All posts filed under “Reviews

 

Jazz Album Reviews – Discover all the reviews of the latest jazz albums released – Contemporary, avant-garde, free, bop, experimental:

Vijay Iyer Compassion ECM

Vijay Iyer Trio – Compassion

Compassion is the second release by the Vijay Iyer Trio, featuring Linda May Han Oh on double bass and Tyshawn Sorey on drums. The 12 tracks were recorded in May 2022 at Oktaven Audio, Mount Vernon, New York, and the album was produced by Vijay Iyer and Manfred Eicher. Compassion was released on February 2, 2024, on ECM.

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Lisa Ullén Heirloom

Lisa Ullén – Heirloom

Heirloom is a solo recording by pianist Lisa Ullén. It was captured during two sessions—with an audience—on June 6 and 8, 2023, at Fylkingen in Stockholm, Sweden. The two concerts were identical, each exploring two variations of the same three-part suite: “Heirloom,” “Fragrance,” and “After Sun.”

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James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet For Mahalia With Love

For Mahalia, With Love – James Brandon Lewis, Red Lily Quintet

For Mahalia, With Love is a Mahalia Jackson tribute album by saxophonist James Brandon Lewis and his Red Lily Quintet with Kirk Knuffke on cornet, William Parker on bass, Chad Taylor on drums, and Chris Hoffman on cello. For Mahalia, With Love was recorded at Skyline Studios, New Jersey, and will be released on September 8, 2023, by TAO Forms.

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Henry Threadgill The Other One

Henry Threadgill – The Other One

The Other One is an album by Pulitzer Prize winner Henry Threadgill. It was a multimedia piece involving film, paintings, photographs, electronics, voice loops, and both noted and improvised orchestral music, performed and recorded live at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, New York, in May 2022. Two performances were held on two different evenings: “The One,” and “The Other One.” This album is the recording of the second evening, hence its name. It was released on May 26, 2023, by Pi Recordings.

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Matana Roberts Coin Coin Chapter One Gens De Couleur Libres

Matana Roberts – Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens De Couleur Libres

Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens De Couleur Libres was the first installment of an ongoing musical project that would explore the history and legacy of Black Americans. Drawing on a diverse range of musical traditions, including jazz, gospel, folk, and experimental music, American composer and saxophonist Matana Roberts created a powerful and deeply personal work that spoke to the struggles and triumphs of her ancestors.

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Breath Of Air Breath Of Air

Breath Of Air – Breath Of Air

Breath Of Air is a trio formed by guitarist Brandon Ross, violinist Charles Burnham, and drummer Warren Benbow. Their first album, Breath Of Air, was recorded in 2019 and 2020 and it was released on August 5, 2022, by Burning Ambulance Music.

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Miles Davis Birth of the Cool

Miles Davis – Birth of the Cool

When Miles Davis began recording Birth of the Cool he was only twenty-one years old. Recorded in the sacred period between the post-hard bebop era and the ‘cool jazz’ movement, the album is a listening necessity. Yet, the record was actually recorded eight years before its timely release. Seen as a key piece of recorded music at the end of the 1940s, the seminal record actually had a massive influence on the period of jazz music that followed its release in 1957.

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Best Smooth Jazz George Benson - Breezin

George Benson – Breezin’

Breezin’ by George Benson – Song by Song Album Review

Breezin’ is George Benson’s fifteenth studio album released in 1976 and produced by Tommy Lipuma. Here you will find the complete song-by-song album review of Breezin’.

Breezin’ is one of the best albums for Benson and his group’s career. This 70’s masterpiece gave George Benson true popularity: he combined his softer focused R&B, funk, and jazz-flavored work for some kind of amazing smooth jazz.

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John Coltrane Giant Steps

John Coltrane – Giant Steps

There is a well-known Latin phrase Omne trium perfectum which put simply, means “everything that comes in threes is perfect”. Nobody knows where the principle of the perfect set of three originally came from but it is a philosophy the Ancient Greeks recognized and carried into the future. It is a phrase still used today, albeit heavily paraphrased.

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