Airto Fogo

French funk from 1976 by the band led pseudonymously by Brazilian guitarist Waltel Branco, and featuring drummer Sylvain Kreif, this...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: August/2017

Billy Jenkins: Scratches of Spain

Jo Westcott | Dai Pritchard | Django Bates | Dave Cook | Dave Jago | Roy Dodds | Ashley Slater | Steve Argüelles | Dawson | Jimmy Haycraft

The Jenkins back catalogue keeps bubbling back into our souls, and in our dissonantly disjointed world how welcome yet testing...

Reviewed by Andy Robson in issue: August/2017

Moreira Chonguiça & Manu Dibango: M&M

Isabel Gonzalez | Manu Dibango | Paco Sery | Moreira Chonguiça | Patrick Marie-Magdelaine | Valérie Belinga | Justin Bowen | Jacques Conti-Bilong | Guy Nwogang

Two African saxophonists, the legendary Cameroonian on tenor and the young Mozambican on alto, do a dance of the generations...

Reviewed by Peter Bacon in issue: August/2017

David Kikoski: Kayemode

Justin Faulkner | Joe Martin | David Kikoski

Kikoski is probably more familiar to many as a sideman, albeit a most impressive one. His website claims he has...

Reviewed by Peter Bacon in issue: August/2017

Alexander Hawkins: Unit[e]

Percy Pursglove | Laura Jurd | James Arben | Stephen Davis | Otto Fischer | Nick Malcolm | Julie Kjær | Neil Charles | Alex Ward | Shabaka Hutchings

His collaborations and sideman gigs, above all with the legendary Louis Moholo-Moholo, are notable, but Hawkins' recordings under his own...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: August/2017

Mike Westbrook Concert Orchestra: Marching Song Vol 1 and 2 Plus Bonus

Brian Smith | Bernie Living | George Smith | Tom Bennelik | Greg Bowen | Alan Jackson | John Marshall | Mike Gibbs | Norma Winstone | Mike Osborne

Nearly 50 years on, Marching Song remains a seminal recording not only of the ‘Jazz Britannia’ era, but of any...

Reviewed by Andy Robson in issue: August/2017

The Zeniths: Makin' The Scene

An African-American close harmony group from the early 1960s with more affinity to doo-wop than jazz heritage, The Zeniths bring...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: August/2017

Markus Reuter: Falling for Ascension

Touch guitarist Markus Reuter writes what is largely monotonous music for sextet, the kind of fusion – in this case...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: August/2017

Olie Brice Quintet: Day After Day

Mike Fletcher | Alex Bonney | Jeff Williams | George Crowley | Olie Brice

The Hastings-based double-bassist Olie Brice has made his presence felt on the contemporary leftfield jazz circuit as well as in...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: August/2017

Nat King Cole: The Complete Billy May Sessions

Second only to Cole's piano trio recordings, his 45 tracks with Billy May's big band are the finest and most...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: August/2017