Jazz Album Reviews – 2021 – Discover all the reviews of the latest jazz albums released – Contemporary, avant-garde, free, bop, experimental…
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.
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Melt All the Guns is the new EP by drummer Devin Gray. Together with Ralph Alessi (trumpet), and Angelica Sanchez (piano), they recorded five original tracks after few concerts in Canada and the United States during the Fall of 2019. These tracks were released on Rataplan Records on June 4, 2021.
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Unfortunately, there are not enough Jazz EP releases, even though it is such a nice format. Of course, there are some memorable ones, but this is not the preferred format for artists. For listeners, however, an EP can be very pleasant.
One such EP is Beginner’s Mind, the second EP by Raffy Bushman, which was digitally released May 28, 2021. It has five original tracks. The trio features Raffy Bushman on piano, Mikele Montolli on double bass, and Finn Booth on drums.
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Vienna-born London-based Jazz saxophonist Guido Spannocchi‘s new album – Perihelion – is out today (May 28, 2021). The album is self-released and was recorded on December 1st, 2019 (all on first takes), in London (Total Refreshment Centre Studios).
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Raise Up Off Me is the final recording from the late Ralph Peterson Jr., released by Onyx Productions. Raise Up Off Me was recorded on December 7, 8, and 9, 2020, at Peterson’s own Onyx Recording studio in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts.
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Pianist, composer, and bandleader Keith Brown‘s new album, African Ripples, was released on May 20, 2021, via Space Time Records. It was recorded in November 2020 in Queens, NY (Samurai Hotel Studios) and follows the release of Sweet and Lovely (2011) and The Journey (2015).
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The new FIRE! album, defeat, has been released February 19, 2021, on Rune Grammofon. It features the usual trio (Mats Gustafsson, Johan Berthling, and Andreas Werliin), plus Goran Kajfes and Mats Åleklint. It was recorded in October 2019 and February 2020 in Copenhagen (The Village Recording).
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Jesup Wagon is the new album by tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, with the Red Lily Quintet (bassist William Parker, drummer Chad Taylor, cornetist Kirk Knuffke, and cellist Chris Hoffman), which was recorded, mixed, and mastered in late 2020 at Park West Studios, in Brooklyn, New York. Jesup Wagon was released on May 7, 2021, by TAO Forms.
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The first album by Hitra – Transparence – was released last February on CD and last April on LP. It was recorded in 2017 in Oslo, Norway (Westerdals Oslo ACT) and mixed in 2020 in Italy. It sounds international and it is. Hitra is an Italian-Icelandic-Norwegian-Norwegian Quatuor, immersing us in their “imaginative music”.
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If you are planning your next jazz trip after domestic and international travel becomes easier, then Los Angeles should be on your list. Zane Carney Quartet’s album, Alter Ego, released on April 30, 2021, on Orenda Records gives listeners a surprisingly captivating taste of L.A.’s nightlife, and it sounds great!
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