Europe Jazz Media Chart - June 2022

Innovation is art’s lifeblood. J. Peter Schwalm and Stephan Thelen are innovators both in their own right. In their never ending exploratory quest they have tapped into new areas of sound and form, Schwalm in the field of electroacoustic sculpture, Thelen with a distinct emphasis on repetitive structure. Brought together by label director Giacomo Bruzzo they demonstrate that differences can be a fertile ground for new growth. And as they foster what thrives under their inquisitive hands they advance in new directions and even further into the realm of the unknown, way beyond the boundaries of the commonly taken for granted.

In both cases we are dealing with excellent, formally and stylistically coherent pieces, whose clear artistic idea has the chance to reach hearts and minds not only of jazz fans. From a purely musical point of view, both albums are examples of the aesthetic sophistication of contemporary music that consciously and creatively draws from the outstanding not only jazz tradition.

Having won Jazz Forum Readers’ annual poll seven times in a row, Wojtek Myrczek, 35, can claim the title of Poland’s top male jazz singer. He has a solid background and a thorough musical education, his artistic triumphs include 1st Prize and audience award at the 2013 Shure Montreux Jazz Voice Competition. Myrczek is a complete performer. He’s got it all – a velvet voice, impeccable intonation, clear articulation, improvisational ease, a sense of style and swing, a strong stage presence, and a knack of storytelling (in the tradition of Sinatra and Bennett). Not surprisingly Celebrating the Journey is a collection of timeless jazz standards. And he makes them work, stealing bright moments with the help of an inspired rhythm section.

The Portuguese pianist, film composer and photographer Bernardo da Costa Sassietti was born on June 24, 1970, and left the planet on May 10, 2021, after falling from a cliff in Guincho, Cascais, just outside Lisbon, Portugal, where he took pictures for his next book. On «Culturgest 2007» we are getting a recording from a memorable concert he did with bassist Carlos Barretto and drummer Alexandre Frazão in Culturgest Auditorium in Lisbon on September 29, 2007. The reason for the release was that they wanted to celebrate the trio's 10th anniversary, even though the three musicians had played together for 12 years. The trio was in their best form, playing almost telepathically, and Bernardo knew that this concert only had to be released once. The years passed, and Bernardo focused on the future, planned new albums, composed and recorded, and this live recording was more or less forgotten. With Bernardo's unexpected death, in 2012, his friends spent time learning to live with his absence and listening to his music. But now it has been released on Pedro Costa's company Clean Feed, and it's a fantastic piano trio we get to hear. I can’t understand why I have not noticed this eminent pianist and his trio before. Because here we meet a pianist who is fully on par with the best in the world of jazz. His compositions are beautiful, whether it is ballads or up-tempo songs, his technique is excellent and his ability to take the listener into a slightly melancholy and beautiful landscape is almost magical. And together with Barretto and Frazão, they gave the audience this September evening in 2007 an unforgettable experience. And now we, all the others who have never heard his name before, many years later, and after Sassetti has left the planet, can take part in this exquisite piano music.

What happens when three on-demand musicians are suddenly not demanded (due to the pandemic cancellations)? This album is the culmination of the demanding yet relaxing work by three individual musicians: Murray, Jones and Drake...

The current resurgence of jazz in Britain is fuelled by an infusion of Afro-Caribbean and South Asian rhythms. This is often presented as a new phenomenon, but it isn't. For the past 40 years, Grand Union Orchestra has been doing just that – mixing jazz with dance with carnival; youth projects with major concerts; bright young artists with major established names; choirs with steel bands. And through it all, with a huge sense of fun. This, their 40th Anniversary album, features exciting remastered very danceable tracks from their back catalogue.

For this solo, Kaja Draksler returns to a more traditional approach to piano playing, playing more on the key-hammer-string mechanics than on the preparation, effects and accessories. A predominant place is left to silence, to silences. Between the notes, slowly laid down one after the other, but also between the voices, the sentences, like a message between the lines. And nothing would be so magical if not for the quarter-tone keyboard that allows so many puns, accents, dialects. From beginning to end, you listen to this album with the sensation of a daydream in an unstable and unknown universe, like being Alice in Wonderland. And always this confident play, this keyboard mastery in all its range and this personal discipline which ensure that each new project of Kaja Draksler raises her to a higher level, irremediably.