Reviews

ARTIST Phil Haynes & Free Country ALBUM TITLE "Liberty Now!" LABEL Corner Store Jazz ______________________________________________________________ In a rather singular pairing of new (and previously unreleased) material with selections spanning seventeen years...

ARTIST Max Ionata ALBUM TITLE "Tivoli" LABEL Mingus Records ______________________________________________________________ A kind of fatal attraction – that is what binds Max Ionata to Copenhagen: its light, its atmosphere, and, naturally, its...

ARTIST Margherita Fava ALBUM TITLE "Murrina" LABEL Caligola ______________________________________________________________ In the wake of a brilliant debut, expectations for a second album are always high, and the risk of disappointment is never...

ARTIST Ledisi ALBUM TITLE "For Dinah" LABEL Candid ______________________________________________________________ This is not merely a tribute to Dinah Washington, but a statement of artistic continuity that, on the one hand, acknowledges the...

ARTIST Julia Hülsmann ALBUM TITLE "While I Was Away" LABEL ECM ______________________________________________________________ Julia Hülsmann does not stand still – she doubles down. After a trilogy of quartet albums – beginning in...

ARTIST Fabrizio Bosso Spiritual Trio ALBUM TITLE "Welcome Back" LABEL Flying Spark ______________________________________________________________ “Welcome Back” (also available on vinyl) marks the fourth recording chapter of a group active since 2011. Over...

ARTIST Jordan Williams ALBUM TITLE "Playing By Ear" LABEL Red Records ______________________________________________________________ Jordan Williams is one of those musicians whose voracious training is immediately apparent. Born in Philadelphia, he immersed himself...

ARTIST Gonzalo Rubalcaba ALBUM TITLE "Gonzalo Plays Pino" LABEL Itinera ______________________________________________________________ Lately, Pino Daniele has not been allowed to rest. His name is invoked with suspicious frequency, as though it were...

ARTIST Plains Peak ALBUM TITLE "Someone to Someone" LABEL Irabbagast Records ______________________________________________________________ This new quartet gathered around saxophonist Jon Irabagon – one of the most compelling voices on the New York...

ARTIST Aruan Ortiz ALBUM TITLE "Créole Renaissance" LABEL Intakt ______________________________________________________________ The first aspect that strikes the listener in this new solo work by the fifty-two-year-old Cuban pianist Aruán Ortiz is the...