Various Artists: Spiritual Jazz 7 Islam 1957-1989

Maurice McIntyre | Kahil El ‘Zabar's Ritual Trio | Emmanuel Abdul-Rahim | Creative Arts Ensemble | Sabu Martinez | Sahib Shihab | Ahmed Abdul Malik

The embrace of Islam by black American jazz musicians was mostly prevalent in the 1960s, and the adoption of Muslim...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: May/2017

Raul Midón: Bad Ass and Blind

Gerald Clayton | Lionel Cordew | Richard Hammond | Raul Midón

As anyone who's had the pleasure of seeing him perform live will testify, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Raul Midón is...

Reviewed by Peter Quinn in issue: May/2017

Peter Brötzmann & Johannes Bauer: Blue City

Johannes Bauer | Peter Brötzmann

Peter Brötzmann found this tape by chance, usefully labelled with recording date (16 October, 1997), city (Osaka, Japan) and venue...

Reviewed by Philip Clark in issue: May/2017

Terence Blanchard: The Comedian

Carl Allen | David Pulphus | Khari Allen Lee | Terence Blanchard | Ravi Coltrane | Kenny Barron

One of the key soundtrack composers of the last two decades returns to writing for the silver screen with a...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: May/2017

Elvin Jones: The Quintessence 1956-1962

Frank Foster | Hank Jones | Gil Evans | Freddie Hubbard | Frank Wess | Sonny Rollins | Lee Konitz | Pepper Adams | Yusef Lateef | Paul Chambers

The French series covers major figures by excerpting their work from a large number of albums and, since Elvin did...

Reviewed by Brian Priestley in issue: May/2017

Oscar Peterson: The Complete Harold Arlen Songbooks

Much reissued, this gathers Peterson's 1954 and 1959 Norman Granz sessions, on which he made and then remade a collection...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: May/2017

Julia Hülsmann Trio: Sooner and Later

Marc Muellbauer | Heinrich Köbberling | Julia Hülsmann

Recently Berlin-based pianist Julia Hülsmann applied her skills to the Kurt Weill songbook and associated pieces for a project with...

Reviewed by Robert Shore in issue: May/2017

Rain Sultanov: Inspired By Nature

This distinguished Azerbaijani saxophonist leads a septet that has its roots in both eastern folk melody and the Garbarek-Jarrett ECM...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: May/2017

Madwort Saxophone Quartet: Live at Hundred Years Gallery

Cath Roberts | Chris Williams | Andrew Woolf | Tom Ward

Saxophone quartets have a tendency to default towards an inert, generic power minimalism, generating music that is slave to the...

Reviewed by Philip Clark in issue: May/2017

Whit Dickey/Mat Maneri/Matthew Shipp: Vessel In Orbit

Matthew Shipp | Mat Maneri | Whit Dickey

Drummer Whit Dickey – who power-drove the David S Ware Quartet throughout the early 1990s – has released some of...

Reviewed by Philip Clark in issue: May/2017