Dollar Brand/Abdullah Ibrahim Orchestra: African Space Program

Cecil Bridgewater | Carlos Ward | Cecil McBee | Kiane Zawadi | Hamiet Bluiett | Enrico Rava | John Stubblefield | Roland Alexander | Sonny Fortune | Roy Brooks

Released in a series of Enja Jazz Classics, this is one of only two big-band albums directed by the then...

Reviewed by Brian Priestley in issue: February/2014

Brian Lynch: Unsung Heroes Vol. 2

Brian Lynch | Vincent Herring | Rob Schneiderman | Pete Van Nostrand | Alex Hoffman | David Wong

Best known for his latin jazz work with the likes of Eddie Palmieri, Brian Lynch comes up with another of...

Reviewed by Tony Hall in issue: February/2014

Various Artists: Red Hot + Fela

Tony Allen | Baloji | Spoek Mathambo | M1 | Angélique Kidjo | Kronos Quartet | Nneka

And so the Fela Kuti behemoth keeps rolling. Had he not passed away in 1997 from complications relating to AIDS,...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: February/2014

William Parker: Wood Flute Songs: Anthology/Live 2006-2012

Lewis Barnes | Leena Conquest | Ernie Odoom | Manu Gesseny | Rob Brown | Maurice Magnoni | Aina Rakotobe | Lusovic Lagana | Billy Bang | Stephane Metraux

Bassist William Parker is best – and rightly – known as a monumental pillar of the global free-jazz community, but...

Reviewed by Daniel Spicer in issue: February/2014

Abdullah Ibrahim: Mukashi/Once Upon A Time

Cleave Guyton | Abdullah Ibrahim | Eugen Bazijan | Scott Roller

Alternately bewitching and bewildering, this album celebrates Abdullah's current work with 16 shortish tracks. The personnel fluctuates too, some items...

Reviewed by Brian Priestley in issue: February/2014

ReDiviDeR: Meets I Dig Monk, Tuned

Derek Whyte | Alex Roth | Colm O'Hara | Alex Bonney | Ben Davis | Kit Downes | Nick Roth | Matthew Jacobson

They're a playful lot, this two-hornsno-chords quartet from Dublin. Never Odd or EveN, the title of their first album, like...

Reviewed by Robert Shore in issue: Dec/Jan/2013/2014

John Lewis: European Encounter/Animal Dance

Silvije Glojnaric | John Lewis | Karl-Theodor Geier | Svend Asmussen | Albert Mangelsdorff | on one track The Zagreb Jazz Quartet

Further evidence of Lewis’ European obsession, these two albums were recorded in July 1962: first, European Encounter in Stockholm while...

Reviewed by Roy Carr in issue: Dec/Jan/2013/2014

Various Artists: Salsa de la Bahia

Mainly recent music from the SF Bay Area, but going back to the 50s in one case, documenting the rich...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: Dec/Jan/2013/2014

John Coltrane: The Heavyweight Champion: the Complete Atlantic Recordings

Steve Davis | Hank Jones | Percy Heath | Eric Dolphy | Freddie Hubbard | Wynton Kelly | Jimmy Cobb | Ed Blackwell | Paul Chambers | Don Cherry

Originally compiled in 1995, this standard resource is now available at about half the price and in a slimmer package,...

Reviewed by Brian Priestley in issue: Dec/Jan/2013/2014

Mike Jones Trio: Plays Well with Others

A mainstream piano trio led by a veteran Art Tatum-inspired pianist with drummer Jeff Hamilton and bassist Mike Gurrola providing...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: Dec/Jan/2013/2014