Jazzwise Choices,
Jazzwise Editor's Choices - February 2024
“This album uncovers a whole, tender world in the act of playing his instrument and its emotional vocabulary for him, having stripped away its distracting power. Owl Song explores his fundamental sound, squeezing out notes with a mournful, broken beauty as unmistakable as Miles’ muted, masculine soul.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
“Joey Alexander’s virtuosity and the warm embrace of jazz’s celebrity aristocracy could have made him a retro artist, but he's already streets ahead of that.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
“[Corea] personalises his performance in a fascinating way, sometimes counterpointing, doubling or harmonising the orchestral tuttis, embellishing his solo lines and improvising the cadenzas, all touches Mozart himself is believed to have done."
Available Format: CD
“The session is aptly named. Four of the five tracks are based on minimal heads by Dunmall – ranging from a multi-horned exultation to a cheeky R&B groove – which provide the context for gloriously unfettered blowing from the three saxes punctuated by some deliciously salty vibraphone interjections.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
"Another triumph for Halvorson as composer/arranger and guiding spirit."
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
"The intricate, information-dense linear arrangements and tightly plotted rhythm tracks that characterised Phronesis are here relaxed so that the music is allowed to flow and breathe, and the musicians audibly revel in the interplay allowed by this more expansive approach, especially in the short, mood-heavy improvised interludes between the main events."
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
"Iverson bangs out some very good themes but his partners are also architects in their success."
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
“The album has as many tightly managed moments as flights of freedom, the unifying features being well-crafted short and simple themes and Pohjola’s distinctive trumpet sound and style.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
“Reno’s follow-up release on PX Records [...] merely serves to confirm all of her great qualities: flawless pitch, impeccable time feel and a pleasingly rich timbral quality.”
Available Format: CD
“A collection of (mostly) original tunes, it is perhaps lighter in tone, but conceptually similar, to its heavier forebear. It doesn’t suffer in comparison.”
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Archive & Reissues
"While the Detroit pianist left an impressive catalogue of studio recordings she was also an excellent live performer, and this 2012 concert with star guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel at the well appointed Philharmonic De Paris is a timely reminder of both her compelling individuality and ability to create a dialogue of equals."
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
"Overall, this is a valuable and well put-together anthology, that gives a good rounded portrait of Bailey – and sitting almost dead-centre among the 73 tracks is her signature song ‘Rockin’ Chair’."
Available Format: 3 CDs
"The sound is superb, the attention given to the album’s presentation of a high order, the trio delivering driving swing throughout as Brown and Thigpen provide the springboard for Peterson’s relentless desire to invent."
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
"The 82 year-old has rightful elder statesman credentials, as is clear from this overlooked set that fully warrants new investigation."
Available Format: 2 Vinyl Records
Barney Whittaker
