Melody Players: Songs from our Memories

An atmospheric, French-based guitar trio bringing a minimal jazz style to Bach, Satie through to Gainsbourg with guests Flavio Boltro...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: February/2012

Becki Biggins: The +ve (The Positive)

Becki Biggins

This follow-up to her 2005 solo debut First Love from 20-something singer, saxophonist and former NYJO member, Becki Biggins, is...

Reviewed by Peter Quinn in issue: June/2010

Amy’s everything: Amy Gadiaga: All Black Everything

Amy Gadiaga | Christ-Stéphane Boizi | Joseph Oti | Luke Bacchus | Simon Lamb | Tom Waters

All Black Everything has been an awfully long time coming, but it’s been well worth the wait. Singer, bassist, composer,...

Reviewed by Peter Jones in issue: June/2024

David Preston: Purple/Black Volume One

David Preston | Kevin Glasgow | Kit Downes | Seb Rochford

Championed in his heady youth by the likes of Ian Shaw and as likely now to be seen in the...

Reviewed by Andy Robson in issue: June/2023

Julie London: Five Classic Albums

Al Hendrickson | Al Viola | Benny Carter | Bud Shank | Buddy Cole | Buddy Collette | Dick Nash | Eleanor Slatkin | Felix Slatkin | George Auld

Featuring original artwork and liner notes, this latest release in the Avid Jazz Five Classic Albums series presents a second...

Reviewed by Peter Quinn in issue: May/2023

Joe Harriott & Co: Helter Skelter: Live, Rare & Unreleased 1955-1963

Joe Harriott | Kurt Edelhagen | The Daily Mail International Jazz Festival All-Stars | The Melody Maker All-Stars

This is an exceptional release comprising entirely of rare Harriott recordings, most previously unreleased. It's an important documentation at three...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: June/2017

Asaf Sirkis Trio: Shepherd's Stories

Asaf Sirkis | Gareth Lockrane | John Turville | Sylwia Bialas | Tassos Spiliotopoulos | Yaron Stavi

Sirkis describes a shepherd’s story as a melody that ‘reminds you of something you’ve heard before’. And there’s much in...

Reviewed by Andy Robson in issue: September/2013

Ran Blake: That Certain Feeling (The George Gershwin Songbook)

In duo with either Ricky Ford or Steve Lacy, Blake explores Gershwin with probing, questioning imagination, but never losing sight...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: June/2011

Daniel Hersog Jazz Orchestra: Open Spaces (Folk Songs Reimagined)

Andrew Porrier | Ben Henriques | Ben Kono | Brad Turner | Dan Weiss | Daniel Hersog | Derry Byrne | Frank Carlberg | Jeremy Berkman | Jim Hopson

This is an unusual project by Hersog, a Canadian trumpeter, composer and arranger who is also that rarity, the leader...

Reviewed by Eddie Myer in issue: August/2023

Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time OutTakes: Previously Unreleased Takes from the Original 1959 Sessions

Dave Brubeck | Gene Wright | Joe Morello | Paul Desmond

Time Out, lest anybody needs reminding, was the first platinum-selling album in jazz, and the 45 rpm single from it,...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: December/2020