This week’s releases begin with two very different keyboard-led groups: Eddie Parker and Rob Luft draw on the legacy of British jazz fusion with Airborn, while James Taylor returns to Acid Jazz for the trio recording The Truth. Ida Sand brings together jazz, soul and gospel on I Will Be Right There, before Nils Landgren celebrates his seventieth birthday with Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic, and Rhiannon Giddens explores the roots and communities of American music on Hope Is the Thing with Feathers. Also featured are new releases from Peter Asplund’s ASPIRATION and Enzo Favata, alongside reissues of Stanley Cowell’s Illusion Suite, Eddie Gale’s Black Rhythm Happening and The Three Sounds’ Soul Symphony.
Loose Tubes founder member Eddie Parker launches Airborn, a new group featuring guitarist Rob Luft. Their partnership began after Luft deputised for John Parricelli during Loose Tubes’ 2014 Ronnie Scott’s reunion, and developed through a shared interest in the music of John McLaughlin, Keith Jarrett, Kenny Wheeler and John Taylor. Parker, whose career also includes work with Bheki Mseleku and the Will Gregory Moog Ensemble, contributes an original programme, playing keyboards as well as flute.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 24 bit)
The Truth
The James Taylor Trio
Marking 40 years since his first solo single, James Taylor returns to Acid Jazz for his first album in a trio setting. On The Truth, his Fender Rhodes is joined by bassist Orlando le Fleming and drummer Theo Carasco, with tabla player Aref Durvesh and vocalist Liz Jai making guest appearances. Inspired by the early-1970s recordings of Les McCann, Hampton Hawes and Lonnie Liston Smith, the set includes versions of Vince Guaraldi’s ‘Linus and Lucy’ and ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 24 bit)
I Will Be Right There
Ida Sand
Stockholm-born singer and pianist Ida Sand brings together jazz, soul and gospel with a commanding voice and direct emotional warmth. A graduate of the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, she has become a prominent figure in Scandinavian jazz through albums including Meet Me Around Midnight. Her collaborations with musicians such as Nils Landgren and Joe Sample underline the breadth of her approach, while her performances retain a distinctive balance of expressive power and intimacy.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Jazz At Berlin Philharmonic
Nils Landgren
Recorded at the Berlin Philharmonie for Nils Landgren’s seventieth birthday, this Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic concert pays affectionate tribute to pianist and composer Joe Sample, one of Landgren’s musical heroes and later collaborators. The programme draws on songs with particular personal significance, performed by a group of leading jazz musicians alongside brass players from the Berlin Philharmonic. Their presence lends additional colour and weight to the arrangements without overwhelming the music’s warmth, intimacy and celebratory spirit.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Hope is the Thing With Feather
Rhiannon Giddens
Rhiannon Giddens recorded her seventh studio album, Hope Is the Thing with Feathers, live in Louisiana with minimal overdubbing, preserving the sound and spontaneity of musicians creating together. Longstanding collaborators including Francesco Turrisi, Jason Sypher, Niwel Tsumbu and co-producer Dirk Powell contribute to a programme connecting the Carolinas, Louisiana, Italy and the Congo. Four Giddens-Powell originals sit alongside traditional material and songs associated with Ola Belle Reed, Elizabeth Cotten and Pura Fé.
Available format: CD
In One Breath
Peter Asplund & ASPIRATION feat. Emmalisa Hallander
Vocalist Emmalisa Hallander and trumpeter Peter Asplund lead ASPIRATION through a programme combining Scandinavian lyricism with the language of American jazz. Asplund’s compositions and arrangements provide plenty of space for the close blend between voice and trumpet, supported by pianist Lars Jansson, bassist Hans Andersson and drummer Johan Löfcrantz Ramsay. With lyrics by Dave Castle and Lotta Asplund, the music balances romantic warmth with a gently melancholic character.
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Sardinian saxophonist and clarinettist Enzo Favata makes his ECM debut with Ritornare, leading his Atlantico quintet through music shaped by jazz, chamber textures and Mediterranean traditions. Longstanding guitarist Marcello Peghin is joined by bandoneonist Daniele di Bonaventura, bassist Salvatore Maltana and drummer U.T. Gandhi. Recorded in Munich with Manfred Eicher, the album moves between clear melodies and spacious improvisation, creating an acoustic sound rich in colour but guided by the group’s understated interplay.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
![Illusion Suite [luminessence Series]](https://d1iiivw74516uk.cloudfront.net/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiOTk2MDE4MC4xLndlYnAiLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjIwMH0sIndlYnAiOnsicXVhbGl0eSI6NjV9LCJ0b0Zvcm1hdCI6IndlYnAifSwidGltZXN0YW1wIjoiMTc4NjQ2NjE3MiJ9)
Illusion Suite [luminessence Series]
Stanley Cowell Trio
Pianist Stanley Cowell’s only recording for ECM finds him joined by bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Jimmy Hopps. Illusion Suite places Cowell’s distinctive compositions at the centre, moving confidently between contrasting idioms while giving the trio ample freedom to explore their harmonic and melodic possibilities. Restless yet remarkably coherent, the album captures an important stage in Cowell’s development as a leader. This Luminessence vinyl reissue is presented in a tip-on gatefold sleeve with new notes by pianist Ethan Iverson and an archival photograph.
Available format: Vinyl Record
Black Rhythm Happening (Classic Vinyl)
Eddie Gale
Trumpeter Eddie Gale developed the ambitious mixture of jazz, gospel and collective vocals heard on his debut Ghetto Music with 1969’s Black Rhythm Happening. The Noble Gale Musicians & Singers are joined by guests including saxophonist Jimmy Lyons and drummer Elvin Jones, on a set ranging from the forceful title track to the sparer ‘Song of Will’. This stereo Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition was mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analogue tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl.
Available format: Vinyl Record
Soul Symphony (Classic Vinyl)
The Three Sounds
By the time of 1969’s Soul Symphony, The Three Sounds had broadened their familiar trio format considerably. Pianist Gene Harris, bassist Henry Franklin and drummer Carl Burnett are joined by woodwind, brass and strings in arrangements written and conducted by Monk Higgins. The extended title piece is the centrepiece, combining the group’s soul-jazz foundations with a larger orchestral palette. This stereo Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition was mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analogue tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl.
Available format: Vinyl Record
