Editor's Choice: April 2024 | The best new jazz albums
Thursday, March 14, 2024
This month we welcome new releases from Melissa Aldana, James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Trio HLK, Chris Potter and more
Melissa Aldana
Echoes of the Inner Prophet
Blue Note
Melissa Aldana (ts), Lage Lund (g, effects), Fabian Almazan (p, effects), Pablo Menares (b) and Kush Abadey (d). Rec. date not stated
The enigmatic ‘Unconscious Whispers’ offers a new angle on what’s termed as ‘spiritual’ jazz and is a refreshing antidote to the current penchant for stylised regurgitations of the mid-1960’s ‘cosmic’ period. Echoes of the Inner Prophet is an album that succeeds in reinvigorating the jazz genre. Selwyn Harris
Doncaster Jazz Alumni
50 Years
Ubuntu
Tom Ashe, Damian Bell, Martin Bradley, Reuben Fowler, James Hamilton, Mike King, Gareth Smith, Tom Tait, Mark White, Stuart Wilson (t), Pete Beachill, Jacob Cooper, Chris Groves, Lee Hallam, Rory Ingham, Dan Jones, Harry Maund, Richard Potts, Jonathan Reed, Winston Rollins, Ellie Smith, Richard Wigley (tb), Colin Latimer, Karen Latimer, Robin Tait (fr h), Kate Ashwood (f), Mark Ellis, Rob McGrath, Cat Miles, Dean Nixon, Sarah Potts, Mark Sabin, Myvanwy Smith, Nadim Teimoori (reeds), Martin Longhawn, Andy Vintner (p), Manolo Polidario (g), Paul Baxter, Sean Hodgson (b), Jonathan ‘Stan’ White (el b), Steve Hanley, Joe Sykes (d), Rob Clark (perc), John Ellis MBE, Reuben Fowler and Al Wood (MD). Rec. 1-2 October 2022
Twelve performances, a dozen charts, some by noted US writers, multiple lineups, varied soloists, but above all a zest in execution and a sense that whatever the challenges offered by these often-complex pieces, these players, old and new, have them sorted. Peter Vacher
Flo and The Murmurs
The Waves
La Buissonne
Marie-Florence Burki (v), Sofia de Falco (vn), Paula Hsu (vla), Bernardette Köbele, Elodie Théry (clo) and Snejana Prodanova (b). Rec. 1-3 June 2023
Virginia Woolf was an impressionist, with a stream-of-consciousness style that is part poetry, part prose - particularly striking in the novel that has inspired this work. As such, it lends itself well to musical interpretation. The compositions feel pastoral and sensual, dramatic and interior, and both voice and quartet are beautifully recorded. Peter Jones
Ruth Goller
Skyllumina
International Anthem
Ruth Goller (b, el b, v), Jim Hart (vb, d), Tom Skinner (d, elec), Max Andrzejewski, Frank Rosaly, Emanuele Maniscalco, Sebastian Rochford, Mark Sanders (d), Bex Burch (sanza, ilimba) and Will Glaser (gongs). Rec. 2023
Goller's penchant for experimentation and collaboration might have its roots in the DIY punk scene she inhabited as a teenager but it is also unmistakably, liberatingly, jazz; this marvellously sucker-punching recording, just 44 minutes long, finds the London-based Goller - formerly a mainstay of outfits from Acoustic Ladyland and Melt Yourself Down to Bex Burch's glorious Vula Viel - augmenting every piece with a different, similarly inventive drummer. Jane Cornwell
James Brandon Lewis Quartet
Transfiguration
Intakt
James Brandon Lewis (ts), Aruan Ortiz (p), Brad Jones (b) and Chad Taylor (d). Rec. 2022
The ensemble sound can be tough, grainy and heavy, but also lyrical and plaintive, as exemplified by the beautiful gospel-tinged closer, ‘Elan Vital’, which betrays the known interest Lewis has for the music of Mahalia Jackson among others. This latest release further strengthens the argument that Lewis really is a modern-day tenor titan. Kevin Le Gendre
Kjetil Mulelid
Agoja
Odin
Kjetil Mulelid (p, ky), Bárður Reinert Poulsen (b), Andreas Winther (d), Lars Horntveth (pedal steel), plus Arve Henriksen, Mathias Eick, Lyder Røed (t), Selma French (vn), Martin Myhre Olsen (ts, ss), Trygve Seim (ts), Sasha Berliner (vib) and Signe Emmeluth (as). Rec. 6-8 December 2022
Norway’s jazz scene often sits happily out on its own limb – the native sound palette swirling with folkloric flourishes and breathy lyricism. Thus, it’s to burgeoning piano talent Kjetil Mulelid’s credit that he’s forged an intuitive link to more conventional sounds, making space for solos and collective improvisation on this wonderfully open-hearted set. Mike Flynn
Rufus Reid & Sullivan Fortner
It’s the Nights I Like
Sunnyside Communications
Rufus Reid (b) and Sullivan Fortner (p). Rec. 5 July 2021
Heard live, Rufus is a mesmerising player, and this album comes close to communicating that. Despite the 40-something year age gap between them, Sullivan is completely on the same wavelength, and their mutual exploration of everything from the old standard ‘Sweet Lorraine’ to a version of Jimmy Rowles’s ‘The Peacocks’ (that has Reid soloing over a subtle piano background), shares their joyful investigations with us. Alyn Shipton
Chris Potter
Eagle's Point
Edition
Chris Potter (ts, b-cl, ss), Brad Mehldau (p), John Patitucci (db), Brian Blade (d). Rec. 2022
Potter injects a mix of both tough and tender aspects of his primary influences Rollins and Trane, and Patitucci and Mehldau are at the height of their storytelling powers soloing on ‘Cloud Message’, a sensuous swinger that fizzes with Patitucci and Blade’s driving yet feathery swing. Selwyn Harris
Trio HLK
Anthropometricks
Ubuntu
Rich Harrold (p, syn), Ant Law (8 -string g), Rich Kass (d, perc) with Evelyn Glennie (vb, mba, perc), Natalie Clein (clo) and Varijashree Venugopal (v). Rec. 4-9 January 2023
Anthropometricks applies the same process that Trio HLK employed on their debut Standard Time. Shards of standards are slivered from the original then patterned and played around with (in every sense) to create a fresh newness. So ‘Concertinas (for Bill)’ may have bubbled free from ‘All Blues’ and be a backhanded compliment to Bill Evans, while ‘Flanagan’s Lament’ may allude to Tommy Flanagan chasing the ‘Trane across ‘Giant Steps’. Andy Robson
All of these albums, and dozens more, are reviewed in the April 2024 issue of Jazzwise magazine. Never miss an issue – subscribe today
