Nesrine

A mesmerising young Algerian- French cellist-vocalist with a dynamic sense of spatial awareness in her music, with its emphasis on...

Reviewed in issue December/2020

Adam Bałdych/Vincent Courtois/Rogier Telderman: Clouds

Adam Baldych | Adam Bałdych | Vincent Courtois | Rogier Telderman

“On this album I wanted to play less than ever before,” says Polish violin virtuoso Adam Baédych. By which he...

Reviewed in issue November/2020

Marius Neset/Danish Radio Big Band/Miho Hazama: Tributes

Jakob Munck Mortensen | Kaspar Vadsholt | Peter Dahlgren, | Lars Vissing | Anders Gaardmand | Frederick Menzies | Erik Eilertsen | Hans Ulrik | Gerard Presencer | Thomas Kjaergaard

With 2016's Snowmelt and 2019's Viaduct (both featuring the London Sinfonietta), the Norwegian reeds virtuoso Marius Neset emerged as a...

Reviewed in issue November/2020

Michael Wollny: Mondenkind

Michael Wollny

Michael Wollny, now a family man who teaches in academe, put lockdown to good use in April with this exhilarating...

Reviewed in issue November/2020

Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic X: East-West

Aram Lee | Nesrine Belmokh | Yoon Jeong Heo | Majid Bekkas | NES Trio | Nguyên Lê | Jean Oh

When an instrument not usually associated with improvisation is introduced into jazz, it is usually regarded as something of a...

Reviewed in issue August/2020

Laila Biali: Out of Dust

Rich Brown | Larnell Lewis | Laila Biali | Glenn Patscha | Ben Wittman

I was a big fan of Laila Biali's 2018 self-titled debut on ACT – for which she bagged Vocal Jazz...

Reviewed in issue June/2020

Jazzrausch Bigband: Beethoven's Breakdown

Jutta Keeß | Angela Avetisyan | Heinrich Wulff | Roman Sladek | Daniel Klingl | Patricia Römer | Raphael Huber | Severin Krieger | Julius Braun | Fredeik Mademann

Beethoven was a raver. You knew that already, of course, but, as if to allow you to hear and feel...

Reviewed in issue June/2020

Wolfgang Haffner: Kind of Tango

Wolfgang Haffner | Christopher Dell | Bill Evans | Vincent Peirani | Guest Alma Naidu | Lars Nilsson | Simon Oslender | Lars Danielsson | Ulf Wakenius | Sebastian Studnitzky

First there was Kind of Cool (2015). Next there was Kind of Spain (2017). And now, to complete the trilogy,...

Reviewed in issue May/2020

Iiro Rantala and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen: Playing Gershwin

Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen | Annti Tikkanen | Jonathan Bloxham | Iiro Rantala

The concept of ‘Symphonic Jazz’ was launched by Paul Whiteman at the Aeolian Hall on 12 February, 1924. Today that...

Reviewed in issue April/2020

Viktoria Tolstoy: Stations

Joel Lyssarides | Rasmus Kihlberg | Krister Jonsson | Mattias Svennson | Viktoria Tolstoy

As emotionally engaging as it is immaculately performed, this latest album from vocalist Viktoria Tolstoy scores highly for its striking...

Reviewed in issue April/2020