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Reviewed: Joe Marcinek Band | Jason Miles | Nadav Schneerson - Jazz Journal
Joe Marcinek Band: The Groove Session (Vintage League Music) It is difficult to convey in words the sheer energy and exuberance the Joe Marcinek Band brings to this recording, a studio project based on the energy of a live concert. Marcinek seems to thrive on the immediacy of performing live, and very often that sense […]
Reviewed: Judy Whitmore | Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers | Kenny Dorham - Jazz Journal
Judy Whitmore: Let’s Fall In Love (Arden House Music JBW202501) As she has demonstrated on her recent CDs – Isn’t It Romantic and Come Fly With Me – Judy Whitmore is a passionate devotee of the songbook repertoire. Tenor man Mark Crooks once put it really well when he told me, “There’s a hundred lifetimes […]
Jazz à Vienne 2025 - Jazz Journal
Vienne, Théâtre Antique, circa 70 AD. Set against the steep slopes of Pipet Hill, there would have been a full house that evening with about 13,000 spectators applauding a Plautus comedy. Close to 2,000 years later, here we are celebrating in the same place the 44th edition of Jazz à Vienne. Sitting on a hot […]
iG4 featuring Claire Martin, Nikki Iles, Karen Sharp and Ewan Hastie - Jazz Journal
There was a full house for this concert by iG4, which, Claire Martin explained, stood for “Inter-Generational 4’” owing to the presence of the young Scottish bassist Ewan Hastie. The set list featured a mix of some familiar standards and some less well-known tunes, each one chosen by the individual members of the band. Among […]
Reviewed: Hakan Basar | Jordan VanHemert | Ari Joshua - Jazz Journal
Hakan Basar: Maiden Voyage (Red 180527) A swimmer that protects a piece of brittle porcelain from the waves. This is the way former prodigy Hakan Basar, now 21, tackles Maiden Voyage, skirting the coast of Herbie Hancock’s modal masterpiece with elegant movements through the surf. Why the porcelain is at sea in the first place […]
Reviewed: Ryan Truesdell | Shinken Shobu - Jazz Journal
Ryan Truesdell: Shades Of Sound – Gil Evans Project Live At Jazz Standard Vol. 2 (Outside In Music OIM2515) This is a superb tribute to the work of jazz master Gil Evans. The wonderful textures that Evans exploited – especially using tuba and French horns, but also viola, woodwinds and brass – are heard to full advantage […]
Edward Burra, leading painter and JJ enthusiast - Jazz Journal
The exhibition of the work of Edward Burra, one of Britain’s most distinctive 20th-century artists (Tate Britain, London, until 19 October) is well worth a visit, if only to enjoy the many paintings he produced of New York and Boston jazz life in the 1930s. When in New York, Burra appears to have spent most […]
New releases June-July 2025, A-B - Jazz Journal
12 O’Clock Club: Current State Unknown They say : This 4-track EP from 12 O’Clock Club’s composer Antonio Val blends nu jazz, cinematic textures, and improvisation into a cohesive, atmospheric sound. Rooted in jazz tradition but forward-leaning in tone and structure, Current State Unknown explores groove, space, and narrative. Ideal for listeners drawn to jazz that’s introspective […]
Reviewed: Ferdinando Romano | Carsten Dahl Ensemble | Peter Vuust Quartet - Jazz Journal
Ferdinando Romano: The Legends Of Otranto (GleAM Records AM7035) Romano is a fine Italian bass player, very much on the up in the current Italian and European jazz scene: his thematically telling pizzicato lines here are complemented by atmospheric arco work which embraces both the most potent and the most delicate of touches. He’s also […]
Reviewed: Beiggja | Jay Davis | Goran Kajfeš and Andreas Tilliander | Geir Sundstøl - Jazz Journal
Beiggja: Morning (Hubro CD2671) Although not it’s intended as a site-specific work, I can’t help thinking that the music on this debut album by Dutch-Norwegian quartet Beiggja has been profoundly inspired by its surroundings. Deep in the forest in the winter of 2024 at the snowy Lommedalen home of Per Oddvar Johansen, the drummer was […]
Reviewed: Victoria Kirilova | Landaeus Trio | Trygve Fiske Sextet - Jazz Journal
Victoria Kirilova: Roots & Skies (Da Vinci Jazz C00997) There is something old school about bassist Victoria Kirilova’s debut album. With no tricks or gimmicks, it just relies on the strength of the songs to hold the attention. At only seven tracks long the album feels criminally short, but as the old saying goes, good […]
Reviewed: Ewan Svensson Quartet | Cyrus Chestnut | Freddie Hubbard - Jazz Journal
Ewan Svensson Quartet: The Forks (ESMCD 2507) Swedish jazz guitarist Ewan Svensson will be 75 this summer. In the early days he played in rock, blues and dance bands before forming his first jazz trio 42 years ago. He’s played with all the top Swedish jazz musicians as well as the likes of Art Farmer, […]
Bangkok After Dark - Jazz Journal
Have you ever heard of Maurice Rocco? Probably not, and I certainly hadn’t before receiving this book for review. But, look him up in the jazz discographies and there he is, playing piano and singing in 1940 and recording with Cozy Cole in 1946. (He’s also mentioned as “an old friend” in the autobiography of […]
JJ 06/95: The Gibson ES175 / The Guitar Players / The Guitarist Book Of Guitar Players / Django's Gypsies - The Mystique Of Django Reinhardt And His People - Jazz Journal
Thirty years ago, Mark Gilbert enjoyed seeing the rubber grommet which appeared under the Gibson ES175's pickup selector switch in the late fifties given proper recognition
Jim Mullen, Allison Neale, Gabrielle Stravelli and more for Battersea jazz festival - Jazz Journal
This year’s Battersea Jazz Festival, 3-12 July, brings national and international names to south London in nine performances. Jim Mullen, appearing with his organ trio, will be perhaps the best known among the British performers, while American singer Gabrielle Stravelli, appearing in a quartet with festival founder and director Hugo Jennings, is noted for her […]
Reviewed: Paul Bley | Chick Corea - Jazz Journal
Paul Bley: Open, To Love (ECM 4505319) By 1972, Bley had already released 18 records as a leader, but predominantly in larger contexts or trios and nothing close to a solo project. The same year, ECM was only three years old, but Manfred Eicher was eager to record with Bley even though he already had […]
The Master Of Drums: Gene Krupa And The Music He Gave To The World - Jazz Journal
There’s a scene in a recent Led Zeppelin documentary in which the band’s powerhouse drummer, John Bonham, discusses how important an influence Gene Krupa was on his approach to playing drums. Regularly raised too has been the impact Krupa had on the thunderous, edge-of-your-seat style of other rock skin-bashers like The Who’s Keith Moon, Ringo, […]
Reviewed: Savina Yannatou | Brigitte Beraha with Alan Barnes & Barry Green | Brittany Davis | Macy Gray - Jazz Journal
Savina Yannatou: Watersong (ECM 2772) Four very different vocalists feature in this set of reviews, the first being Savina Yannatou, from Greece. She shares honours on Watersong with Tunisian singer Lamia Bedioui and the Primavera en Salonico, a mixed sextet of accordion, flute, strings and percussion that was formed in 1993 to play arrangements of […]
Reviewed: Germana Stella La Sorsa & Tom Ollendorff | Jazzanova | Stefano Rocco Quartet | Hedvig Mollestad Trio - Jazz Journal
Germana Stella La Sorsa & Tom Ollendorff: After Hours (33 Jazz Records) Weighing in at around 25 minutes, this record is technically an EP, however, the quality of the music presented on these six tracks is superb. Vocalist Germana Stella La Sorsa hails from Italy and worked on the jazz scene there before moving to […]
Jazz nad Odrą 2025, Wrocław, Poland - Jazz Journal
Wrocław breathed jazz for five days Wrocław, 23–27 April 2025: Jazz nad Odrą – the oldest jazz festival in Poland – has been continuously attracting those for whom jazz is more than just music for over six decades. Its stages feature not only leading European names, but also world-class artists from New York, Oslo, Tel […]
JJ 06/65: Teo Macero - a conversation with Sinclair Traill - Jazz Journal
‘Stan, I’d love to write a piece for you, but you really don’t know me very well or the kind of thing I do, and I think your whole approach is wrong’ ‘You were saying you didn’t dig Stan Kenton – well I can’t go along with you there, all the way. I remember once […]
Reviewed: Harvey Mason | Karlis Auzins Double Trio | Theo Travis | Ensemble C - Jazz Journal
Harvey Mason: Changing Partners Trios 2 (Evosound EVSA2937) As the original drummer in Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters and a founder member of smooth-jazz specialists Fourplay, Harvey Mason has forged a reputation as a member of the fusion family. In addition he has supported numerous popular performers over a considerable amount of time. By way of contrast, […]
Reviewed: Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson | Jon Irabagon | Andrea Rinciari - Jazz Journal
Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson: Bone Bells (Pyroclastic Records PR 40) This is the Courvoisier/Halvorson duo’s third collaboration on record, and as with the Jon Irabagon release discussed below this means I’ve got some catching up to do. It’s clear from the off that the two are very well attuned to each other, and given […]