Anat Cohen Tentet: Happy Song

Sheryl Bailey | Anthony Pinciotti | James Shipp | Nick Finzer | Tal Mashiach | Oded Lev-Ari | Naadje Noordhuis | Anat Cohen | Owen Broader | Rubin Kodhell

Happy Song might be deemed insufficiently arty, if not ‘too obvious’, for the expectations that attend contemporary jazz. But it...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: February/2018

Eraldo Bernocchi: Rosebud

Not for the fainthearted, the Italian guitarist and his electronica-acoustic trio perfectly conjures up his nightmarish socio-political vision with a...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: February/2018

Pat Martino: Formidable

Alex Norris | Adam Niewood | Carmen Intore Jr | Pat Martino | Pat Bianchi

Martino came up through R&B bands, working often with star organists and he’s at it again here. Bianchi lays down...

Reviewed by Peter Vacher in issue: February/2018

Les Baxter: The Les Baxter Collection 1943-62

Arranger, composer and bandleader Baxter shaped popular taste more than a little in these years, and this 4CD set flits...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: February/2018

Mulo Francel: Mocca Swing

A 2CD set, one with the saxophonist-leader’s (a member of world music’s Quadro Nuevo) quartet and the other, a collaboration...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: February/2018

Ella Fitzgerald: Complete 1950-60 Piano Duets

Barney Kessel | Ella Fitzgerald | Ellis Larkins | Oscar Peterson | Paul Smith

The 20 tracks that Ella Fitzgerald recorded with pianist Ellis Larkins in 1950 and 1954 are arguably the best duets...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: February/2018

Nils Økland Band: Lysning

Håkon Mørch Stene | Sigbjørn Apeland | Nils Økland | Rolf-Erik Nystrøm | Mats Eilertsen

In Norwegian folktales the Hardanger fiddle is the devil’s instrument. Its full-bodied sound, bulked out by the drone of four...

Reviewed by Thomas Rees in issue: February/2018

Adrian Corker/Jack Wylie

The spooky electronica of Portico Quartet is here, as is the band’s saxophonist Jack Wylie who duets with digital whizkid...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: February/2018

Brandon Allen: The Gene Ammons Project

Arnie Somogyi | Ross Stanley | Brandon Allen | Matt Home

Ever the activist, Aussie ex-pat Allen has been touring for a while now with this fine quartet, badged as ‘The...

Reviewed by Peter Vacher in issue: February/2018

Hans Dulfer and Ritmo Naturel feat. Jan Akkerman: The Morning After The Third

Paul van Wageningen | Hans Dulfer | Appie de Hond | Jan Akkerman | Arjen Gorter | Steve Boston | Jan Jacobs | John Grunberg

These days it’s not widely remembered that smooth-jazz sax amazon Candy Dulfer’s dad, Hans, was a tenor slinger himself. And...

Reviewed by Daniel Spicer in issue: February/2018