Miyasaka +5: Animals Garden

Takashi ‘Bear’ Miyasaka | Uniden | Hiromichi Tsugaki | Genji Sawai | Koichi Matsukaze | Hiroshi Itaya

Following its excellent J-Jazz compilations last year, BBE’s curation of classic, largely obscure Japanese improvised music continues apace. As can...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: March/2020

Sam Rivers Quintet: Zenith

Charlie Persip | Dave Holland | Joe Daley | Barry Altschul | Sam Rivers

Rivers’ Emanation was one of the reissues of 2019. Thankfully the label behind it, NoBusiness, is back in business with...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: March/2020

Soweto Kinch: The Black Peril

Xhosa Cole | Greg Hutchinson | Rosie Turton | Yael Onono | Eric Lewis | Sonia Konaté | Elias Atkinson | Nathaniel Cross | Axel Kamer- Lidstrom | Jay Phelps

Commissioned for the 2019 London Jazz Festival, The Black Peril is arguably one of saxophonist-rapper-composer Kinch’s most ambitious projects to...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: March/2020

Dr John: Big Band Voodoo

WDR Big Band | Dr John Mac Rebennack

Everyone should have a little Dr John in their lives, and this recording with a full-blooded big band, not a...

Reviewed by Andy Robson in issue: March/2020

Sérgio Mendes: In the Key of Joy

Artyom Manukyan | Hermeto Pascoal | Paulo Aragao | Buddy | Liminha | Leo Costa | Joåo Donato | Sugar Joans | Cali y El Dandee | Gracinha Leporace

Brazilian icon Sérgio Mendes loves a musical adventure, which is evident on this mighty double album of works past and...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: March/2020

Nina Simone: My Baby Just Cares For Me

Jimmy Bond | Nina Simone | Albert ‘Tootie’ Heath

Originally released as Little Girl Blue on the Bethlehem label in June 1958, what is perhaps most remarkable about Nina...

Reviewed by Peter Quinn in issue: March/2020

Elliot Galvin: Live In Paris, At Fondation Louis Vuitton

Elliot Galvin

Elliot Galvin hit the ground running as a rare original with a precociously encyclopaedic grasp of all manner of modern...

Reviewed by John Fordham in issue: March/2020

The Jazz Defenders: Scheming

Led by pianist George Cooper, the debut by a young London-based quintet is pure retro Blue Note-era hard bop and...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: March/2020

Bobby Bradford/Frode Gjerstad/Kent Carter/John Stevens: Blue Cat

Kent Carter | Frode Gjerstad | Bobby Bradford | John Stevens

In June 1991, American cornet player Bobby Bradford visited London to perform and record with his friend, UK drummer John...

Reviewed by Edwin Pouncey in issue: March/2020

Jon Hassell/Farafina: Flash of the Spirit

Jon Hassell | Farafina

Hassell has always been an enigma wrapped in a mystery, and Flash of the Spirit in particular has the tang...

Reviewed by Andy Robson in issue: March/2020