Featured Label,
Jazz highlights from Nonesuch Records
Originally founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman, American label Nonesuch Records has its origins as a budget classical music label, but from 1984 under the leadership of Bob Hurwitz Nonesuch steadily began expanding its pool of genres to include minimalists like Steve Reich or avant-garde jazz musicians like John Zorn. Over time, the label has branched out into many forms of popular music, with high-profile artists like American folk group Fleet Foxes now having releases in the label's catalogue. Naturally, the label continues to release a number of jazz albums every year, with many highlights from this year alone including Cécile McLorin Salvant's acclaimed Ghost Song or Mary Halvorson's experimental Amaryllis & Belladonna.
Check out more of our favourite Nonesuch Records releases below...
LongGone is the second album by Joshua Redman's original 1990 quartet - featuring pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride and drums Brian Blade - since their reunion in 2019, and while 2020's album RoundAgain featured contributions from each member, LongGone returns the quartet to its roots by focussing on a set of Redman originals.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Available Format: Vinyl Record
Fronting his own project, pianist Brad Mehldau also released Jacob's Ladder this year, which combined the sounds of contemporary jazz with his love of classic progressive rock, on a conceptual new record informed by faith.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Available Formats: 2 Vinyl Records, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Her first outing with Nonesuch Records for avant-garde guitarist Mary Halvorson is actually two albums of new compositions; Amaryllis is a six-part suite performed by six improvisers including Halvorson, vibraphonist Patricia Brennan, bassist Nick Dunston, drummer Tomas Fujiwara, trombonist Jacob Garchik, and trumpeter Adam O'Farrill.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Belladonna, on the other hand, features Halvorson performing with a string quartet for the first time, with the Mivos Quartet - who also appear for 3 tracks on Amaryllis - performing her original compositions while Halvorson herself improvises throughout.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Amaryllis and Belladonna are also available together as a double-LP set.
Available Format: 2 Vinyl Records
Tigran Hamasyan is hardly known for being the most straightforward of pianists, but his latest recording sees him tackling an album's worth of American standard repertoire with the same experimental flair that makes his original compositions so compelling.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Available Formats: Vinyl Record, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
American vocalist and songwriter Cécile McLorin Salvant's debut on Nonesuch explores themes of nostalgia and yearning, with an eclectic set of original songs, reworked standards like 'Unquiet Grave', and pop material like Kate Bush's 'Wuthering Heights'.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Available Formats: Vinyl Record, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
More jazz favourites from Nonesuch...
'Variations on a Melancholy Theme' was originally written by Brad Mehldau for pianist Kirill Gerstein, with this orchestral version being commissioned by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. The piece is perhaps best described by Mehldau; "as if Brahms woke up one day and had the blues".
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This pianist's 2020 album, also released with Nonesuch, is another highlight of his career; diving headfirst into heady jazz fusion and modernistic electronic sounds, The Call Within sounds like no other "jazz" album you'll hear.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The aforementioned comeback album of Joshua Redman's MoodSwing quartet from 1994, this first reunion album features contributions by all four members of the band, each now an accomplished bandleader in their own right 25 years after MoodSwing. You'll definitely hear each of the player’s voices in their tunes, be it Mehldau’s dense chordal playing on ‘Moe Honk’, the funky bass swing on McBride’s ‘Floppy Diss’, or the shuffling percussive ambience on Blade’s ‘Your Part to Play’.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The legendary jazz fusion guitarist's 2020 album From This Place features his band alongside the Hollywood Studio Symphony, incorporating their lush string sounds into his painterly compositions.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Joshua Lee - Jazz Content
