Espoo Big Band: Espoo Suite

Marzi Nyman

In Finland, a country of five-and-a-half million people (comparable to the island of Ireland), Espoo is the second largest city...

Reviewed by Brian Priestley in issue: May/2019

Bobo Stenson: War Orphans

Jon Christensen | Bobo Stenson | Anders Jormin

Between 1993 and 2000, Bobo Stenson recorded a trilogy of albums with Jordan and Christensen – Reflections (1993), War Orphans...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: May/2019

Nate Wooley: Columbia Icefield

Nate Wooley | Mary Halvorson | Ryan Sawyer | Susan Alcorn

Nate Wooley has spoken about the spirit of what he calls the ‘American weirdo’, backwoods pioneers like John Cage, Pauline...

Reviewed by Philip Clark in issue: May/2019

Giovanni Guidi: Avec Le Temps

Italian piano star Guidi leads his regular trio of gifted US bassist Thomas Morgan and assertive reeds player/compatriot Francesco Bearzatti...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: May/2019

Tom Rainey Trio: Combobulated

Mary Halvorson | Tom Rainey | Ingrid Laubrock

Over the previous decade or so, the three musicians listed in the personnel above have in various permutations contributed a...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: May/2019

Joey DeFrancesco: In The Key Of The Universe

Pharoah Sanders | Billy Hart | Troy Roberts | Joey DeFrancesco | Joey Defrancesco | Sammy Figueroa

The New Jersey-raised Joey DeFrancesco's hard-swinging small-group albums have delivered fluency, grit and romance for decades. His bass pedals alone...

Reviewed by Mike Hobart in issue: May/2019

Maurice Louca: Elephantine

Ozun Usta | Anna Högberg | Maurice Louca | Tommaso Cappalleto | Pasquale Mirra | Isak Hedtjärn | Ayman Asfour | Natik Awayez | Nadah El Shazly | Piero Bittolo

Unlike many an attempt at ‘world-fusion’ there's nothing ersatz about this sumptuous, 39-minute suite of Egyptian jazz from Cairo-based composer...

Reviewed by Daniel Spicer in issue: May/2019

Mopcut: Accelerated Frames Of Reference

Audrey Chen | Lukas König | Julien Desprez

Proving that it's not where you're from, but where you're at, this trio clearly fell in through their rhythmic drive,...

Reviewed by Debra Richards in issue: May/2019

Dwight Trible: Mothership

Mark de Clive-Lowe | Dwight Trible | Ramses Rodriguez | John B. Williams | Kamasi Washington

LA-based vocalist Dwight Trible's career traverses collaborations with Kenny Garrett, Charles Lloyd and Pharoah Sanders on the one hand, J...

Reviewed by Peter Quinn in issue: May/2019

Øyvind Torvund: The Exotica Album

Norwegian indie Hubro are reliably unpredictable and this is as irresistibly quirky as it gets; a large ensemble led by...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: May/2019