Kenny Shanker: Beautiful Things

Alto saxophonist Shanker, a burning bebopper and fat-toned balladeer, shows an edginess in his sound too in a session far...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: September/2021

Australian Art Orchestra: Closed Beginnings

Zoë Barry | Tariro Mavondo | Lizzy Welsh | Reuben Lewis | Erkki Veltheim | Peter Knight

Australian Art Orchestra has always been a broad church. Founded in 1994 by the visionary composer-pianist Paul Grabowsky, the contemporary...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: September/2021

Xhosa Cole: K(no)w Them, K(no)w Us

Soweto Kinch | James Owston | Jay Phelps | Xhosa Cole | James Bashford | Reuben James

Xhosa Cole caught the public's attention in 2018 as winner of the BBC Young Jazz Musician award: the two-year wait...

Reviewed by Eddie Myer in issue: September/2021

PYJÆN: Feast

Dani Diodato | Ben Vize | Dylan Jones | Benjamin Crane | Charlie Hutchinson

Young quintet PYJÆN are a well-connected bunch in their London ‘hood, hence the liberal scattering of illustrious guests across this...

Reviewed by Tony Benjamin in issue: September/2021

Butcher/Lash/Russell/Sanders: Discernment

Mark Sanders | Dominic Lash | John Butcher | John Russell

Bristol-based double bass player Dominic Lash has a been a steadfast and scholarly figure in the UK improvised music community...

Reviewed by Daniel Spicer in issue: September/2021

Don Ellis: The Lost Tapes Vol 3

Mike Carnahan | Harihar Rao | Don Ellis | Milcho Leviev | Sam Falzone | David Crigger | Stu Goldberg

This is the third, and final, album in the Don Ellis Lost Tapes series. The producers Gary Gillies and Nick...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: September/2021

Junior Mance: The Albums Collection 1959-62

Ben Tucker | Ernie Royal | Ray Brown | Clark Terry | Junior Mance | Larry Gales | Ben Riley | Jimmy Cleveland | Osie Johnson | Eddie Costa

As often happens when a great musician dies, there is a sudden revival of interest in their work, and Junior...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: September/2021

The Chris Saunders Band: Dancing With the Widow St. James

Ken Cook | Luis Carbo | Rob Fordyce | Chris Saunders | Michael Aragon

A mainstay in the San Francisco Bay Area for the last decade, on Dancing With The Widow St. James trumpeter,...

Reviewed by Peter Quinn in issue: September/2021

Kenny Garrett: Sounds from Ancestors

Ronald Bruner | Vernell Brown, Jr. | Lenny White | Johnny Mercier | Maurice Brown | Corcoran Holt | Kenny Garrett | Dwight Trible | Rudy Bird

This is the fifth album by Garrett on Mack Avenue and it's impressive in its lines of input, ranging from...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: September/2021

Sam Rivers: Braids

Thurman Baker | Joe Daley | Dave Holland | Sam Rivers

The late Sam Rivers was as prolific as he was creative, and the fairly regular arrival of batches of work...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: September/2021