A selection of the hot new music surfacing across the continent this month by the top European jazz magazines and websites
Viktor Bensusan, Jazzdergisi.com (Turkey)
EMMET COHEN: Future Stride (Mack Avenue)
New York-based pianist Emmet Cohen plays the music of the '20s: the elegant music of the 1920's during the pandemic days of the 2020's... The stride tradition of Fats Waller, Willie The Lion Smith, Art Tatum, and other early jazz piano greats, now continues with Mr. Cohen. He is talented with a relaxing attitude. When you hear a few tracks you will easily realize that now Emmet is the truth...
Dick Hovenga, Written in Music (Netherlands)
STEIGER: The New Lady Llama (Sdban Ultra)
The third album of Flamisch trio Steiger is another highy adventurous and experimental record that makes us even more aware how brilliant the Belgian jazzscene has left its mark on the worldwide jazzscene for the past years. A magic ball of unpredictable sounds, grooves and emotions and as exciting in all sort as modern jazz can be.
Sebastian Scotney, LondonJazz News (UK)
BIRGIT MINICHMAYR: As An Unperfect Actor - with Bernd Lhotzky and Quadro Nuevo (ACT)
The Austrian actor has a completely mesmerising presence on this album. On the video here, she coyly puts her hand in front of her mouth, to try to make us believe that "I'm not a singer." Don't be fooled. It's false modesty. The communicative power she can put into every word and every musical phrase is astonishing. Bernd Lhotzky has given her a wonderful kaleidoscope of different moods to work with, and some great tunes too. I've turned into a total fan and have been playing the album non-stop.
Patrik Sandberg, JAZZ/Orkesterjournalen (Sweden)
DAVE HOLLAND: Another Land (Edition Records)
Another Land is a new powerful album from an all-star trio featuring the versatile bassist Dave Holland (here heard on both upright and electric), guitarist Kevin Eubanks and drummer Obed Calvaire. This studio set of fluid themes are based on embroidered, elaborate themes. all originals, developed by the band and forged in the furnace of live performances. During the live shows that preceded the recording of Another Land, Dave Holland himself explains “we were doing a continuous set, once we started we very rarely stopped, we just kept going,”.
Eubanks and Hollands collaboration goes back to the 1990 ECM release Extensions and further partnership in the group Prism. Calvaire has been working with Holland in different trio settings since a few years back in time. Another Land is released through the UK-based label Edition Records 28th of May.
Cim Meyer, Jazz Special (Denmark)
ERNESTO CERVINI: Tetrahedron (Anzic)
The shape Tetrahedron is a pyramid with a triangle base, thus consisting of four triangle faces. The group called Tetrahedron began its existence as a chordless trio with just Ernesto Cervini’s drums, Rich Brown’s electric bass and Louis Deniz’ alto sax. But Cervini has augmented the trio with Nir Felder’s guitar. With this potent Cuba-meets-Canada-meets-U.S. lineup, Tetrahedron has a funky modernist vibe in a repertoire of originals plus a piece by Vince Mendoza and a standard by Hammerstein II. I suspect this quartet will bubble even more in a live situation.
Matthieu Jouan, Citizenjazz.com (France)
FABRICE MARTINEZ/LAURENT BARDAINNE/THOMAS DE POURQUERY: Drôles de dames (BMC)
An unexpected and improvised session that is the chance for a collective soar, like a swarm, in which a bewitching siren song resounds.
Paweł Brodowski, Jazz Forum (Poland)
TOMASZ CHYŁA QUINTET: da Vinci (AR014)
Jazz violin is something of a Polish specialty. Tomasz Chyła is one of the new masters of this instrument who deserve attention. But he is much more than that as he is also a choir master, a composer of vision, and a leader of a group that brings together some of the finest young jazz musicians on the scene. da Vinci is the Tomasz Chyła Quintet’s third album (following Eternal Entropy and Circlesongs). The instrumentation includes violin and voice, trumpet, guitar, bass, drums and electronics plus Chyła’s vocal octet Art ’n’Voices on four of nine tracks. The album’s title refers to Leonardo da Vinci. The music is inspired by the Renaissance hero’s skills and unlimited imagination. It is a daring blend of jazz, rock, ambient and choral music, full of changing moods, fluctuating energy and drama demanding from the listener patience and constant attention. A rewarding journey.
Anna Filipieva, Jazz.ru (Russia)
ROMAN STOLYAR/ANDREI RAZIN: Ballet Scenes for Two Pianos (Bomba-Piter)
Both outstanding pianists can (and do) play jazz, but what they do here belongs to a broader spectrum of styles. Roman, born in Sineria and residing in St. Petersburg, is an avid propagator of free improvisation, travels the world with clinics on free improv, and even published the first-ever Russian textbook on the subject, although he was making his living by composing for theatre and film. Adrei Razin, born in Kiev and residing in Moscow, also studied classical composition, but toured the world, from the U.S. to China and from Japan to Germany, with his Second Approach Trio, which fused composition and free improv. Together, the two unleash an avalanche of notes, motifs and textures, exaggeratedly classical in sound, but pronouncedly improvised, full of implicit irony, sadness, joy and sarcasm.
Jan Granlie, Salt-peanuts.eu (Pan-Scandinavian)
IVO PERELMAN / MATTHEW SHIPP Embrace of the Souls – Special Edition Box (SMP)
Brazilian saxophonist Ivo Perelman and American pianist Matthew Shipp have for many years collaborated on an almost infinite number of recordings and concerts. Now they have come up with a box consisting of a CD, a Blue Ray from a live concert in Sao Paulo, and a book with interviews with the musicians and a discussion of the project and the collaboration. The CD contains 12 improvised "parts" that have been titled "Track 1" to "Track 12", which was recorded in Parkwest studios in January 2019. The live concert on the Blue Ray was performed at Sesc Pompeia in Sao Paulo on July 11, 2019, while the book, entitled "Embrace Of Souls", was written by Jean Michel Van Schouwburg. This has simply become a beautiful recording where they,during the little over 51 minutes, never takes a single rest. All the way it is creative communication and exciting "conversations", and it is almost not possible to turn off this music until the two gives permission after "Track 12". The music is fresh, sore, free, structured and delicious from the start to the finish, and I can hardly remember the last time I heard a piano and saxophone duo that worked so well. And all the way, the music develops in a beautiful way, from almost straight and almost naïve parts to the free and delicious. A fantastic duo record, which is at the very top of the many duo recordings I have previously heard with the two. In the accompanying book we get everything we need of information about the two musicians. Here Jean Michel Van Schouwburg goes through the common, musical history of the two. They listen to records and talk about the records and about Perelman's and Shipp's relationship to music. And by reading this book you get a good insight into the two musicians "world". Perelman and Shipp have, as mentioned above, made 33 records together before this one, and this autumn Perelman will come with a box where he collaborates with nine other pianists. It will be something to look forward to. But within that, and guaranteed long after that, this recording will buzz and go on the player "over and over again". For this is a form of duo jazz I can listen to day in and day out. It is simply fantastic improvisation from two great artists, who some concert promotors have to invite to Scandinavia soon. For this is some of the best jazz on the road today!
