Stix Hooper: Mainstream Straight-Ahead/Many Hats/Jazz Gems

Paul Viapiano | Al Criado | Del Atkins | Paulinho da Costa | Andrei Kitaev | Oscar Castro-Neves | Taylor Eigsti | Oscar Brashear | Harish Raghavan | Scott Mayo

Hooper of course was the man in the drum chair of the Crusaders, from their soul bop days as the...

Reviewed by Andy Robson in issue: February/2013

Donald Fagen: Sunken Condos

Jamie Leonhart | Earl Cooke Jr | Freddie Washington | Antoine Silverman | Jim Pugh | Donald Fagen | Joe Martin | Catherine Russell | Aaron Heick | Gary Sieger

Fagen remains as irascible as ever, darkly witty in his lyrics, while that voice and its quirky phrasing remains as...

Reviewed by Andy Robson in issue: February/2013

Stanton Davis's Ghetto Mysticism: Brighter Days

This has long been an obscure rarity – from the days when Davis was living in Boston, prior to his...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: February/2013

Benjamin Taubkin and Adriano Adewale: The Vortex Sessions

Adriano Adewale | Benjamin Taubkin

Having performed together briefly at Dalston's Vortex in 2009, this Brazilian pianist and percussionist decided to take it further and...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: February/2013

Fly Agaric: In Search of Soma

Jiri Slavik | Fred Thomas | Zac Gvi | Francesc Marco

Quite an old fashioned record, delivered via modern means and inspired by progressive thought, this quartet record is also fairly...

Reviewed by Stephen Graham in issue: February/2013

European Union Quartet: The Dark Peak

A recommended CD by the young Dutch saxophonist Iman Spaargaren and his warmly lyrical post-bop EU quartet that includes Matthew...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: February/2013

Chris Potter: The Sirens

David Virelles | Larry Grenadier | Chris Potter | Eric Harland | Craig Taborn

Chris Potter is one of the very few contemporary heavyweights in the big US tenor tradition. As a sax sideman...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: February/2013

José James: No Beginning No End

Chris Dave | Pino Palladino | Emily King | Robert Glasper | José James | Hindi Zahra | Lionel Loueke | Kris Bowers

Cynics may decry this latest chapter in the 33 year-old American vocalist's career as his lunge for the commercial jugular...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: February/2013

Scenes In The City: The Man Who Never Sleeps

Jeremy Price | Arnie Somogyi | Tony Kofi | Alan Barnes | Mark Edwards | Clark Tracey

This is bassist Somogyi's band, conceived as a tribute to Charles Mingus, all eight tracks devoted to the great man's...

Reviewed by Peter Vacher in issue: February/2013

Terri Lyne Carrington: Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue

Christian McBride | Terri Lyne Carrington | Gerald Clayton

When the brilliant musical mind of Terri Lyne Carrington meets the incomparable compositions of Duke Ellington, something special is bound...

Reviewed by Peter Quinn in issue: February/2013