New Release Round-up,
Jazz New Release Round-Up - 17th November, 2023
Make no doubt about it, few musicians hold a candle to Ed Motta’s creative flame. Music simply oozes through the Brazilian’s veins, and he has made it his life’s mission to combine his palette of many influences into a uniquely soul-stirring vision. Returning for his first album in half a decade, we find the passionate polymath back where belongs, once again applying his broad strokes of genius to three-quarters of an hour of original funk and soul, each track a glistening gem.
Available Format: Vinyl Record
It’s not often that new folk music ends up on our desk, but we’re glad this album has made its way to our earholes. The trans-border partnership between Welsh harpist Finch and Irish fiddler Ní Bhriain first blossomed in November of last year before the pair would enter the studio and solidify the exquisite pairing of their two charming instrumental voices. Finch, who has recorded with figures as strikingly diverse as Seckou Keita and John Rutter in recent years, is at once a sensitive accompanist and an encouraging leader, mirroring her partner’s melodic lines with an all-encompassing sense of musical feeling and emotion. The emotional impact of this collaboration is brought home through its daring usage of both traditional and original music, a combination that feels ageless and vibrant.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This lush trumpeter is known for his tenderhearted style, as if supplying an amorous score to the changing of the seasons themselves. Easy-going, but with a subtle spirit of burning passion and desire, Vol. 1 sets the record straight in presenting the musician as a master of sentimental balladry and mood. This album is a classy affair, as well as a much needed counterweight to the contemporary business of modern jazz – reminding us why these classic standards remain so.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The young Danish guitarist has all the confidence of a player well beyond his current status. His tone, reminiscent of the reverberated Americana feel of the post-Frisellian guitar sphere, is a treat to behold as it manages to capture the smokey depth of a calmingly dour sound world. The ensemble’s overall weightlessness retains the feeling of expectation, of something unpredictable emerging right around the corner – but without the knee-knocking nervousness that might trip up a lesser experienced player. With a team of expert musicians amalgamating his considered precision, Kogh and his band are gently persuasive.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Many jazzers have turned to Johann Sebastian for inspiration in the past. In the grand tradition of Jacques Loussier, American pianist Adam Birnbaum decides it's his time to ‘play Bach’, switching onto a classical-inspired setlist honouring the Well-Tempered Clavier set of preludes from the king of counterpoint. Upending the lineage of keyboard improvisation from its Baroque context through to modern-day jazz, the trio makes for delightful reinterpretations of these standalone masterworks, delicately revealing new insight as they imbibe Bach’s proficient harmonies with every passing phrase.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Barney Whittaker
