Europe Jazz Media Chart - March 2023

In August 2012 a group of Portuguese improvisers spent a week in an artist residency led by the legendary Evan Parker. Seventeen musicians got together, including Rodrigo Amado, Luís Vicente, Angelica Salvi, Marcelo dos Reis, Luís Lopes and Gabriel Ferrandini. In an almost magical place, surrounded by immense greenery and giant mountains, it was experienced an "utopian thing" (in Parker's words). Ten years later, the result of that historical meeting is available.

Paul Towndrow is an outstanding saxophonist, educator and composer who plays regularly with this trio of Pete Johnstone's Organ and Alyn Cosker's drums. It's a powerful improvising trio playing music with just a subtle hint of a Celtic influence. On some tracks the influence is more direct as the trio is joined by a selection of Scotland's finest traditional musicians, piper Ross Ainslie for example. Jazz in Scotland has developed a strong and distinct personality of its own, and this album is the latest excellent example.

Pianist Karin Johansson leads a surprising ensemble, ORD, whose airy, vibrant colour is the perfect medium for poetry. Without drums, with four wind instruments and a piano, sometimes prepared, the Swedish quintet offers a magnificent setting of Tomas Tranströmer's minimalist poetry. Tranströmer's poems are set to melody in intelligent and shimmering arrangements. Jenny Willén's voice, sometimes whispered, sometimes spoken, sometimes soft and precise, participates in this universalism of poetry. Niclas Rydh's trombone, Gunnel Samuelsson's reeds and Hasse Westling's double bass complete the orchestration. Numerous instrumental passages also illustrate the finesse of Johansson's writing, the skilful use of brass and woody colours with a balance point on the piano, but without making it the central axis. Much of this intimate and evanescent universe is due to the silences and ethereal interventions of the musicians, who know how to convey this feeling of floating and subdued light. The lyrics evoke nature, light, dreams and sleep, gazes and reflections. Undoubtedly a record to listen to at least once in your life.

This is mostly music of the head rather than the heart, or indeed the feet - it rarely settles into a "groove" although "Next" blooms into a swing feel with some bluesy guitar and "Avida Diva" offers a latin beat and chromatic riffs - which always swerve cunningly away from "line cliches". Overall it's a fine album, particularly if you like the guitar/sax/bass/drums format, and are interested in new slants on Monk's musical ideas. (Stephen Godsall)

The new album Latgalian Evergreens by the Māris Briežkalns quintet dedicated to the Latgale region in south-eastern Latvia is a continuum of rearranging Latvian folk music and the compositions by legendary Latvian composers in the jazz genre. In 2005, the album Latvian Evergreens by the Māris Briežkalns quintet was launched, and in 1997 the disc Kur tu teci was released as well. The new album Latgalian Evergreens is a logical next step, offering lovers of quality jazz to enjoy coolest gems of Latgale's musical heritage in a new and different soundscape. In three compositions of the new album the well-known Latvian folk music artist, singer Biruta Ozoliņa also participates. This project is like an emotional and informative adapter that helps the wider public to discover beautiful and unknown moods of Latvian music. Latgalian Evergreens will also be released on CD and vinyl.

Tore T Sandbakken is a Norwegian drummer, who in recent years has been heard in a number of contexts, not only in jazz, but in a number of different musical genres. On Imperfect Solitude, he collaborates with the tenor saxophonist Hanna Paulsberg and the pianist Dag-Filip Roaldsnes, where Paulsberg is the one who has distinguished herself the most in recent years, including with the band Flukten, Gurls and the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra and in her own Hanna Paulsberg Context. This is a record that could just as well have been a record in Roaldsnes' name. Because he is the leading musician, with an exceptionally delicious following from Paulsberg and Sandbakken. The record is characterized by the good ballads, and both Sandbakken and Roaldsnes have created eight beautiful songs in the tradition that are consistently exceptionally beautiful and delicious. I have heard both Paulsberg and Roaldsnes in several other contexts. But I don't remember hearing the two in such a complete, beautiful ballad landscape before. And together with Sandbakken's fine compositions and spare drumming, this becomes a ballad record of high international class. This music is perfect to enjoy with a glass of burgundy, while seeing that winter has no intention of leaving us just yet. The legs are raised high, the glass well placed in the right hand, the bottle of Noiton-Beaunoy, Grand Cuvée is within reach, and the lovely music pouring out of the speakers helps to make this a perfect evening... It could almost not be better!

Village Vanguard is a sacred place for jazz and "Live at The Village Vanguard" has always heralded intensely high quality albums, from John Coltrane to Chris Potter (twice) and beyond...