Jazz Reviews
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Nina Simone in Concert
13th Dec 2019
Nina Simone in Concert from 1964 stands as one of the most politically charged statements of the Civil Rights Movement, and a key album of Simone's career. From the perspective of late 2019 it stands as a timely warning of the dangers of complacency.
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Kit Downes - Dreamlife of Debris
29th Nov 2019
Finding inspiration in W.G. Sebald's novel The Rings of Saturn, Kit Downes's second album for ECM demonstrates his unique approach to the church organ with a brilliantly atmospheric suite of pieces.
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Eri Yamamoto's Goshu Ondo Suite
15th Nov 2019
Composer/pianist Eri Yamamoto weaves magic in this choral jazz odyssey, drawing on the Japanese tradition of Goshu Ondo, the dance song, in a vivid collaboration between her trio and Choral Chameleon.
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Goshu Ondo Suite
Eri Yamamoto Trio & Choral Chameleon
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Jeff Goldblum - I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This
8th Nov 2019
Jeff Goldblum's second album is an enjoyable romp through the standards, with a little help from his star-studded friends.
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Holland / Hussain / Potter - Good Hope
30th Oct 2019
A nuanced meeting of minds - tabla master Zakir Hussain meets bassist Dave Holland and saxophonist Chris Potter for a joyful collaboration that rewards close listening.
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Teddy Wilson
24th Oct 2019
Teddy Wilson was the definitive pianist of the swing era, an artist who appeared on many great recordings from the 1930s through to the 1970s. This week Matt focuses on Wilson's ebullient recordings made after the American recording ban was lifted in 1944.
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Jan Garbarek and The Hilliard Ensemble
18th Oct 2019
Released 25 years after Officium, Remember Me, My Dear is the final album recorded by saxophonist Jan Garbarek and The Hilliard Ensemble.
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Remember Me, My Dear
Jan Garbarek The Hilliard Ensemble
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O'Higgins & Luft Play Monk & Trane
4th Oct 2019
Some albums are an enjoyable challenge, some are pure joy from start to finish, and Dave O'Higgins and Rob Luft's tribute to Monk and Coltrane on the Ubuntu label is firmly in the latter category.
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O'Higgins & Luft Play Monk & Trane
Dave O'Higgins, Rob Luft
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Golden Valley is Now
20th Sep 2019
Childhood friends, all of whom are now improvising superstars in their own rights, come together to make a noise closer to blissed out pop than jazz. Matt gets over excited.
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The World of Cecil Taylor
19th Sep 2019
A snapshot of Cecil Taylor on the cusp of breaking free from all conventions, The World of Cecil Taylor is the sound those very conventions being stress tested in the jazz lab, with a young Archie Shepp doing his best to keep up.
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This is Mainstream!
13th Sep 2019
A terrific compilation unearthing some gems from producer Bob Shad's Mainstream Records imprint, and including artists as diverse as Stanley Clark and Sarah Vaughan.
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Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea
10th Sep 2019
Erroll Garner's Concert by the Sea is a hardy perennial that became one of the best selling jazz albums of all time. An expanded edition was issued in 2015, finally allowing us to savour in full that magical September evening in 1955 at the Sunset School, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
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Michael Janisch - Worlds Collide
6th Sep 2019
Worlds Collide in order to create brave new ones on Michael Janisch's highly enjoyable new album.
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Worlds Collide
Michael Janisch
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Joe Henderson - Inner Urge
4th Sep 2019
One of the tenor players most enduring sessions, Inner Urge has lost none of its freshness over the past 50 years.
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Veronica Swift - Confessions
30th Aug 2019
Veronica Swift's assured debut album Confessions is an enjoyable showcase for an exciting new jazz vocalist, with excellent support from some of New York's finest players.
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Confessions
Veronica Swift
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Jon Batiste - Anatomy of Angels
7th Aug 2019
Anyone who has seen 'The Late Show' will recognise Jon Batiste, but there is much more to him than being Stephen Colbert's musical side-kick, as he proves on the engrossing live set from New York's Village Vanguard.
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Archie Shepp on Impulse!
7th Aug 2019
One of the great saxophonists of the sixties, Archie Shepp made some of the most exciting and politicised recordings of the era, in a series of albums that documented the civil rights struggle.
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Tubby Hayes Quartet - Grits, Beans And Greens
30th Jul 2019
One of the most exciting archive discoveries of recent times, after 50 years on the shelf Grits, Beans And Greens is everything Tubby Hayes worshippers had hoped for, and it already sounds like a classic.
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Bill Evans - Everybody Digs Bill Evans
30th Jul 2019
With his second album, Everybody Digs Bill Evans, the pianist re-invented the role of his instrument in jazz. Over 60 years later it remains as fresh as when it was first released, and is the ideal first step into Evans's discography.
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Laura Jurd - Stepping Back, Jumping In
23rd Jul 2019
Stepping Back, Jumping In is a sharp, witty and exciting new album from one of the powerhouses of UK jazz, Laura Jurd. Is it too soon to call her our own Carla Bley?
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Stepping Back, Jumping In
Laura Jurd
