Swinging for me has always been the main attraction to playing jazz, but that has meant finding the way to feel the music together. The Lonely Woman idea led to these explorations of creating tension by playing in parallel spaces,… Read More ›
whirlwind recordings
Nigel Price – Heads & Tales Volume 2
(Whirlwind Recordings) This is the follow-up to Volume 1 which the guitarist released in 2011. It’s a two disc set, the second being Price alone or playing with himself via overdubs, the first being his organ trio with Ross Stanley… Read More ›
Ingrid & Christine Jensen – Infinitude
(Whirlwind Recordings) The Canadian sisters, trumpeter Ingrid and saxophonist Christine, have Ben Monder on guitar, Fraser Hollins on bass and Jon Wikan on drums and an album entitled for the concept of boundless possibility. If the possibilities they explore on its ten… Read More ›
Andre Canniere – The Darkening Blue
(Whirlwind Recordings) The third recording on Whirlwind by the American trumpeter now based in London features a sextet and a batch of 10 original tunes, four of them based on poems by Rilke and one with words by Monique Canniere inspired… Read More ›
September CD releases in brief
Here are paragraphs about some of the music I was listening to this past month which I couldn’t devote full reviews to: Pablo Held Trio – Lineage (Pirouet Records): Ten years together – it’s quite an achievement in these times of… Read More ›
July/August CD releases in brief
Here are paragraphs about some of the music I was listening to these past two months which I couldn’t devote full reviews to: Stein Urheim – Strandebarm (Hubro): The third release on the excellent Norwegian label from the guitarist/multi-instrumentalist and largely… Read More ›
Jason Palmer/Cédric Hanriot – City Of Poets
(Whirlwind Recordings) Twentieth-century classical music provides the inspiration for a few modern jazz players and composers, but whereas for saxophonist John O’Gallagher it’s all about Webern and for trumpeter Dave Douglas it’s both Webern and Ligeti, for the American trumpeter Palmer and… Read More ›
April CD releases in brief
Here are paragraphs about some of the music I was listening to this month which I couldn’t devote full reviews to: Bill Evans – Some Other Time (Resonance Records): This previously unreleased double disc, subtitled The Lost Session From The Black… Read More ›
March CD releases in brief
Here are paragraphs about some of the music I was listening to this month which I couldn’t devote full reviews to: Jeff Williams – Outlier (Whirlwind Recordings): This band – Josh Arcoleo on tenor, Phil Robson on guitar, Kit Downes… Read More ›
Sam Crockatt Quartet – Mells Bells
(Whirlwind Recordings) Among the many fine recordings coming out of the younger British scene, this feels like one of the most mature yet. Tenor saxophonist Sam Crockatt has an R-R of a band with Kit Downes on piano, Oli Hayhurst… Read More ›
Some of the 2015 CDs that nearly got away – Part 1
These are just a few of the many CDs released in 2015 that thoroughly deserved a review but didn’t get one on this site. Well, not until now, and in brief… NYSQ – Power Of 10 (Whirlwind Recordings): saxophonist Tim Armacost,… Read More ›
Recent CD releases in brief – December 2015
Art Blakey – The Complete Columbia and RCA Albums Collection (Columbia Legacy): Christmas is box-set time and there are three new must-haves from the Sony stable. This one brings together seven releases from the acclaimed drummer and small band leader who… Read More ›
Julian Argüelles – Tetra
(Whirlwind Recordings) Tetra is both the name of the album and of this working quartet which has seen Midlands-born saxophonist Julian Argüelles (he cut his teeth with Walsall Jazz Orchestra) enlist musicians from a younger generation: Kit Downes on piano,… Read More ›
Julian Argüelles – October 2015
Saxophonist Julian Argüelles is about to tour with his new, young band Tetra – Kit Downes on piano, Sam Lasserson double bass and James Maddren drums – on the back of a new CD of the same name, released last week on… Read More ›
Paradise feels the power of the Paradigm Shift today
If you are in the vicinity of Paradise Forum in Birmingham today, you might be aware of a strange energy in the air. No, it’s not the earth movers closing in on the old Birmingham library, it’s the force field… Read More ›
Joel Harrison 5 – Spirit House
(Whirlwind Recordings) Guitarist Joel Harrison‘s back catalogue is chock-a-block with adventures, both in repertoire and in band configuration. So, we’ve had albums inspired by ethnic folk song, country music, and interpretations of the work of that other Harrison guitarist, George;… Read More ›
Ivo Neame – Strata
(Whirlwind Recordings WR4674) Inevitably, British pianist (and saxophonist too, once upon a time) Ivo Neame is best known from his Scandinavian associations – as part of the trio Phronesis and as a crucial member or saxophonist Marius Neset’s band. He… Read More ›