A selection of the hot new music surfacing across the continent this month by the top European jazz magazines and websites
Sebastian Scotney, LondonJazz News (UK)
TOM SMITH: Gecko (Basho)
No, not tenor saxophonist Tommy Smith (born Edinburgh, 1967), but alto saxophonist Tom Smith (born South London, 1995.) Two-time finalist in the BBC Young Jazz Musician Competition, and the only UK musician in Maria Schneider's 2018 Generations Band in Frauenfeld (CH). Gecko is a trio with vibes player Jonny Mansfield and pianist Will Barry. Both were part of his student cohort, all three are wonderfully confident and communicative players. Tom is a natural big band lead alto player, with a real gift to play melodies assertively and clearly. Another aspect of his work is LGBT issues. He founded a band called Queertet, and he has a strong and persuasive voice on these important issues too.
Matthieu Jouan, Citizenjazz.com (France)
SYLVAIN RIFFLET AND JON IRABAGON: Rebellion(s) (BMC)
Because, in this stressful period of isolation and capitalist cynicism, it is important to celebrate the voices that embody rebellion, as jazz has always done. Sylvain Rifflet and Jon Irabagon stand with their horns and ring the alarm.
Luca Vitali, Giornale della Musica (Italy)
CRISTINA ZAVALLONI: For the living (Encore Music Jazz)
Paweł Brodowski, Jazz Forum (Poland)
SYLWESTER OSTROWSKI AND JAZZ FORUM TALENTS FT. BOBBY WATSON, LOGAN RICHARDSON, KEYON HARROLD: Jammin’ with KC (Agora)
This unique album is a result of an expedition to Kansas City, the birthplace of Charlie Parker, undertaken in February 2020, just before the pandemic outbreak. The mastermind of the project, tenor saxophonist Sylwester Ostrowski, put together a constellation of young Polish guns selected at Jazz Forum Showcase, which was held in Szczecin in October last year. Jazz Forum Talents are: Kasia Pietrzko - p, Maciek Kadziela - as, Kacper Smoliński - hca, Tomasz Chyła - viol, and Kuba Mizeracki - g. At a spontaneous session in Omaha, Nebraska, they joined forces with Kansas City luminaries – alto saxophonists Bobby Watson and Logan Richardson, bassist Dominique Sanders, as well as the drummer Eric Allen (now living in Poland). Keyon Harrold’s trumpet part was later added to the mix. “Jammin’ with KC” is a fiery blend of different elements – bebop, hardbop, free, funk, hip-hop, and a touch of classical romaticism. Released on CD and LP.
Anna Filipieva, Jazz.ru (Russia)
LRK TRIO: Memory Moment (Losen Records)
Why? It's a masterpiece. The Moscow-based trio continues their productive work with the Norwegian label, coming up with their third release on the imprint: a mature, diverse, and powerful recording, both delightfully modern in sounds and rhythms, and excitingly Russian in the melody department. What pianist Evgeny Lebedev, bassist Anton Revnyuk and drummer Ignat Kravtsov achieve equals to Pyotr Tchaikovsky meets Esbjorn Svensson and Sergei Prokofiev, and they go... not to a bar, it's the 21st century: they put on their running shoes and go for a three-mile run.
Jan Granlie, Salt-peanuts.eu (Pan-Scandinavian)
MARY HALVORSON’S CODE GIRL: Artlessly Falling (Firehouse 12 Records)
Mary Halvorson has done it again, and this time with her Code Girl project. I would argue that this is one of the most original bands coming from the US these days. And the guitar playing of Halvorson, is very original and no one does like her. She had colleague Joe Morris as a teacher some years ago, and him, combined with maybe Bill Frisell (who she did the great album "The Maid with the Flaxen Hair" on John Zorn's company, TZADIK, with last year), are, maybe, the two I think about that are closest in the way she treats the guitar. And this version of Code Girl is nothing but a gem of a band, where all the elements of Halvorson's world of ideas are connected in a brilliant way. And with the master, Robert Wyatt, as guest vocalist on three of the songs, this is some of the toughest I've heard of relatively free, but still very organized jazz in a very long time!
Christine Stephan, JAZZTHETIK (Germany)
KEITH JARRETT: Budapest Concert (ECM)
Viktor Bensusan, Jazzdergisi.com (Turkey)
TIM GARLAND: Refocus (Edition Records)
Literally strings attached, this album Getz you to Stan's album of half a century ago, "Focus", as a revisit to the perennial longing of jazz meets strings. Bird did it, Wes did it, even dedicated Chet did it...
Dick Hovenga, Written in Music (Netherlands)
THUNDERBLENDER: Stillorgan (W.E.R.F. Rec.)
Stillorgan is a wonderful restless affair that leaves you on the tip of your seat and completly intrigues with it's unpredictability. Thunderblender is a fascinating new trio.
Patrik Sandberg, JAZZ/Orkesterjournalen (Sweden)
BLUE NOTE: Re:imagined (Blue Note)
High-profile names from the British jazz, r & b and soul scene give a number of Blue Note originals a new innovative twist on Blue Note Re: Imgained. Nubya Garcia breathes new life into Joe Henderson's A Shade of Jade, Alfa Mist injects inventive cosmic grooves into the Eddie Henderson Galaxy, Shabaka Hutchings transforms Bobby Hutcherson's Prints Tie into urban, streetsmart contemporary jazz.
