This week’s releases range from intimate contemporary jazz to landmark vocal recordings. Leading the way is one of the year’s most hotly anticipated jazz albums, Here Because of Hope from Ezra Collective, on which the group trace Black musical traditions from West Africa through the Caribbean to London. Guitarists Antonio Forcione and Cenk Erdogan combine acoustic and fretless guitars on Storytellers, while Gretchen Parlato draws together jazz, Brazilian music, R&B and soul on The Wise Ones. Saxophonists Nikolaus Gelpke and Giacomo Smith offer contrasting new projects: the spacious Nordic soundscapes of Ålesund 63 and the straight-ahead interplay of Artfullee. Vocalist Maja Jaku gathers an impressive New York ensemble for Blessed & Bewitched, while Verve Vault vinyl reissues revisit Mel Tormé’s Broadway-inspired Swings Shubert Alley and Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s hugely influential Gospel Train.
Here Because of Hope
Ezra Collective
Ezra Collective’s most ambitious album yet, Here Because Of Hope follows Black music from Africa through the Caribbean to London, tracing how joy and hope persist through pain. Built around the group’s jazz foundations, it features Pa Salieu, Lila Iké and Leona Lewis in a warm celebration of the African diaspora.
Available format: CD
Storytellers
Antonio Forcione & Cenk Erdoğan
Italian guitarist Antonio Forcione joins Turkish fretless-guitar specialist Cenk Erdoğan for a set of close-knit acoustic duets. Their contrasting approaches prove naturally complementary: Forcione brings rhythmic drive and a bright, expressive attack, while Erdoğan draws on the subtle inflections of Anatolian music. The pair first met at an Istanbul guitar festival more than twenty years ago, and Storytellers makes good on that long acquaintance, with pieces such as Folk Song for Two and Leaving Home balancing virtuosity with warmth and restraint.
Available format: CD
The Wise Ones
Gretchen Parlato
Gretchen Parlato continues to broaden her music beyond jazz on The Wise Ones, bringing together elements of Brazilian music, R&B, Latin jazz and soul. Her light, rhythmically assured vocals are supported by a particularly versatile quartet: Alan Hampton on bass and guitar, Jacob Mann on piano and keyboards, and drummer Mark Guiliana, whose collaborators have ranged from Brad Mehldau and Meshell Ndegeocello to David Bowie. The result places Parlato’s increasingly confident songwriting at the centre of a warm, subtly detailed sound.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Ålesund 63
Nikolaus Gelpke
Saxophonist Nikolaus Gelpke makes his recording debut with Ålesund 63, an understated, atmospheric album shaped by the Norwegian landscape. Recorded at Ocean Sound Studio with a young ensemble, its spacious arrangements and clear, uncluttered melodies reflect a musical path pursued away from conventional timelines. Rather than foregrounding technical display, Gelpke allows the compositions to develop through patient group interaction, creating music distinguished by its stillness, curiosity and strong sense of place.
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Blessed & Bewitched
Maja Jaku
Vienna-based vocalist Maja Jaku recorded her fifth album, Blessed & Bewitched, in New York with drummer Johnathan Blake, bassist Dezron Douglas, pianist Alan Bartuš and trumpeter Michael Rodriguez. Co-producer Adrian Varady also appears on one of his own compositions. Drawing on Jaku’s lifelong engagement with the jazz tradition, the programme combines five original songs with two classics. Her expressive, direct delivery is supported by a finely responsive band, giving this personal collection a strong sense of warmth and connection.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Swings Schubert Alley (Verve Vault)
Mel Tormé with The Marty Paich Orchestra
Mel Tormé applies his immaculate phrasing and easy swing to Broadway on the 1960 Verve favourite Swings Shubert Alley. Backed by Marty Paich’s orchestra, he draws fresh energy from standards including Lerner and Loewe’s ‘On the Street Where You Live’, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘Hello, Young Lovers’ and Cole Porter’s ‘Too Darn Hot’. This Verve Vault reissue was cut directly from the original analogue master tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound and pressed on 180-gram vinyl.
Available format: Vinyl Record
Gospel Train (Verve Vault)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe brought gospel fervour together with the force of electric blues long before rock ’n’ roll found its name. Originally released by Mercury in 1956, Gospel Train placed her voice and unmistakable guitar playing within polished studio arrangements, supported by session musicians including the Harmonizing Four. Highlights include ‘Up Above My Head’, ‘Jericho’ and ‘99½ Won’t Do’. This Verve Vault edition was cut from the original analogue master tapes by Ryan K. Smith and pressed on 180-gram vinyl.
Available format: Vinyl Record
