Europe Jazz Media Chart - September 2024

Live In Munich is divided into six parts of twenty-two, ten, four, eight, eleven and four minutes respectively. Essential in each case is the overarching silence from which both start or which they insert. Rearranging and interweaving structures is another of the duo's tactics. Sometimes they slightly shift the focus, other times they do so abruptly. It leads to whimsical contrasts that turn out to be wonderfully complementary. (Georges Tonla Briquet)

Powerful, swirling music full of surprises. Not only Christy Doran impresses with his usual original ideas and sharp sounds, also Lukas Mantel and Wolfgang Zwiauer do their best to make the whole thing as interesting as possible. The sounds are sometimes undefined and although the number of instruments is clear, you can't really count them. A very interesting album that should not be missed!

Matthew Shipp's latest album, New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz, presents a new stimulus to the free jazz scene, showing once again an innovative Shipp, in continuous search and with no complex to include sound textures from different mental galaxies. Released in 2024 under the ESP-Disk label, the album features Shipp on piano, Michael Bisio on bass, and Newman Taylor Baker on drums.

Brink is the collaborative album by two professionals of simultaneous playing and listening — saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and drummer Tom Rainey, who are running a duo since 2017. The album features seven compositions and six "brinks," short and subtle sound textures that divide the mesmerisingly melodic sections. These "brinks" seem less like independent pieces of music than evocative images that glue the whole together, sparking the listener's imagination. While the music is full of bright expressions from both musicians, there is also a wealth of contemplative melodies that are both unpredictable and ultimately logical and consonant.

Saxophonist Marthe Lea, bassist Jon Rune Strøm and drummer Dag Erik Knedal Andersen are three musicians who have had the opportunity to play in different connections at most of the jazz clubs in Norway in recent years. And now, probably after a musical meeting at the club Hærverk in Oslo, they have gone into the syudio to create this wonderful release. We get several collective improvisations, plus a composition by Lea, and one by Strøm, before they finish with Charlie Haden's "Song for Che". It has become an incredibly creative, interesting and beautiful release, where the three musicians show themselves in the very best way. Lea with convincing tenor saxophone playing, Strøm with bass playing in the Charlie Haden class and Knedal Andersen with a drumming that fits perfectly with the other two. Done to perfection!

One of the most remarkable jazz trios of this year is undoubtedly that featuring Danish drummer Daniel Sommer, Norwegian bass legend Arild Andersen and the young, so promising, British guitarist Rob Luft. Their album As Time Passes is one of this year's jazz highlights. With Andersen mentioned first on the album's cover not without reason, as an old crack, who has been releasing his albums through the renowned ECM since the early 1970s and still plays fantastically, Sommer and Luft are still beginners, but what great counterpoint they give Andersen, pulling him to his very highest level. As Time Passes is a masterful collaboration of three exceptional musicians. Sommer and Andersen could not have invited a better “extra” musician as Luft. In recent years he has become one of the most versatile guitarists in the world and knows how to inspire everyone around them to get the very best out of their playing. As Time Passes is definitely one of the best jazz albums of the year.

In his latest album, "Bird’s Eye," released by Pyroclastic Records, David Leon leads an unlikely (and very likely unprecedented) trio: woodwinds, drums, and gayageum—a Korean instrument similar to a zither, with twelve strings that are plucked. In this instrumental collaboration, David Leon plays soprano and alto saxophones, as well as alto and piccolo flutes; the gayageum is played by DoYeon Kim, a Korean musician who is considered a virtuoso of the instrument; and on drums and percussion is Lesley Mok. Initially, we might find the sound of the stringed instrument unfamiliar (as it is quite uncommon to our ears), but as the music progresses, we turn our attention to the strong musical interaction of the trio. From this melting pot of mixtures and influences—Leon’s original compositions (which draw on elements from Cuban tradition), Korean music, and Mok’s curious percussion—emerges an incomparable music, difficult to classify. Over the themes, we hear a constant dialogic interaction between the three musicians, who articulate and communicate with each other in a continuous process of sonic communion.

This is the second album made in tribute to pianist Paul Bley, by the trio of Pat Thomas (piano), Dominic Lash (bass) and Tony Orrell (drums). Thomas is definitely more percussive in his technique than Bley, but he has a similar commitment to experimentation. There is no one better than Thomas at taking a standard, deconstructing it and creating something fresh and new from the bones, whilst still retaining the essence of the original. As well as standards on this album the trio tackle several Carla Bley tunes, and throw in a thunderous rendition of "Monks Mood". None of this is what you would call a conventional piano trio, but all three members deliver fierce and imaginative improvisation.

Blue Note now releases Celebration Volume 1, the first in a series of archival releases that sax icon and composer Wayne Shorter curated before his passing in 2023. This stunning live recording from 2014 captured Shorter's acclaimed quartet with pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade during the then ongoing Stockholm Jazz Festival at the Konserthuset in Stockholm.

With his white-hot Scandinavian band and his dense, meaty, and as always, in-motion compositions, the double bassist hits hard with this second Knarr album. The energy is similar to the previous album, but the subject matter is different. The record is dedicated to trumpeter jaimie branch, who died just two years ago and was a friend of Flaten's. This tribute (featuring the excellent Erik Kimestad on trumpet) is in line with the trumpeter's musical image: high energy, a touch of madness and an appetite for groove-driven environments.