Louis Stewart & Noel Kelehan – Some Other Blues (Livia Records LRDC2301. Album review by Julian Maynard-Smith) Jazz albums featuring nothing but guitar and piano are such a rarity that until recently […]
Bill Evans – Treasures: Solo, Trio & Orchestra Recordings from Denmark (1965–1969) (Elemental Music 5990444. Album review by Julian Maynard-Smith) Fans of Bill Evans are hardly short of existing material, what with […]
Bruno Heinen & James Kitchman – Rain Shadows (Ubuntu Music UBU0134. Album review by Julian Maynard-Smith) A line-up of just piano (Bruno Heinen) plus electric guitar (James Kitchman) could call to mind […]
Dominic Miller – Vagabond (ECM 4589048. Album review by Julian Maynard-Smith) Dominic who? Here’s a clue: on Spotify, the most listened-to tracks from Dominic Miller’s previous albums are covers of ‘Fields of […]
Gianluigi Trovesi & Stefano Montanari – Stravaganze consonanti (ECM 2390. Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) Italian clarinettist and saxophonist Gianluigi Trovesi occupies a similar musical territory to French reeds player Louis Sclavis (and […]
Jakob Bro & Joe Lovano – Once Around the Room: A Tribute to Paul Motian (ECM 4599490. Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) The recording career of Paul Motian (1931–2011) began with Bill Evans’s […]
Magnus Lindgren & Georg Breinschmid – Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic XIII: Celebrating Mingus 100 (ACT 9955-2. Album review by Julian Maynard-Smith) Which album is Mingus’s masterpiece? Many argue for The Black Saint […]
Theo Croker Quartet and members of the Berlin Philharmonic (arr Magnus Lindgren) – Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic XII – Sketches of Miles (ACT 9948-2. Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) To open CD 1 […]
Angelo Verploegen, Ed Verhoeff, Eric van der Westen – When Night Falls (Just Listen Records JL026. Album Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) From the first track’s gentle suggestion to Close Your Eyes it […]
Stefano Di Battista – Morricone Stories (Warner Music 9029504424. Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) Ennio Morricone (1928–2020) composed more than a hundred classical works and more than 400 TV and movie scores, including […]
Stefano Bollani, Orquesta Sin Fin directed by Exequiel Mantega – El Chakracanta / Live in Buenos Aires (Alobar AL1009. Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) Since being rated best new talent by Italy’s leading […]
Joachim Kühn – Touch the Light (ACT 9766-2. Album Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) Put the words ‘music’ and ‘Ibiza’ in the same sentence and many people will visualise either superstar DJs pumping […]
Pat Metheny – Road to the Sun (Modern Recordings / BMG. Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) The first thing to know about this album is that it’s classical guitar and, apart from strumming […]
Florian Willeitner, Georg Breinschmid, Igmar Jenner – First Strings on Mars (ACT Records ACT 9921-2. Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) Ask any jazz aficionado to reel off the names of pianists, bassists, drummers, […]
Stick Men with Gary Husband – Owari (MoonJune Records MJR106. Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) Stick Men is a trio that’s effectively an offshoot of King Crimson, a band whose ancestral roots twist […]
