Tigran: Shadow Theater

Nate Wood | Chris Tordini | Tigran Hamasyan | Jean-Marc Phillips Varjabedian | Jan Bang | Xavier Phillips | Ben Wendel | Sam Minaie | David Varjabedian | Areni Agbabian

The 26-year-old Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan didn't cause a lot of fuss when he won the prestigious Thelonious Monk Piano...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: February/2014

Creative Construction Company

Leo Smith | Anthony Braxton | Richard Davis | Steve McCall | Leroy Jenkins | Muhal Richard Abrams

Formed in Paris in 1969, during a period when the city played host to many US avant-jazz expatriates, CCC now...

Reviewed by Daniel Spicer in issue: February/2014

Étienne Mbappé: Pater Noster

Cedric Baud | Faustine Cressot | Clément Janiet | Cate Petit | Bago Balthazar | Ninon Valder | Étienne Mbappé | Nicolas Vicard

Those listeners familiar with John McLaughlin's heavy-hitting 4th Dimension band will already know that Paris-based Cameroonian Étienne Mbappé is a...

Reviewed by Mike Flynn in issue: February/2014

Bodrato Battaglia Massaria Furia: Bartleby the Scrivener

An experimental improv quartet from Italy featuring ECM recording artist Stefano Battaglia on piano that's as much about the sonic...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: February/2014

Andrew Cyrille: Complete Remastered Recordings On Black Saint And Soul Note

Andrew Cyrille | Paul Murphy | Karen Borca | Jimmy Lyons | William Parker | Enrico Rava | Raphe Malik

Although the 74 year-old New Yorker is readily tagged, through his associations with Cecil, Muhal, Braxton et al, as a...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: April/2015

John Lake Trio: Up on the Downs

A Brighton-based local piano trio led by a veteran performer/composer playing folky themes using basic resources....

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: February/2014

Fay Victor Ensemble: Absinthe and Vermouth

An inventive, far out Betty Carter-influenced New York based vocalist steps up her co-writing partnership with Dutch husband, Jochem Van...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: February/2014

Samo Salamon Quartets: Stretching Out

Donny McCaslin | Bruno Chevillon | John Hebert | Samo Salamon | Roberto Dani | Gerald Cleaver | Dominique Pifarély

Slovenian guitarist Samo Salamon is something of a contemporary all-rounder with fast fingers, a wide spectrum of sound and all...

Reviewed by Mike Hobart in issue: February/2014

Ruthie Culver/Utterjazz Band: Look Stranger

The vocalist Ruthie Culver takes the music of Benjamin Britten and words of WH Auden and arranges them for her...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: February/2014

Bushman's Revenge: Thou Shalt Boogie!

Rune Nergaard | Gard Nilssen | David Wallumrød | Even Helte Hermansen

Expanded to a quartet, with the addition of keyboardist David Wallumrød on Hammond and assorted vintage analogue hardware, Bushman's Revenge...

Reviewed by Daniel Spicer in issue: February/2014