Jazzwise Choices,
Jazzwise Editor's Choices - August 2022
The August 2022 edition of Jazzwise includes Editor's Choice picks by London eight-piece Kokoroko with their debut Could We Be More, ACT Music's release of the centenary Charles Mingus concert, and a specially curated anthology of Steve Tibbetts' music, Hellbound Train.
Editor's Choices
"Expectations were therefore high for this band of Afrobeat-and-highlife-loving adventurers and their horn-playing, vocal harmonising female frontline; Could We Be More exceeds them, and more."
Available Format: CD
"There’s also something of Sonny [Rollins’] indomitable prolixity and Hawk’s built-in swagger in Ford’s extended improvisations, these especially evident on his ‘That Red Clay’ but all the way through this stirring, full-on recital, he sounds determined to assert control. The blurb speaks of his ‘bristling edginess’ and that’s right, Soskin and company matching him for intensity on, say, the title track, which is a strong bebop romp."
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
"The range and quality of this debut would be remarkable even if it hadn’t all been laid down in a single day, but that detail confirms James Kitchman’s aplomb as composer and bandleader, not least in his choice of travelling companions."
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
"The quirky Anthony Braxton Suite is kept on course by Martin Kershaw in a classic case of saving the best until last. This is four star jazz throughout, no question."
Available Format: 2 CDs
"One doesn’t want to over-praise so young a band on their debut, but Ubuntu continue to build a strong roster of artists who indeed are the new bands of tomorrow."
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
"Live tributes to the departed greats are now the lifeblood of the mainstream circuit, which is doubtless why jazz is now a classical music. The more thorny question of whether one should preserve such gigs in album form seems to have long been decided in favour of doing just that."
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Reissues & Archive
"The sides with Oscar Peterson’s quartet are accomplished and polished, but here they serve as a curtain-raiser for the two selections from the Quartet with DeFranco and Art Tatum. These (‘A Foggy Day’ and ‘Makin’ Whoopee’) are worth the price of the set on their own."
Available Format: 2 CDs
"...it sounds great, with key elements present and correct: acoustic 12-string, distorted electric guitar (making a sound ‘like sheet metal being torn to pieces’), drones, tabla, a vast array of instrumentation and, of course, someone playing a vase. If you don’t know Tibbetts’ music, the title track, with its wild, shifting percussion, is a great place to start."
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Joshua Lee - Jazz Content
