Jazz Recommends Jazz July 2022

Review: This is a classic bit of little known but vital British jazz fusion with a rather beguiling cover. It was first written in 1977 and has become super rare in the years since. Only a few originals have ever been found so they cost a small fortune. It was pressed by a little known label that didn't do much marketing so the record siding get the props it deserved at the time. It will now though because it is a super cool listen that goes from dark to funky to library with atmosphere and introspection to spare. Barbara Thompson was one of the few talented musicians who made up the band.

Review: Usually we note how many albums along a new release is, but by 'Trio '65', Bill Evans was so deep into his live LP-releasing career that we find it difficult to count out exactly which release number this one is. Now reissued on Verve's Acoustic Sounds series - dedicated to new vinyl remasters from analog tapes - the jazz pianist's masterful hand technique is given its most thorough audiophile's listen-in yet. Joined by bassist Chuck Israels and drummer Larry Bunker for this 1965 recording, this one is a typically noir and cigarette-smoked tour through both Evans originals and known standards, from 'Israel' and 'Elsa to 'Come Rain Or Come Shine'.

Review: Aura Safari are Alessandro Deledda, Andrea Moretti, Lorenzo Lavoratori, Daniele Melloni and Nicholas Iammatteo. They have spent years entrenched in the local music scene of Perugia, Italy, attending the Umbria Jazz Festival every summer and legendary Red Zone Club during winter, both of which shaped their sound of Aura Safari. Now, they showcase their good-time grooves and vibrant vibes on two brilliant new tracks for Terrasolare which lien up your life no end thanks to their dancing beats, warming bass and sun-worshiping synths and melodies. Super lush stuff.

Review: Blue Note Records continue to top up their Classic Vinyl reissues series, this time homing in on Lou Donaldson's sixth album for the label 'Blues Walk' (he never swayed from Blue Note). The legendary jazz saxophonist and bandleader intended the LP to be his magnum opus at the time, and as history slowly ingested its influence, it became as such. Six rain-drizzled original pieces span two sides, with Donaldson joined by Herman Foster, Peck Morrison, Dave Bailey and Ray Barretto for an unusual jazz combo involving congas, and a unique mood that epitomised his own brand of cool jazz-blues.

Review: We love the title of this album as surely we would all like to occasionally take a break from the mental trappings of our own minds. And what better way to so so than with a blissful collection of breezy yacht rock, bittersweet soul sounds and mellow jazz funk that will melt the heart and soundtrack some laid back sessions. All thoughtfully collected and sequenced, this is a ,musical invite to a more mindful state that will have your hips swaying, your mind emptied and your heart swollen. There are tunes from across the ages from diverse artists like David Buckland, Jeanette Baker and Utopia.

Review: Following up on the spectacular Chicago Odense Ensemble LP from 2019, this new joint on El Paraiso features two of London's finest, Tamar Osborn and Al MacSween, linking up with celebrate Danish psychonauts Jonas Munk, Jakob Skott and Martin Rude to lay down some outerworldly jazz variations. Shapes shift and the vibe is rarely static as the collective of musicians let their talents fly, resulting in some truly breathtaking trips into moody spirituality. You might well detect a hint of kosmische as much as Coltrane/Sanders, and if you like any of that music or simply like to be taken on a vivid, far-reaching trip, you won't be disappointed.

Review: It's quite hard to comprehend that such a pivotal album in the history of free jazz has taken this long to be reissued. Originally coming out in 1980, Visions Of The Third Eye is a landmark piece of work which saw the untamed terrain of free jazz being navigated with a certain soulful, spiritual bent which lands differently compared to a lot of other works in the genre. New Life Trio was made up of monumental drummer Steve Reid, guitarist Brandon Ross and bassist David Wertman, and on this record they broke down barriers but never at the expense of the feeling. Now Early Future have faithfully reissued the album with an appropriate level of grandeur, remastered and featuring a 20-page zine with interviews, essays and more.

Review: Previously, the shadowy Jazz 'N' Palms crew has stuck to re-edits, offering up on-point, scalpel style reworks of thoroughly obscure jazz, tropical and Balearic gems. With Ses Rodes, they've ditched the re-edits, instead offering up an album of original tracks, recorded in Ibiza with the help of a quartet of musicians. The results are pleasingly leisurely and soft focus, with winding analogue synth solos, languid saxophone lines, horizontal jazz guitar solos and warming Rhodes motifs - and the odd Pat Metheny style improvised vocal - rising above mostly laidback grooves. Along the way, you can expect forays into jazz-funk, spiritual jazz, art-rock, exotica, library music, soundtrack grooves and sun-splashed Balearic beats.

Review: In a stroke of ingenuity Noori found a neck of a guitar whilst rummaging through a Port Sudan scrapyard along the Red Sea Coast in the 90s. Using their welding talents they fixed it onto a traditional four stringed tambour, creating what may be the only tambo-guitar hybrid in the world. Beja Power! Is a love letter to the Beja culture, inherently political and almost erased by the former Sudanese leader. This historically rich niche of Afro-Jazz is both nostalgic and mystical. Elements of surf rock, electric blues and psychedelia can be heard in these instrumental tracks, a 6-track capsule of a powerful identity nearly lost to the sands of time. Noori & His Dorpa Band's style is authentic and evocative and is a joyful proclamation and demonstration of the magic that is Beja sound and aesthetic.

Review: Mark De Clive Lowe is an artist who infuses every inch of his musical output with a jazz influence. The Kiwi keys man with an illustrious back catalogue has more than proved himself in the field of deep house, broken beat and more, and now he's paying tribute to one of the true greats of spiritual jazz, Pharoah Sanders. Across an expansive double LP, De Clive Lowe looks with care through the vast legacy of Sanders' work, and delivers his own unique interpretations of such important pieces as 'Astral Travelling' and 'The Creator Has A Master Plan'.

Review: Chicagoan trumpeter and flugel hornist Malachi Thompson made some fine records during his lifetime, though none are better than his 1980 solo debut The Seventh Son. It's been an in-demand item amongst jazz collectors for some time, making this belated vinyl reissue a welcome development. The set is spiritual in tone, but musically draws just as much from soul-jazz and fusion as it does the more freewheeling end of spiritual jazz. As a result, the tracks are largely warming, melodious and alluring, with Thompson's dexterous and imaginative playing leaving a lasting impression. Our highlights include 'Street Dance' and the epic 'Denise', but to be honest the whole set is essential listening.

Review: Swedish free-folk supergroup Enhet For Fri Musik are a collective culminating of multiple free-jazz and free-folk bands in Gothenburg. Their sound is eclectic, organic and avant-garde, with the recording process being much the same. Originally aiming to make a progressive jazz record, the collective would drink together and someone would randomly start playing an instrument, resulting in miniature epics - hence 'Dokument 1'. Document is a perfect descriptor, with tracks like 'Vilsen' having an eerie atmosphere created by the disjointed string progressions - an organism deserving of an SCP number. The record is cerebral and somewhat cinematic, evoking memories of avant-garde soundtracks like 'Drawing Restraint 9' and it's supernatural aura.

Review: Chris Bangs & Mick Talbot present 'Back To Business', looking back on the intersection of mod, club and the distinctive 'acid jazz' term that Bangs himself coined. Talbot, meanwhile, was a founding member of The Style Council and a former part of Dexys Midnight Runners. The new album is a must for any mod (be they an original or wannabe revivalist), marking the first Bangs & Talbot collaboration released in years.

Review: Roger Webb was an accomplished composer and songwriter in the 60s and 70s who wrote for the likes of Shirley Bassey, Johnny Mathis, and Bette Davis, but he also turned his hand to some outstanding library works such as this bright and breezy LP from 1971. With vocals from Barbara Moore (also noted for working with Jimi Hendrix, Elton John, Dusty Springfield and Tom Jones), Vocal Patterns is a mixed bag that veers from kitsch 60s pop to melancholic reflections and more besides. If you want a portal back to a different era, this record will sweep you off your feet and land you right back there.

Review: The Dynamite Cuts label lives up to its name once again here and drops more red hot heat. This time they offer two jazz cuts on 7" for the first time ever. They have been taken from Dave Grusin's 1965 album 'Kaleidoscope' and still sound fresh. First up is 'Kaleidoscope', a jazzy piano workout with twanging double bass and shuffling drums that lift you off your feet. 'Straight No Chaser' then gets lead by a busy and conversational trumpet that is restless and expressive. Both of these are party starters for those who love that real jazz tackle.

Review: Ethiopian jazz mastermind Kibrom Birhane presents his latest album 'Here And There', a spiritual-cosmic meditation on indeterminacy. With a full ensemble of brass, chordopone and voice, and with Birhane manning a good bulk of the instruments we hear (piano, organ, krar, talkbox), this project expands on Birhane's roots, drawing on his absorption of thousand-year-old Ethiopian orthodox chanting as a child, as well as his talent at handling the region's most esoteric instruments.

Review: The Dynamite Cuts label lives up to its name once again here and drops more red hot heat. This time they offer two jazz cuts on 7" for the first time ever and this is a red and white splattered vinyl version, though we also have the black. The tunes have been taken from Dave Grusin's 1965 album 'Kaleidoscope' and still sound fresh. First up is 'Kaleidoscope', a jazzy piano workout with twanging double bass and shuffling drums that lift you off your feet. 'Straight No Chaser' then gets lead by a busy and conversational trumpet that is restless and expressive. Both of these are party starters for those who love that real jazz tackle.