Benny Golson: Killer Joe

Barbara Ingram | Dennis Harris | Bobby Lyle | Betty LaMagna | James Gadson | Benny Golson | Mortonette Jenkins | James Getzoff | Israel Baker | Brenda Lucille Gooch

Overly-heavy with percussion, freighted by vocals, and over-amplified, this was Golson's 1977 attempt to climb on the then-fashionable fusion bandwagon....

Reviewed by Peter Vacher in issue: May/2017

Alberta Hunter: The Alberta Hunter Collection 1921-1940

This is a really valuable comprehensive set by one of the great singers to straddle the line between blues and...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: May/2017

George Russell Sextet featuring Jan Garbarek: Trip to Prillarguri

Jan Garbarek | Jon Christensen | Stanton Davis | Terje Rypdal | George Russell | Arild Andersen

There is little doubt that George Russell's Scandinavian sojourn (1963-69) had an enormous impact on Swedish and Norwegian jazz, not...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: May/2017

1982: Chromola

Sigbjørn Apeland | Nils Økland | Øyvind Skarbø

“The most important thing that sets us apart from other improvised groups I have been part of is the total...

Reviewed by Robert Shore in issue: May/2017

Horace Shankley and the Nubian Noise Collective: All the Doors of Perception Have Opened and the Key is under the Mat of

Horace Shankley | Shelton Onions | Voyle Boisdale | Marcellina Abracadabra | Ho Chi Minh Smith | Lionel Binky | Shalamar Tibbs | Procter Blenkinsop | Hector Alisandro | Zbigniew Wodge

“This outfit blew my sandals off!” gushed the Village Voice on the release of the debut album from the NNC...

Reviewed by J.J. Geiger in issue: May/2017

Jan Lundgren: Potsdamer Platz

Jukka Perko | Jan Lundgren | Morten Lund | Dan Berglund

All the players on this disc are Scandinavian – saxophonist Jukka Perko hails from Finland, drummer Morten Lund is Danish,...

Reviewed by Robert Shore in issue: May/2017

Archie Shepp: Sea of Faces

Rafi Taha | Archie Shepp | Bunny Foy | Cameron Brown | Beaver Harris | Dave Burrell | Charles Greenlee

This 1975 recording was the standout album in the 4CD Archie Shepp compilation set I reviewed in February 2016, and...

Reviewed by Mike Hobart in issue: May/2017

Louis Armstrong: The Complete 1951 Pasadena Concerts

The first of the 2LPs on this set, Satchmo at Pasadena, is a must-have classic, most recently out in the...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: May/2017

Ray Charles: Live At Newport 1960

David ‘Fathead’ Newman | Ray Charles | John Hunt | Edgar Willis | Philip Guilbeau | The Raelettes | Hank Crawford | Leroy Cooper | Milt Turner

A clutch of 45s had forewarned the public that Ray Charles was about to become a genuine force to be...

Reviewed by Roy Carr in issue: May/2017

Don Pullen/Sam Rivers: Capricorn Rising

Don Pullen | Bobby Battle | Alex Blake | Sam Rivers

Very welcome reissue of something of a hidden gem in 1970s jazz. The energy of the Pullen-Rivers quartet positively combusts...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: May/2017