Various Artists: We Like Ike: 100th Birthday Tribute To Jazz Guitar Legend Ike Isaacs

Saul Isaacs | Philippe Briand | Paul Del Nero | Andy Brotherton | James Muller | Sandie White | Brett Hirst | Harry Allen | Trefor Owen | Charles Alexander

Here’s a 17-track mixed-bag tribute to mark the centenary of the influential jazz guitarist Ike Isaacs who was born in...

Reviewed by Peter Vacher in issue: March/2020

Mike Cooper/Mark Wastell: Sound Mirrors

Mike Cooper | Mark Wastell

As Geoff Dyer said of Don Cherry, Mike Cooper ‘has simply become the music’. And in Wastell he has a...

Reviewed by Andy Robson in issue: March/2020

The Miles Davis Quintet & Sextet: Walkin'

JJ Johnson | Percy Heath | Dave Schildkraut | Gil Coggins | Miles Davis | Kenny Clarke | Lucky Thompson | Horace Silver | Jackie McLean

Miles Davis’ album Walkin’ is one of those albums that should be in every jazz fan’s album collection. Recorded after...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: March/2020

Christine Abdelnour/Magda Mayas: The Setting Sun is Beautiful Because of All It Makes Us Lose

Recorded live in Oslo, this experimental Lebanese-born sax-piano duo is a dialogue of introspection, minimalist gestures and resourcefulness, both musicians...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: March/2020

Grant Green: Grantstand

Grant Green | Ben Dixon | Garvin Masseaux | Wendell Marshall | Willie Bobo | Patato Valdes | Yusef Lateef | Jack McDuff | Johnny Acea | Al Harewood

Jazz Images again puts out another gimcrack reissue sold around a new cover photo. Yawn. Presenting four of Green’s earliest...

Reviewed by Simon Spillett in issue: March/2020

Maria Mendes: Close To Me

John Beasley | Jasper van Hulten | Karel Boehlee | Vincent Houdijk | Maria Mendes | Metropole Orkest | Jasper Somsen

The Portugal-born, Netherlands-based vocalist Maria Mendes has described hearing Mariza singing the beloved fado song ‘Barco Negro’ as being “a...

Reviewed by Peter Quinn in issue: March/2020

Shri: The Letter

Tore Brunborg | Ben Castle | Bugge Wesseltoft | Shri | Paolo Vinaccia | Arild Andersen

In 1993, a young Shri Sriram sent a demo tape to his bass idol, Eberhard Weber, who replied with this...

Reviewed by Mike Flynn in issue: March/2020

Fred Lonberg-Holm/Joe McPhee: No Time Left for Sadness

This recording by two veteran US titans of contemporary hardcore improv ain’t for jazz snowflakes; it’s an acerbic barrage of...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: March/2020

Album Interview: Pulled by Magnets: Rose Golden Doorways

Neil Charles | Seb Rochford | Pete Wareham

Contemporary jazz is a spectrum and there are few musician-composers in the field that epitomise its openness more than the...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: March/2020

Johnny Griffin/Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis: Ow! Live at The Penthouse

Horace Parlan | Buddy Catlett | Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis | Art Taylor | Johnny Griffin

Griff ‘n’ Jaws – the ultimate tough tenor tandem, a powerhouse pairing who could take any audience (or rhythm section)...

Reviewed by Simon Spillett in issue: March/2020