Mina Agossi: UrbAfrika

This vivacious French singer-songwriter is an underrated jazz-world original, here drawing on her Beninese family roots alongside Caribbean and chanson...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: October/2017

Tim Berne's Snakeoil: Incidentals

Tim Berne | Ches Smith | David Torn | Matt Mitchell | Oscar Noriega | Ryan Ferreira

The 62-year-old progressive alto saxophonist-composer Tim Berne's Snakeoil's fourth CD for the ECM label is the follow-up to 2015's You've...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: October/2017

Sod

Jo Jo Molina | Jay Jay York | Rick Kellis | Larry Cal ‘California’ Arnold | Michael Green | ‘Dirty’ Don Phillips | Larry ‘Highme’ Devers

Sod were a band of longhairs from LA who, in the early 1970s, released two, now largely forgotten, albums. The...

Reviewed by Daniel Spicer in issue: October/2017

Dave O'Higgins: It's Always 9.30 In Zog

Sebastiaan de Krom | Graham Harvey | Dave O'Higgins | Geoff Gascoyne

The saxophonist points out in his brief liner note that this has been his regular working group for the last...

Reviewed by Peter Bacon in issue: October/2017

Cécile McLorin Salvant: Dreams And Daggers

Aron Diehl | Lawrence Leathers | Paul Sikivie | Cécile McLorin Salvant

As she showed on her auspicious 2010 release WomanChild, the singer is really not one to shirk a challenge. In...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: October/2017

Courtney Pine: Black Notes From The Deep

Rod Youngs | Alec Dankworth | Omar (v) | Ed Bentley | Chris Cobbson | Charleen Hamilton | Courtney Pine | Robert Mitchell

The headlines may be about the eye-catching collaboration with Omar, but more significantly Black Notes From The Deep finds Pine...

Reviewed by Andy Robson in issue: October/2017

Steve Coleman's Natal Eclipse: Morphogenesis

Renee Moore | Neeraj Mehta | Jonathan Finlayson | Matt Mitchell | Jen Shyu | Maria Grand | Kristin Lee | Greg Chudzik | Steve Coleman

Since his debut in the 1980s Coleman has periodically unveiled new ensembles in a specific context. In this case the...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: October/2017

Tom Millar Quartet: Unnatural Events

This young London-based pianist opens his account with a dreamy and rhythmically infectious set that's Chick Corea-ish in places, and...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: October/2017

Billie Holiday: Songs for Distingué Lovers

This sublime State of Art reissue features not just the brilliant Songs for Distingué Lovers but also the complete Body...

Reviewed by Peter Quinn in issue: February/2020

Mike Stern: Trip

Jim Beard | Dennis Chambers | Bob Franceschini | Lenny White | Randy Brecker | Victor Wooten | Bill Evans | Mike Stern | Tom Kennedy | Dave Weckl

The story behind this album may be inspiring, but the music itself has to stand or fall on its own...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: October/2017