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 […]
Rembrandt Trio with Hossain Alizâdeh – ‘Same Self, Same Silence’ (Just Listen Records JL007. Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) Given its name, it’s not surprising that the Rembrandt Trio is from the Netherlands. […]
Gabriel Vicéns – The Way We Are Created (Inner Circle Music INCM 094. Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) Gabriel Vicéns is a Puerto Rican guitarist now resident in New York, and The Way […]
Tenderlonious – Ragas from Lahore: Improvisations with Jaubi (22a Records 22a038, LP/CD/digital. Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) Jazz musicians have rarely intersected with classical Indian and Pakistani music, but when they do they […]
Mark Allaway and Nick Tomalin – Brew Time (Digital download and streaming services. Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) A musical conversation can’t get more intimate than a duet, and there’s something special about […]
Ryan Pate – Calamities of Silence (Pateco Music. CD and digital download. Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) We all have diverse reasons for choosing recorded music; perhaps we’ve heard it on the radio, […]
Tom Smith – Gecko (Digital download only. Basho Records SRCD58-2. Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) Tom Smith, jazz saxophonist? Perhaps like me you did a double take, wondering whether Scottish tenor saxophonist Tommy […]
Janne Mark with Arve Henriksen – Kontinent (ACT 9742-2. Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) ‘Hymn’ is a word freighted with emotional connotations: yours may differ from mine, but for me the dominant image […]
Petr Cancura with Charlie Hunter & Geoff Clapp – Don’t Let It Stop! (Roots2Boot Recordings. CD Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) Don’t Let it Stop! is a live recording created from three performances […]
Martin Nodeland – Origins (Smeik Music. Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) Martin Nodeland is a Norwegian guitarist, composer and arranger whose first recording as leader, Debut (2019), was a confident and intricate neo-bop […]
Vince Tampio – Adult Children (Self-produced. Review by Julian Maynard-Smith) Vince Tampio is a Philadelphian multi-instrumentalist and educator whose website says he’s firmly rooted in jazz but also ‘comfortable with a wide […]
