Jazz Album Reviews – 2021 – Discover all the reviews of the latest jazz albums released – Contemporary, avant-garde, free, bop, experimental…
Nocturne is the new album by Aakash Mittal’s Awaz Trio, with Aakash Mittal on alto saxophone, Miles Okazaki on guitar, and Rajna Swaminathan on mridangam and kanjira. Nocturne was recorded on October 18th, 2018 at Samurai Hotel Studios by David Stoller, and produced by Aakash Mittal.
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The Garden is the new album by vocal and piano artist, Rachel Eckroth. It was produced by musician and partner Tim Lefebvre. Released on the 3rd of September 2021, The Garden is Rachel’s fourth album and her first via Rainy Days Records.
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Dancing Spirits is a solo piano album by the Japanese-born Sweden-based artist Naoko Sakata. After Inner Planets, released in 2020, Dancing Spirits was her second album, and was entirely improvised. It was recorded on the 18th and 19th of August 2020 at Annedalskyrkan, a church in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. The album was released on March 26th, 2021.
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Hi Res Heart is the first album that Martin Archer, Charlotte Keeffe, and Martin Pyne have released together. Hi Res Heart was recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown, from August 2020 until March 2021, and it was released on May 14, 2021.
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Mayan Space Station is William Parker’s first electric-guitar-trio album. It features Ava Mendoza on guitar and Gerald Cleaver on drums. All the tracks were composed by William Parker and recorded, mixed, and mastered by Jim Clouse, in February 2020, at Park West Studios, in Brooklyn.
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Water & Light is the second EP by Archie the Goldfish, a project co-led by trumpet player Graeme Flowers and guitarist Chris Bestwick. Water & Light was released on the July 16, 2021.
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Divided Horizon is Aki Rissanen’s third solo album, the first on Edition Records after three excellent albums. Divided Horizon was recorded at Kallio-Kuninkala Studio, in Finland, on August 21 and 22 and September 23 and 24, 2020. Additional recordings were made at Studio Porra, in Finland, on January 13 and 14, 2021.
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New York-based Japanese jazz violinist Tomoko Omura has released Branches Vol. 2, the second volume of her compositions and arrangements based on Japanese folklore and traditional music. Tomoko Omura is accompanied by Jeff Miles on guitar, Glenn Zaleski on piano, Pablo Menares on bass, and Jay Sawyer on drums.
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Black to the Future is the fourth album by Sons of Kemet, featuring Shabaka Hutchings on tenor saxophone, clarinet, and bass clarinet, Theon Cross on tuba, and both Eddie Hick and Tom Skinner on drums and percussion. It was released May 14, 2021, on Impulse! Records and recorded in 2020 during the weeks that followed the death of George Floyd.
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This is Me, This is Us is the debut album of vibraphonist, composer, and bandleader Jalen Baker. The album was released June 4, 2021, on Outside in Music. The nine original compositions (plus one reimagined Stevie Wonder classic) were recorded December 7 & 8, 2020 at Big Orange Sheep in NYC.
Continue reading Jalen Baker – This is Me, This is Us.