Billy Strayhorn: Day Dream: Complete 1945-61 Sessions as a Leader

A valuable anthology of six Strayhorn sessions plus the piano duets with Ellington that were recorded between 1945-50, making this...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: August/2015

Tomasz Dabrowski & The Individual Beings

Fredrik Lundin | Grzegorz Tarwid | Irek Wojtczak | Jan Emil Mlynarski | Knut Finsrud | Max Mucha | Tomasz Dabrowski

Polish trumpeter Tomasz Dabrowski has been living in Copenhagen since 2008, but he retains a strong connection to the mother...

Reviewed by Daniel Spicer in issue: August/2022

John Etheridge: Twenty: The Best of Sweet Chorus

Andy Crowdy | Christian Garrick | Dave Kelbie | John Etheridge | Malcolm Creese

Ah, such sweet surprises from an Etheridge project dedicated to the timeless magic of Stephane Grappelli. As Etheridge points out,...

Reviewed by Andy Robson in issue: September/2019

stillefelt

Chris Mapp | Percy Pursglove | Thomas Seminar Ford

A single live recording sliced into six tracks, stillefelt appears to gut itself of rules, such as structure, so as...

Reviewed by Debra Richards in issue: July/2020

OPUS 5: Progression

Alex Sipiagin | Boris Koslov | David Kikoski | Donald Edwards | Seamus Blake

This is a regular gigging group of Mingus Big Band members. The deal came about when Blake called producer Gerry...

Reviewed by Tony Hall in issue: September/2014

Better than TV: Late

This Cambridge-based Mingus-ish, bop-related quintet (featuring upcoming trombonist Tom Green) is led by the bassist Sergio Contrino who penned this...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: September/2015

Anna Gréta: Nightjar in the Northern Sky

Anna Gréta | Einar Scheving | Hilmar Jensson | Johan Tengholm | Ragnheiður Gröndal | Sigurður Flosason | Skúli Sverrisson

There is much to admire in this collection of 12 originals composed by the Iceland-born, Stockholm-based pianist and vocalist Anna...

Reviewed by Peter Quinn in issue: February/2022

Secret Sessions: Hoop

Chris Allard | Ian Thomas | Lawrence Cottle | Miles Bould | Nichol Thomson | Paul Booth | Ross Stanley | Steve Hamilton | Tom Walsh

Paul Booth likes to set a challenge: the Secret Sessions are based on the precept that no-one knows who they...

Reviewed by Andy Robson in issue: December/January/2021/2022

Joe Farnsworth: City of Sounds

Joe Farnsworth | Kenny Barron | Peter Washington

Drummer-led sessions usually fill me with trepidation; too much percussion can dull the brain, I find. Not so this time....

Reviewed by Peter Vacher in issue: November/2021

Charles Mingus: Something Like A Bird

Akira Ohmori | Bob Neloms | Charles McPherson | Charles Mingus | Dannie Richmond | Eddie Gomez | George Coleman | George Mraz | Jack Walrath | Jimmy Knepper

Along with his Three Worlds Of Drums, this represents the fruit of Mingus' last appearance in a studio, just 50...

Reviewed by Brian Priestley in issue: March/2015