New Release Round-up,
Jazz New Release Round-Up - 11th November 2021
This week's pick of the latest jazz releases include vocal jazz from Australian-born artist Nishla Smith, tributes to the music of Black American women by Melanie Charles on Verve, and reissues of box sets by Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins and Louis Armstrong.
This Australian-born, Manchester-based jazz singer and songwriter explores her own experiences with insomnia on an intimate set of originals - as well as a Richard Rodgers standard - for her full-length debut.
Available Format: CD
The deluxe edition of Friends With Monsters includes a zine produced in collaboration with visual artists, who designed their own responses to each of Nishla’s songs.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
The vinyl edition of Friends With Monsters releases next Spring.
Available Format: 2 Vinyl Records
American vocalist and flautist Melanie Charles’ full-length debut on Verve Records is a celebration and love letter to Black women artists. Charles offers her own reinterpretations of songs by Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Dinah Washington among others.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Available Format: Vinyl Record
Multi-instrumentalist Jorge Rossy brings out the marimba and vibraphone for his latest trio recording on ECM, Puerta, following his work on the label with Jakob Bro earlier this year.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Norwegian drummer Sverre Gjørvad’s third recording on Losen draws heavily from the sounds of the natural world; alongside his regular trio of Herborg Rundberg, Kristian Olstad and Dag Okstad, bassoonist Embrik Snerte brings the earthy sounds of the bassoon to Gjørvad’s compositions.
Available Format: CD
Though some of you might not have started thinking about Christmas just yet, German saxophonist Till Brönner certainly has - and it’s not the first time he’s released an album of Christmas music! This year’s Christmas features easy listening jazz versions of ‘Silent Night’, ‘Silver Bells’, ‘It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas’ and many more.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The first of a few American Jazz Classics 3CD sets on this week’s round-up is this collection, featuring all of the recordings made by bassist and composer Charles Mingus with jazz critic Nat Hentoff for the then-new Candid label. Mingus also brought along the talents of Tommy Flanagan, Eric Dolphy, Paul Bley, and many others - all of these sessions were taped and are featured here. This collection also features a bonus set featuring Booker Little, Benny Bailey, Eric Dolphy and Max Roach playing without Mingus.
Available Format: 3 CDs
All of Sonny Rollins’ known recordings taken from his 1959 tour of Europe are featured on this 3CD set, including a previously unheard set from Frankfurt. Rollins plays alongside Henry Grimes and Pete La Roca, as well as Joe Harris and Kenny Clarke. This set also includes the Aix-en-Provence concert, the last show played by Rollins before his first musical sabbatical which eventually led to the 1962 classic The Bridge.
Available Format: 3 CDs
Louis Armstrong’s recordings with the Dukes of Dixieland were some of the first times Armstrong was ever recorded in stereo; he both plays trumpet and sings on here, including some songs he’d never recorded prior like ‘Dixie’ and ‘New Orleans’. These 1959 sessions of Armstrong with the Dukes were originally issued as two separate LPs, but didn’t include everything from the sessions.
Available Format: 3 CDs
Joshua Lee - Jazz Content
