Europe Jazz Media Chart - August 2022

Like all improvisers, this bassist is a team player, but you only hear the real Joëlle Léandre when she is all alone on stage, like here during the Souillac en Jazz festival. The place of the event was the small church of Saint-Jacques in Calès, a dream location for such a concert. Her personal trademark remains starting the double bass with the bow. With every performance, Léandre always manages to come up with something new, just like a thoughtful author of short stories. From assertive to rather aggressive or purely poetic, the "grande dame" covers the whole panorama. She is a master at building suspense and unexpected action moments. In crescent passages, for example, she sometimes omits the climax. The familiar shamanic are not lacking either. Ideal soundtrack to (re)read Margaret Atwood collection of short stories Bluebeard's Egg. (Georges Tonla Briquet)

A continuation of the British new wave of jazz, touching a more relaxed musical sphere, but reminding of social injustice in the modern world. Bright work that once again underlines the super successful results of the British alternative jazz school (Kinetica Bloco,Tomorrow's Warriors). Renaissance allows you to immerse yourself in the chill-out zone of modern London jazz, especially when the word is given to saxophonist Kaidi Akinnibi. But as befits the same wave, it's only a small step from chill-out to the exciting groove and spaciousness which tears off the roof of your convertible. That kind of variety multi-instrumentalist DoomCannon manages to fluidly display on his, incredibly, but debut solo album.

In recent years, the French record label DarkTree has released several discs with the american piano player Horace Tapscotts music, and at salt peanuts*, we have previously reviewed four of them. Now the fifth release is out, and here we get Tapscott alongside with saxophonist Michael Session, trombonist Thurman Green, bassist Roberto Miranda and drummer Fritz Wise, plus vocalist Dwight Trible. The recordings were made at the club Catalina's Run on 18 - 20 December 1995, and we get six compositions of which Tapscott is responsible for two, and all the songs show what an excellent orchestra leader and pianist he was. They start with his driving "Ballad for Deadwood Dick", where we get an excellent trombone solo from Green, and from there and out it's pure joy. They move to the traditional "Motherless Child", where Dwight Tribe is the vocalist and Green delivers another solid trombone solo. Here we get a brilliant piano solo by Tapscott, before we get Tapscott's "Breakfast at Bongo's", which is a lovely, slightly jam-influenced song that swings impeccably, Carmel Crunk's "Close to Freedom", also with Trible as vocalist, Miles Davis' "The Theme", which is performed in a loose and original way, with brilliant piano playing, before ending with Linda Hill's "Little Africa", which fades out as the concert's encore. The audience really love the concert and clearly express it between the songs. And throughout, it is the inspiration from Africa that stands out as the main element in the music. Not in the same way as Dollar Brand, Chris McGregor and Sean Bergin's music, but all the way with an African element, especially in Tapscott's playing which makes the record to a party. This is, perhaps, the most "public-friendly" of the records that have now come out with Tapscott the last years, and it swings all the way through in an excellent way. The whole band is constantly on their toes and delivers brilliant playing, and although not many of the musicians are well known in today's jazz, these are musicians you should check out. And all Tapscott recordings should be in any self-respecting record collection. Because this is delicious, creative and exciting music that you don't hear too much of in today's jazz.

If you haven't known about Nicole Johänntgen until today, Now Is The Time ...  She exhibits her great artistry in simplicity. Her style is unique with reminiscences of Coleman Hawkins, her compositions are unique with touches of Bartok. Her courage and success in playing solo is purely Johänntgen ...

How can it possibly be that a pianist as good as Gareth Williams, fondly remembered for work with US3, Claire Martin, Pee Wee Ellis and a host of other Americans, hasn't released an album in his own name since "Shock" (Linn) with his Power Trio with Laurence Cottle and Ian Thomas? That album made several best-of lists in 2009. The wait for this next one has been far too long. As an improviser Gareth Williams has the “constructor’s urge”. Every phrase, every voicing develops an argument, a sense of story or flow, and yet there is invariably also thoughtfulness and emotion. Here Williams plays in trio with Martin France on drums and, in turn, with one of two great bassists: Palle Danielsson and Chris Laurence. This album needs to be listened to deeply and repeatedly to reveal its happy secrets...and its wonderful story-telling.

Mulberry Street Symphony is a work in seven movements, each one based on one of the photos by Jacob Riis depicting the life among immigrants in New York in the 1880s. Riis – himself an immigrant from Denmark – was overwhelmed by the hard and desolate life among the thousands of immigrants like himself, who had hoped for a better life in the promised land. The work is an eulogy to the life and dreams of these people. The music is written for a classical symphony orchestra, fronted by Benjamin Koppel (as), Scott Colley (b) and Brian Blade (d), who are colouring, wailing and grooving over the score.

This new digital album presents two aspects of Jeppe Zeeberg's music: solo variations on Haydn's Arietta (a wonder of creativity and harmonious sounds) and his regular quartet Jeppe Zeeberg and the Absolute Pinnacle of Human Achievement. The refreshing compositions are full of energy and overflowing musicality and the cover of "Barbie Girl" is like a barbecued doll!