Duke Ellington: The Complete Newport 1958 Performances

Putting together two original Columbia albums that combined live and studio versions of the excellent 1958 Newport Ducal set, this...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: February/2015

Quantum Jump

The self-titled album, by the fusion-meets-close-harmony-vocal band that hit the charts with help from Kenny Everett with ‘Lone Ranger’ in...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: February/2015

Mole: RGB

Stomu Takeishi | Hernan Hecht | Mark Aanderud

Mole remain one of the more satisfying bands on the RareNoise roster. Now augmented by Takeishi's bass, RGB is an...

Reviewed by Andy Robson in issue: February/2015

Gill Cook: Morning with You

London singer Gill Cook's finger-clicking jazz bar interpretations support includes Matt Fishwick and guest trumpeter Steve Waterman are of mostly...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: February/2015

The Markov Chain

Tim Fairhall | Paul Hession | Adam Fairhall

A Markov chain, Wikipedia tells us, ‘is a mathematical system that undergoes transitions from one state to another on a...

Reviewed by Robert Shore in issue: February/2015

SPUNK: Adventura Botanica

Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje | Lene Grenager | Kristin Andersen | Hild Sofie Tafjord

The three long tracks on this CD were originally developed by the Norwegian improvising quartet, SPUNK, for a live collaboration...

Reviewed by Daniel Spicer in issue: February/2015

Joe Farrell: Night Dancing

A simply brilliant unaccompanied solo version of ‘Come Rain or Come Shine’, redeems this album from being unadulterated late 1970s...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: February/2015

Ron Miles: Circuit Rider

Ron Miles | Bill Frisell | Brian Blade

Jazz-as-chamber-music has its share of critics who demand more full-blooded, wholesome fare, but as a collective genre there is much...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: February/2015

George Russell Presents: The Esoteric Circle

Jan Garbarek | Jon Christensen | Terje Rypdal | Arild Andersen

On the original liner notes for this album, annotator Nat Hentoff writes that with the musicians that comprise The Esoteric...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: February/2015

Greg Abate Quartet: Motif

A saxophonist who played lead alto for Ray Charles in the early 1970s, Abate keeps the fames of the bebop...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: February/2015