Sonny Rollins: Sonny Rollins Plays The Blues

A 2CD set that charts Sonny from 1951-58 as both leader and sideman. It makes up in breadth what it...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: Feb/2019

Empirical: Indifference Culture

Tom Farmer | Lewis Wright | Nathaniel Facey | Shaney Forbes

A decade into its present incarnation, British quartet Empirical continue to hold true to the values of Ornette, Coltrane, and...

Reviewed by John Fordham in issue: Feb/2019

SPILL: Stereo

The duo of Berlin-based pianist Magda Mayas, who works the interior rather than exterior of her instrument, and The Necks...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: Feb/2019

Tim Warfield: Jazzland

Tim Warfield | Terell Stafford | Daniel Sadownick | Byron Landham | Pat Bianchi

This is one of those records that could easily be overlooked and fall through the floorboards – you know, another...

Reviewed by Tony Hall in issue: Feb/2019

Various Artists: Miles Davis On Film

Miles Davis

An almost identical release to last year’s The Cinema of Miles Davis on él Records and equally as pointless. So...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: Feb/2019

Anguish

Andreas Werlin | Hans Joachim Imler | Will Brooks | Mats Gustafsson | Mike Mare

Since its inception, London-based imprint RareNoise has been nothing if not adventurous in cross-genre transcontinental collaborations, and this latest release...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: Feb/2019

Album Interview: Jeff Ballard: Fairgrounds

Pete Rende | Kevin Hays | Jeff Ballard | Mark Turner | Chris Cheek | Reid Anderson | Lionel Loueke

Jeff Ballad has a curriculum vitae as long as your arm, touring and recording with a host of notable names...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: Feb/2019

Chucho Valdés: Jazz Bata 2

Yaroldy Abreu Robles | Chucho Valdés | Yelsey Heredia | Dreiser Durruthy Bombalé | Regina Carter

Havana-born pianist Chucho Valdés – the granddaddy of Afro-Cuban jazz – has been on fire of late, touring with a...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: Feb/2019

Michael Formanek Elusion Quartet: Time Like This

Ches Smith | Michael Formanek | Kris Davis | Tony Malaby

A brilliant double-bassist with what often sounds like Mingus roots, and a variously spiky and gracefully contemplative composer with an...

Reviewed by John Fordham in issue: Feb/2019

Adam Hopkins: Crickets

This Brooklyn bassist’s brooding, yet high-spirited, sextet mixes up 1990s grunge-rock riffage with leftfield skronk, and features a multiple sax...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: Feb/2019