to stay in Canada after performing there. The country offered far more freedom than ...
Continue ReadingAnat Fort: The Dreamworld of Paul Motian

by Dan McClenaghan
Borrowing a sentiment from the title of the 1959 Riverside Records album Everybody Digs Bill Evans, it is safe to say that pianist Anat Fort digs Paul Motian. Her The Dreamworld of Paul Motian says so. We can attribute a big part of Motian's career success to pianist Bill Evans (1929 -1980). Portrait In Jazz (Riverside, 1960) was the first Evans album that included Motian in the drummer's chair. More followed, including the groundbreaking Sunday At the Village ...
Continue ReadingAlex Otey: Darwin AI: Surivior Choice

by Kyle Simpler
Concept albums are uncommon in jazz, but pianist, trumpeter, and composer Alex Otey embraces the challenge with Darwin AI: Survivor Choice. This project blends intellect and groove, presenting Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory in a new light by discussing the implications of artificial intelligence through a hybrid of jazz, rock and beyond. Otey's background shapes the album's overall vision. Before turning to music full-time, he studied physics, worked with the Department of Energy and Agriculture and designed software. These ...
Continue ReadingDave Douglas: Alloy

by Glenn Astarita
Dave Douglas continues his alchemical pursuits with Alloy, forging a trumpet-centric ensemble that elevates group dialogue to new heights--proving that in jazz, three is not a crowd, it is a conspiracy of cool. Commissioned for the 23rd season of the Festival of New Trumpet Music, the project pairs the leader with British trumpeter Alexandra Ridout and New Hampshire's Dave Adewumi, creating a brass coalition where collaboration outshines competition, like diplomats dodging discord. The title nods to the art of melding ...
Continue ReadingJulian Shore: Sub Rosa

by Pierre Giroux
Julian Shore's recording, Sub Rosa, features the pianist alongside his longstanding collaborators, bassist Martin Nevin and drummer Allan Mednard. More than just a collection of tunes, the album captures over two years of shared exploration, the group's exceptional empathy and fluidity. The trio demonstrates a remarkable ability to spontaneously reshape material, highlighting the strong camaraderie underpinning their sound. Shore's compositions form the foundation of much of the album, with each piece reflecting episodes of personal experience ...
Continue ReadingKris Adams: Away

by Richard J Salvucci
Troubled times, unsettled times, uncertain times, all produce a certain sort of music. It may be--as in the case of Away--music of loss. In this case, it is mostly music written by guitarist-composer Michael O'Neil. O'Neil is admittedly not well known. Yet in this soulful, translucent recording, a few musicians, one of whom knew O'Neill, provide a look into the man's heart, and into the equally disturbed time in which we live. The vehicle is a ...
Continue ReadingJosh Lawrence: Still We Dream

by David A. Orthmann
"Long As You're Living," the opening track of Still We Dream, trumpeter Josh Lawrence 's seventh release for Posi-Tone Records, is an ideal candidate for extensive airplay on jazz radio. Coming in at under four minutes, it is all substance, no fluff, no excess. A blues in 5/4 time, generating middling tempo swing courtesy of bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Rudy Royston, this cover of Julian Priester 's and Tommy Turrentine's subtly funky line makes for an auspicious beginning. Still, ...
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