Jazzwise Choices,
Jazzwise Editor's Choices - March 2022
Jazzwise Editor's Choices for March 2022 include Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana's Blue Note Records debut, experimental new textures from London drums & sax duo Binker & Moses, and Cécile McLorin Salvant's Ghost Song on Nonesuch.
The following Jazzwise picks are available to purchase at Presto...
Editor's Choices
"It’s a brave move indeed to make a label debut as introspective as Aldana does here, but equally remarkable is how 12 Stars manages it without ever feeling forced or leaving the listener overwrought. Aldana’s first leader disc on Blue Note already feels like an album of the year contender."
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
"The duo’s live interplay is filtered through a Modular synth with sampled tape loops in real-time, yet the spontaneity isn’t lost. The soundscape is epic yet [Max] Luthert’s methods are minimalistic: looped samples built around Golding’s sax motifs and spacey drones instead of the tunes/ grooves of previous albums, and there’s an added thunder to Boyd’s superb drumming improvs."
Available Format: CD
Available Format: Vinyl Record
"This haunting album is barely 37 minutes long, but since the trumpet-playing Avishai Cohen is a master of doing more with less – and proves it with an exquisite precision even by his own exacting standards on Naked Truth – it's hard to imagine anyone feeling shortchanged."
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
"...a truly joyous recording that captures the spirit of young London and demonstrates why it’s such a wellspring of creative musical talent."
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
"...while Mattan Klein may wear his influences on his sleeve this enjoyable album shows he has the confidence to make them his own."
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
"Stravinsky’s angular rhythms, dissonant voicings and sense of drama are more than trace elements, but this is an entirely original work that brilliantly plays to the strengths of both big band and star guest."
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
"Essentially a tour de force of jazz past – the Second Line N’awlins rhythms on ‘Jungle Jig’, the bebop lines of ‘Jojo’, and the jazz-rock implications of ‘Memento Part 1’ and the Silent Way-ish ‘Prayer for Peace’ – to the contemporary present, every track insists there’s more to this album than initially meets the ear."
Available Format: CD
"This eight-track album, commissioned by Ubuntu label boss Martin Hummel and recorded at the Jazz Café in London in May 2021, deftly captures the essence of both acts – the falsetto-to-baritone range of Omar’s voice, QCBA’s 1960s and 70s-era Blue Note influences – along with all the excitement of a live gig straight out of lockdown."
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
"The result is music of sensitivity and intelligence, which underlines Salvant’s growth as an artist of stature whose stylistic choices are as daring as they are mature."
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Available Formats: Vinyl Record, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Joshua Lee - Jazz Content
