Editor's Choice: March 2024 | The best new jazz albums
Thursday, February 15, 2024
Outstanding new releases from Charles Lloyd, Julian Lage, Vijay Iyer Trio, Empirical and more
Adam Bałdych & Leszek Możdżer
Passacaglia
ACT Music
Adam Bałdych (vln) and Leszek Możdżer (p). Rec. 3-25 January 2023
Two of Poland’s most accomplished musicians at one with the art of spontaneous improvisation here create their own musical genre to create their own space. Rather than being limited by the terms jazz and classical music, they dip into both with a spirit of enquiry and no little adventure to see where they end up... Stuart Nicholson
Empirical
Wonder is the Beginning
Whirlwind Recordings
Nathaniel Facey (as) Tom Farmer (b) Shaney Forbes (d), Lewis Wright (vb), plus Jason Rebello (p) and Alex Hitchcock (ts) Rec. December 2022
The ensemble interaction to some extent can be said to be derived from the open-ended, free bop-ish approach of Wayne Shorter’s late quartet. The urgency and tight-knit ensemble play are still there, even if it’s a more mature, reflective development on previous albums... Selwyn Harris
Ron Horton
A Prayer for Andrew
Newvelle Records
Ron Horton (t, f), Marty Ehrlich (as, bs, cl), John O Gallagher (as), Frank Kimborough (p), Dean Johnson (b) and Tim Honer (d). Rec. 2 June and 15 July 2016
The devious rhythms, angular lines and tense emotions that mark the late pianist/composer Andrew Hill’s music are embedded in New York’s contemporary left field. Ron Horton’s double album A Prayer for Andrew captures the essence without resorting to mimicry... Mike Hobart
Vijay Iyer Trio
Compassion
ECM
Vijay Iyer (p) Linda May Han Oh (b) and Tyshawn Sorey (d). Rec. 2023
Vijay Iyer’s latest trio made its studio debut, Uneasy in 2021, and played an outstanding gig at the London jazz festival the following year, emphatically showing the band was in the creative ascendant. This new album confirms as much. The collegiate skill and advanced musicianship of pianist Iyer, double bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey are asserted without any individual dominating proceedings... Kevin Le Gendre
Julian Lage
Speak To Me
Blue Note
Julian Lage (g), Levon Henry (ts), Kris Davis (p), Patrick Warren (ky), Jorge Roeder (b) and Dave King (d). Rec. date not stated
The term 'complete musician' is overused, but in both composing and improvising Julian Lage has to be close to one... John Fordham
Charles Lloyd
The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow
Blue Note
Charles Lloyd (ts, f), Jason Moran (p), Larry Grenedier (b) and Brian Blade (d). Rec. March 2023
After the artistic success of A Trio of Trios in 2023, a trilogy of three quite different trios – the Chapel Trio, the Ocean Trio and the Sacred Thread Trio – Lloyd returns to the tried and tested combination piano bass and drums, the format with which he made his astonishing breakthrough in the 1960s that for a while at least, was more popular than the Miles Davis Quintet... Stuart Nicholson
QOW Trio
The Hold Up
Ubuntu
Eddie Myer (b), Spike Wells (d), Riley Stone-Lonergan (ts). Rec. date not stated
This superior follow-up to the band’s self-titled debut is frontloaded with Stone-Lonergan originals. His tenor is insistent then sinuous on ‘High Noon’, Myer holding the rhythm then diving forward, Wells’ bass-drum deployed as colour, till slow, sultry expiry from Latin heat... Nick Hasted
Joel Ross
nublues
Blue Note
Joel Ross (vb), Immanuel Wilkins (as), Gabrielle Garo (f), Jeremy Corren (p), Kanoa Mendenhall (b) and Jeremy Dutton (d). Rec. date not stated
Young vibraphone star Joel Ross went back to an unfinished music degree at New York's New School in 2020, when the pandemic had scuppered live performing – and was inspired there to dig deeper into the endless adaptability of the blues. The result has been nublues, Ross's fourth Blue Note release... John Fordham
All of these albums, and dozens more, are reviewed in the March 2024 issue of Jazzwise magazine. Never miss an issue – subscribe today
