Editor's Choice: August 2023 | The best new jazz albums
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Outstanding new releases from Andy Emler Megaoctet, Uriel Herman, Christine Jensen, Joachim Kühn New Trio, Zoe Rahman and Kurt Rosenwinkel
Andy Emler Megaoctet
No Rush!
La Buissone
Andy Emler (p), Laurent Blondiau (t), Philippe Sellam (as), Guillaume Orti (as), Laurent Dehors (ts, bc), Francois Thuillier (tuba, saxophone horn), Francois Verly (perc), Eric Echampard (d), Claude Tchamitchian (b) and Nguyên Lê (g)
'Heading into his ninth Megaoctet album in 30 years, why would French pianist/composer Andy Emler be in a hurry? That said, the title track actually heads off at a fair old pace, with Emler’s piano and Francoise Verly’s drumming setting a brisk undertow against the corrective swooning of wind instruments. As the two forces negotiate, Laurent Blondiau mediates with a long, scrabbling trumpet solo - one of his many impressive contributions to the album...' Tony Benjamin
Uriel Herman
Different Eyes
Ubuntu
Uriel Herman (p), Itamar Borochov (t), Uriel Weinberger (ts, f ), Avri Borochov (b), Haim Peskoff (d) and Maayan Doari (perc)
'Different Eyes, Herman's third release, and a vivid collage of the sounds of his childhood on Jerusalem streets, mergers of rhythmic and melodic ideas spanning the Middle East, a little Chopin, and a closing lullaby dedicated to his young son – is the most powerful evidence so far of his formidable promise...' John Fordham
Christine Jensen
Day Moon
Justin Time
Christine Jensen (as, ss), Steve Amirault (p), Adrian Vedady (b) and Jim Doxas (d)
'Day Moon contains a series of compositions by the acclaimed Canadian saxophonist Christine Jensen that reflect her state of mind during the pandemic years. There’s nothing on the recording that represents the isolation experienced during those days by many people quite like Jensen’s lonesome soprano sax on the Shorter-ish ballad ‘Lined’, which mixes ‘Spanish’ modal and contemporary free bop with an eerily penetrating ambience that sets the tone for the rest of the album...' Selwyn Harris
Joachim Kühn New Trio
Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic XIV: Komeda
ACT
Joachim Kühn (p), Chris Jennings (b), Eric Schaefer (d), Plus Atom String Quartet: Dawid Lubowicz, Mateusz Smoczyński (vn), Michał Zaborski (vla) and Krzysztof Lenczowski (clo)
'A brilliantly atmospheric colourist and melodist, Komeda’s work is a blessing for Atom String Quartet that as individuals are equally adept at pursuing a high level of jazz improv as they are effervescent arrangements as a group, inviting comparisons to Stateside’s Turtle Island Quartet...' Selwyn Harris
Zoe Rahman
Colour Of Sound
Manushi
Zoe Rahman (p), Idris Rahman (ts, cl), Rowland Sutherland (f, af ), Byron Wallen, Alex Ridout (t), Rosie Turton (tb), Alex Dankworth (b) and Gene Calderazzo (d)
'Some two decades after her auspicious debut The Cynic, British pianist Zoe Rahman emphatically fulfils the considerable potential that was all too clear at that first stage of her development. True to form, the writing on this new offering is on a high level...' Kevin Le Gendre
Kurt Rosenwinkel
Undercover (Live at the Village Vanguard)
Heartcore Records
Kurt Rosenwinkel (el g), Aaron Parks (p, el p), Eric Revis (b) and Greg Hutchinson (d)
'Rosenwinkel's pure tone and unhurriedly graceful phrasing started building an audience in the 1990s, and though some of his storytelling vocal and multi-instrumental work can be an acquired taste, his skills as a jazz-guitar virtuoso with wide tastes have rightly kept him up there with the elite ever since...' John Fordham
Read the reviews of these albums – and many more – in the August 2023 issue of Jazzwise. Never miss an issue – subscribe today
