New Release Round-up,
Jazz New Release Round-up - 10th November, 2023
As the mercury continues to plunge, we offer some new arrivals that'll hopefully warm your listening environments. Beginning with A Consequence in Three Parts from the improvisatory Manchester-based Johnny Hunter Quartet, we then pick up with John Scofield and his familiar array of hippie delights on Uncle John's Band. Next up, the delightful vocalist Stacey Kent provides a compellingly yearnful antidote to your autumnal gloom with Winter Me, Summer Me, whilst Henry Spencer goes above and beyond for his new album, The Defector. Finally, the Scandinavian trio Rymden cover new ground overlooking Valleys & Mountains.
A recent feature of our round-up from just three months ago, this time Hunter expands his dynamic trio into a rip-roaring new quartet. Mark Hanslip returns on tenor from his comparative spell on Divisions, whilst Seth Bennet picks the baton up with ease from where previous bassist Olie Brice boisterously once strode. Fundamentally the freshest of the drummer’s chordless ensembles, the players here are given plenty of mileage to fill their shared sound space with individual meaning. Intricately arranged compositions that go hard, with each passionate moment never losing its tunefulness and edge.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Now shedding with as many decades behind him as there are strings to his instrument, this sprawling double-album from the legendary guitar bandit is absolutely stacked with impressive numbers which call to mind his previous work with sixties rock-inspired supergroup Hudson from 2017. With a masterful command of his trio featuring bassist Vicente Archer and Bill Stewart on kit, the septuagenarian note-bender remains mellifluously present and calm.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This immensely popular chanteuse imbues her signature charm with a sense of longing for this succession of beguiling songs in the vein of Rodgers & Hammerstein and Michel Legrand. Elsewhere, settings of other enchanting lyrics from the likes of Kazuo Ishiguro (a frequent associate) have been set to music by Kent’s intrepid partner and musical collaborator, Jim Tomlinson — but the highlight has to be Jacques Brel’s heartbreaking ballad, ‘If You Go Away’, recorded once with English text and then in its original francophone glory to close the album.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
This London-based trumpeter already possesses a bold and recognisable voice amongst his generation. On this, his second album, he simply glistens in accordance with an assembly of gifted peers all tasked with the challenge of bringing his gilded musical vision to life. Their work is more than enough for Spencer to springboard his own daring ideas off of, somersaulting himself to dazzling new heights within mere minutes of this epic journey’s commencement. The employment of string quartet and electric guitar — a similar gambit to the one pulled on his 2017 debut outing, The Reasons Don’t Change — tugs at heartstrings in equal measure.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
We had enormous fun listening to and reviewing Magnus Öström’s A Room For Travellers upon featuring it as our Recording of the Week earlier this year. Naturally, it’s thrilling to see the Swedish drummer return with Rymden, another of his acclaimed units made up of his former e.s.t.-colleague Dan Burglend plus the Norwegian pianist, Bugge Wesseltoft. Through their combined skills and years of experience, this prodigious combo are able to conjure up a variety of moods with ease, serving a pioneering selection of inspired attitudes at will. Whilst venturing into the next chapters of their lives, each of these three accomplished musicians continue to prove that, in spite of their successes, there is always room for exploration and discovery.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Barney Whittaker
