Featuring new albums from Trish Clowes, Espen Eriksen Trio, Mary Halvorson, Alexander Hawkins Mirror Canon and more
Trish Clowes
A view with a bedroom
Green leaf music
Trish Clowes (ts), (ss), Ross Stanley (p, ky, Hammond org), Chris Montague (l) and James Maddren (d)
Hopefully one of the latest releases – though certainly one of the best – born out of the disaster that has been the pandemic lockdown. Clowes, unsentimentally but with great skill and not little passion, found some sweetness in the midst of pain and loss. It is a music of communication and community forged at a time when both were, and still are, threatened… Andy Robson
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Espen Eriksen Threesome with Andy Sheppard
In the mountains
Grammofon Rune
Espen Eriksen (p), Lars Tormod (b), Andreas Bye (d), plus Andy Sheppard (ts)
A chic and inventive jazz improvisation album that is almost perfect… Stuart Nicholson
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Mary Halvorson
Amaryllis/Belladonna
None of these records
Mary Halvorson (l), Adam O’Farrill
A new label and a bloom of new material from the ever fertile Halvorson. There are actually two different albums that can be purchased together or separately. Each is isolated, but it’s impossible not to compare and contrast how they complement and challenge each other… Andy Robson
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Alexander Hawkins Mirror Cannon
Break a vase
intact
Alexander Hawkins (p, sampler), Shabaka Hutchings (ts, ss, f), Otto Fischer (el g), Neil Charles (b, el b), Stephen Davis (d) and Richard Olátundé Baker (adamo, perc)
Two hugely productive British musicians, Hawkins and Hutchings, team up (alongside bass Neil Charles, aka Ben Marc) for this intriguing album which is inspired by West Indian poet Derek Walcott’s famous Nobel acceptance speech: ” Break a vase, and the love that brings the fragments together is stronger than that love that took its symmetry for granted when it was whole.”… Kevin Whitlock
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Brian Jackson
It’s Brian Jackson
BBE
Brian Jackson (f, el p, v), Domenica Fossati (af), Binky Brice (l, el b), Moussa Fadera, Carlos Sanchez, TONTO, Harvey Mason (d) Daniel Collas, Lucio De Coldest, Barnett Williams (perc ), Nair BT Rebor (ky), Aurelio Valle (g), Juliet Swango, Monika Heidemann (v), Ben Romans-Hopcraft (b), Camelia Hartman, Claire Solomon and Sampaguita Strings (strings)
From the first track of a very cohesive set of material, Jackson proves to be the man with an ability to create groove and melody that compares favorably to the Stevie Wonders and Donny Hathaway of the world… Kevin Le Gendre
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Roberto Occhipinti
The next step
Modica Music
Roberto Occhipinti (b), Adrean Farrugia (p), Larnell Lewis (d) and Ilaria Crociante (v)
Pianist Farrugia and drummer Lewis have repeatedly allowed their moments to shine; “A Tynerish Swing” is notable for its interaction and shifts in focus, for a vibe as airy and cerebral as its swing and visceral. Highly recommended… Jane Cornwell
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Jeremy Pelt
Soundtrack
High score
Jeremy Pelt
Jeremy Pelt’s first post-lockdown recording finds the trumpeter back on track with his usual work band. The opener, “Picking Up the Pieces,” establishes the American’s core aesthetic by fading with modal bass swing and fading to edgy modern funk. The rest of the album unfolds like a well-programmed chic date in a club… Mike Hobart
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Ches Smith
Interpret it well
Pyroclastic documents
Ches Smith (d, vib), Bill Frisell (g), Mat Maneri (vla) and Craig Taborn (ky)
The busy and separate schedules of these four players mean that regular encounters on Ches Smith’s drafts are inevitably rare, so Interpret it well is a particularly precious document… John Fordham
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Julie Tippetts and Martin Archer
Illusion
disc music
Julie Tippetts (v, perc), Martin Archer (ky, elec, woodwind), Laura Cole (p), Anton Hunter (el g, elec), Peter Fairclough (d, perc), Seth Bennett (b), Corey Mwamba ( vib, f), Nick Robinson (l, elec), BJ Cole (slide g), Charlotte Keeffe (t, flhn), George Murray (tb), Steve Dinsdale (d), Paul Schatzberger (vn), Aby Vulliamy (vla ), Angela Rosenfeld, Liz Hanks (clo), Simmy Singh (vn, vla), James Archer, Mark Hadman, Michael Harding, Hervé Perez and Chris Trent (elec)
The duo managed to create a typically ambitious double album while retaining the high-resolution sound quality that distinguished their previous work… Tony Benjamin
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Read reviews for all these albums, and more, in the June issue of Jazzy side. Never miss an issue – subscribe today
