Myra Melford: For the Love of Fire and Water

Mary Halvorson | Susie Ibarra | Ingrid Laubrock | Tomeka Reid | Myra Melford

In the summer of 2019 the California-based pianist-composer Myra Melford formed an all-female quintet to perform music she’d written in...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: May/2022

Frankie Newton: The Connoisseur’s Frankie Newton, 1937-1939

Richard Fullbright | Edmond Hall | Pete Brown | Frankie Newton | John Kirby | Mezz Mezzrow | Meade Lux Lewis | Eddie Dougherty | Al Casey | Gene Johnson

Armstrong-tinged trumpeter Newton (1906-1954) may be largely forgotten now, but in his day he stood out as an intriguing, often...

Reviewed by Peter Vacher in issue: May/2022

Albert Ayler: Revelations: The Complete ORTF 1970 Fondation Maeght Recordings

Allen Blairman | Steve Tintweiss | Mary Parks | Call Cobbs | Albert Ayler

During his short, but volatile lifetime, free jazz pioneer Albert Ayler (1936-1970) never quite managed to fully convince the critics...

Reviewed by Edwin Pouncey in issue: May/2022

Sidney Bechet: Four Classic Albums – Third Set

Réné Franc | Guy Lognon | Jean-Louis Durand | George Stephenson | Freddie Moore | Teddy Buckner | Eddie Bernard | Jacques David | Sidney Bechet | Sammy Price

The centrepiece of this package is the 1956 collaboration between Bechet and the six-piece band led by pianist Sammy Price...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: May/2022

Bill Evans: The Legendary Bill Evans Trio

Scott LaFaro | Paul Motian | Bill Evans | Tony Scott

If you consider yourself the person who needs an introduction to Evans’ groundbreaking work at the start of the 1960s,...

Reviewed by Brian Priestley in issue: May/2022

Charles Mingus: The Lost Album From Ronnie Scott’s

Jon Faddis | Charles Mingus | Dannie Richmond | Charles McPherson | John Foster | Bobby Jones

Change has been a constant in the history of black music, but the time in which Charles Mingus led a...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: May/2022

Yaniv Taubenhouse: Hope

Yaniv Taubenhouse

During the pandemic, and the periods of lockdown that ensued to contain the virus, many artists took the opportunity of...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: May/2022

The Gil Evans Orchestra: Live at Fabrik

Marilyn Mazur | Lew Soloff | Pete Levin | Chris Hunter | Gil Evans | Howard Johnson | Victor Lewis | David Bargeron | John Clark | Hiram Bullock

This is the ‘Monday Night’ band that appeared regularly at The Sweet Basil. I saw it several times there, and...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: May/2022

Hermeto Pascoal E Grupo: Hermeto

Any release by the Brazilian legend, a man whose unique genius has bewitched both fellow musicians and audiences alike for...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: May/2022

Shake Stew: Heat

Astrid Weisinger | Johannes Schleiermacher | Herbert Pirker | Lukas Kranzelbinder | Mario Rom | Niki Dolp | Oliver Potratz

Shake Stew’s irresistibly danceable grooves and immersive feeling are increasingly authoritative on this fourth album. Bandleader-bassist Lukas Kranzelbinder grew up...

Reviewed by Nick Hasted in issue: May/2022