What should you expect from jazz this month? Welcome to our October 2022 selection of albums that have already been released or will soon be released this month (“What to Wait For”). These albums got our full attention and are worth your time. They are listed in order of release date.
October 2022 Selection
Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Turning Point / Trio D’été
(5Passion)
Gonzalo Rubalcaba just won the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album with Skyline, in a trio with Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette.
Turning Point / Trio D’été is the second release of the planned trilogy. It introduces a new trio, Trio D’été, which features bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Eric Harland. This time, Rubalcaba becomes the composer and producer and manages to make the trio connect and make the best out of each of the seven tracks. Once again, it results in an amazing listening experience, as delicate as it is full of life.
Gonzalo Rubalcaba: piano; Matt Brewer: bass; Eric Harland: drums
Release date October 7, 2022
Philipp Schaufelberger, Pierre Favre
Decameron
(Wide Ear Records)
“Nothing is so indecent that it cannot be said to another person if the proper words are used to convey it.”
–Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron
Nothing indecent here! Things are said calmly, in a manner that seems quite far from the format guitar-drum duet, as it is strangely light and simple but somehow heavy at the same time. This is a surprisingly great album.
Philipp Schaufelberger: guitar; Pierre Favre: drums
Release date October 10, 2022
Jens Düppe
ego_D
(Enja & Yellowbird Records)
ego_D is quite an album. All types of available materials become percussion to build the rhythm. It creates a warm, comfortable, and poetic feeling.
You can get hooked within the very first few seconds of the music because it is as accessible as an indie rock album can be. Yet, since this is a solo album by a jazz artist, it contains a lot to keep your interest piqued and to surprise you—and this is exactly where the pleasure lies, in being straightforward and simultaneously not falling into an easy path, always preferring a more focused one.
Jens Düppe: drum, piano, keys
Release date October 14, 2022
No Base Trio
NBT II
(Setola di Maiale)
No Base Trio is a Puerto Rico-based experimental ensemble, formed by alto saxophonist Jonathan Suazo, guitarist Gabriel Vicéns, and drummer Leonardo Osuna. NBT II follows their eponymous debut album.
The music, entirely improvised, is forcefully minimalistic; it is somehow dense and thick, but simultaneously quite vast and airy—and even though they really take the time to develop their ideas slowly, they manage to keep listeners captivated all throughout the ambitious 100 minutes of the release.
Jonathan Suazo: alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute, and EWI; Gabriel Vicéns: electric guitar; Leonardo Osuna: drums
Release date October 14, 2022
Jussi Reijonen
Three Seconds | Kolme Toista
(Challenge Records)
This album perfectly embodies the 21st-century fusion of jazz music and life experiences:
“Finnish-born guitarist, oud player and composer Jussi Reijonen has lived in Finland, Jordan, Tanzania, Oman, Lebanon and the United States, soaking up the sounds, sights, scents and shades of Nordic, Middle Eastern, African and American cultures.”
“The album convenes a 9-piece ensemble of international artists with roots stretching to points and traditions across the globe. Joining […] Reijonen are American trumpeter Jason Palmer, drummer Vancil Cooper and bassist Kyle Miles; Turkish trombonist Bulut Gülen and microtonal pianist Utar Artun; Jordanian/Iraqi violinist Layth Sidiq; Palestinian cellist Naseem Alatrash; and Japanese percussionist Keita Ogawa.”
–Jussireijonen.com
Walking Cliché Sextet
Micro-Nap
(Endectomorph Music)
This is the second release by bassist SeaJun Kwon’s Walking Cliché Sextet, after the 2021 Suite Chase Reflex.
For this album, SeaJun Kwon explains, “A micro-nap is an example of non-linear and broken moments. Usually, these extremely short non-linear moments are dense, noisy, and full of energy … I wanted to expose the liminal space of each micro-ordered moment, layered with others, and head towards macro-chaotic surprises. This album reflects my emotional frustrations, non-linearity, the transience of feelings, and the emptiness of noise, as well as my attraction to them.”
This is a bold intention, and certainly a lot to reflect on, but even so, the music delivers just that. The seven tracks, as “micro-naps,” keep you locked into these moments, in which your attention seems to be all over the place but manages to simultaneously relax and enjoy the moment.
SeaJun Kwon: bass; Aaron Dutton: alto saxophone; Jacob Shulman: tenor saxophone; Michael Prentky: trombone, tuba; Erez Dessel: piano (1-4); Jacob Hiser: piano (5-7); Avery Logan: drums (1-4); Charles Weller: drums (5-7)
Release date October 21, 2022
Ibises
In The Swim
(American Dreams Records)
Ibises is a trio comprised of drummer Dan Bitney (Tortoise, Isotope 217), bassist Nick Macri (Stirrup, Euphone), and guitarist Steve Marquette (The Few, Ken Vandermark’s Marker).
With such a background, one can understand why the Bandcamp page recommends In the Swim if you like free jazz, Chicago jazz, and Avant rock, as this is exactly what you will find in the two long tracks (15 minutes each).
Dan Bitney: drums; Steve Marquette: guitar; Nick Macri: electric bass
Release date October 21, 2022
Whit Dickey Quartet
Root Perspectives
(TAO Forms)
TAO Forms is releasing another gem, astonishing music, inspired by the source:
“I conceived this album off of a vibration that I felt some 15 years ago, while obsessively listening to the title composition of John Coltrane’s Crescent. It began to have mathematical meaning to me. While listening to Crescent and A Love Supreme, I tried to rhythmically anticipate each instrument of the classic quartet — drums, bass, horn, and piano — while keying into the mantra/vibration. I began to hear how each instrument embodied the mantra in subtly different ways. On this album, I came into the studio with a plan to tap into the drum part of the mantra, and let the quartet rise from there. Listening back, I was quite happy with what I heard. I play with lots of deliberate bass drum punctuation, leaving room for inventive thematic development from the Yang frontline of Malaby and Shipp. Drums and bass are comparatively Yin here. The pieces came into sequence naturally in suite form. Out of the devastation of ‘Supernova’ and ‘Doomsday Equation’ comes new life with ‘Swamp Petals’ and ‘Starship Lotus’.”
–Whit Dickey
Whit Dickey: drums, direction; Tony Malaby: tenor saxophone; Matthew Shipp: piano; Brandon Lopez: bass
Release date October 21, 2022
Kaja Draksler, Susana Santos Silva
Grow
(Intakt Records)
Grow is a duet album by trumpeter Susana Santos Silva and pianist Kaja Draksler. It was recorded live by Mads Kiilerich during the Copenhagen Jazz Festival at KoncertKirken in Copenhagen on July 7, 2021.
What a great duet! Their combined talent and creativity as they play and improvise together seem limitless.
“The way they lure and steer each other to as yet uncovered territory is testimony to their never-ending search for meaning and (self-)discovery through sound. By letting their guards down, they are creating new contexts, paradoxes, and challenges, based on human content and expressive breath. It is exactly this sense of renewal and growth that comes to the fore here.”
–Guy Peters, liner notes
Kaja Draksler: piano; Susana Santos Silva: trumpet
Release date October 28, 2022
Tyshawn Sorey Trio +1 with Greg Osby
The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism
(Pi Recordings)
The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism sees drummer Tyshawn Sorey’s trio (with pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist Russell Hallwith) plus special guest alto-saxophonist Greg Osby, improvising over well-known jazz standards. It is a three-CD release and was recorded live at the Jazz Gallery in New York—and yes, it is as good as you hoped it would be:
Tyshawn Sorey: drums; Aaron Diehl: piano; Russell Hall: bass | Plus Special Guest Greg Osby: alto saxophone
Release date October 28, 2022 // Postponed to November 4, 2022
Jazz October 2022 – New Records Selection
- Gonzalo Rubalcaba – Turning Point / Trio D’été (5Passion)
- Philipp Schaufelberger, Pierre Favre – Decameron (Wide Ear Records)
- Jens Düppe – ego_D (Enja & Yellowbird records)
- No Base Trio – NBT II (Setola di Maiale)
- Jussi Reijonen – Three Seconds | Kolme Toista (Challenge Records)
- Walking Cliché Sextet – Micro-Nap (Endectomorph Music)
- Ibises – In The Swim (American Dreams Records)
- Whit Dickey Quartet – Root Perspectives (TAO Forms)
- Kaja Draksler, Susana Santos Silva – Grow (Intakt Records)
- Tyshawn Sorey Trio +1 with Greg Osby – The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism (Pi Recordings)
Next, discover the selection of our Best Jazz Albums 2022 (so far).
Playlist
Listen to these tracks on our Spotify playlist ↗, “Best Jazz 2022”.