CD/LP/Track Review

There's no denying the benefit of stable longevity, but neither is there anything wrong with change. Following three ACT recordings that featured her trio--together since Scattering Poems (ACT, 2003)--supporting a series of vocalists, Julia Hülsmann moved to ECM, where the pianist was afforded greater freedom to more fully explore her trio's potential on 2008's The End ...

The Sea Cabinet is singer-songwriter Gwyneth Herbert's sixth album release, her first since All the Ghosts (Naim, 2009). That album's Herbert compositions drew comparisons with such iconic British songwriters as Ray Davies and Paul McCartney--comparisons which were spot-on but for the crucial fact that Herbert unfailingly sees the world from a woman's point of view--while the ...

With Lento Korean Vocalist Youn Sun Nah once again captivates with an eclectic mix of source material and her ability to evidently manipulate her voice to achieve any effect she so chooses. Nah has crafted a style so purely her own and so compelling, the only valid point of comparison is her previous work. In that ...

French trumpeter Eric Le Lann has a bit part in Bertrand Tavernier's 1986 film Round Midnight, the story of a French jazz fan's friendship with wayward American jazz musician Dale Turner, played by tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon. Le Lann plays a French jazz trumpeter--not much of a stretch. More to the point, the film's story mirrored, ...

Since releasing its self-titled debut in 2010, the Danish group Girls in Airports has managed to create their own expression, a unique blend of Nordic jazz lyricism, indie-rock influences and sounds from around the world, including the pentatonic scales of Ethiopian music, dub sounds of Jamaica and Brazilian rhythms. This is truly a globalized band if ...

Tenor man David Murray is considered to be one of the most prolific and innovative players and composers of the last 40 years. Not only has he distinguished himself as an inventive leader of the avant-garde movement, he has become a veritable Renaissance man just based on the myriad of projects he has undertaken in the ...

Most of the world simply lives by the known, but some people fantasize about discoveries and ideas that are beyond the generally accepted scope of possibility. A select few from that list manage to make their dreams turn into reality, and they go down in history as visionaries; these are the people that multi-instrumentalist Ken Silverman ...

Ruins is the debut release from keyboardist and composer Dan Nicholls. Nicholls is based in London, where he is a member of the ever-fascinating Loop Collective. He's declared that his music is inspired, at least in part, by “prevalent issues" such as the Arab Spring--a quick check of the song titles, or a glance at the ...

On an island known for its extensive array of virtuoso pianists, Cuban-born Aruan Ortiz distinguishes himself from the pack by a transcendent approach to his instrument, and an encyclopedic knowledge of styles ranging from traditional Afro- Cuban and classical to bop. He's also a prolific composer. Having roared into New York City and taken it by ...

Bassist Lorenzo Feliciati is the driving force behind Naked Truth, whose Ouroboros (RareNoise, 2012), featuring trumpeter Graham Haynes, is an invigorating sonic slab of post-Miles Davis post-jazz-rock. Feliciati and vocalist Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari here convene a coterie of like-minded post-everything musicians to go Berserk! The hybrid music they make takes Naked Truth as a starting point ...

After twenty one recordings there may not be too much more to say about the superlative English threesome of saxophonist Evan Parker, bassist Barry Guy and drummer Paul Lytton. Some 30 years on since their debut Tracks (Incus, 1983), they converse in a language entirely of their own making, which relies on a staggering density of ...

The monochromatic cover of Unfolding Routes depicts an iconic--and stark--image of a deserted highway leading to an infinite horizon. It's perspective: an integral component of art. This collaboration of two outstanding Italian musicians is no dimensional illusion but, rather, an intelligent and involving artistic journey. Bardaro, Italian-born but now residing in Copenhagen, is a highly gifted ...

If you are as extraordinarily talented as saxophonist Jon Irabagon, probably best known from his tenure in the gloriously irreverent Mostly Other People Do The Killing, then you might occasionally need to set yourself challenges. He's done it before, on Foxy (Hot Cup, 2010), where he undertakes a relentless examination of a theme from every conceivable ...

The adventures of François Carrier continue with Overground To The Vortex. The well-traveled Canadian saxophonist has recorded in Nepal--KATHMANDU (FMR, 2008), St. Petersburg, Russia with All Out (FMR, 2011) and In Motion (Leo, 2011), of course Canada Entrance 3 (Ayler, 2011), and this release in Great Britain, where he made his Shores and Ditches (FMR Records,2012). ...