Category Archives: Improv
WARREN HAMPSHIRE-LANGUAGE OF THE BIRDS.
Warren Hampshire-Language Of The Birds. Label: Athens Of The North. Format: LP Many people will remember Warren Hampshire as the guitarist in The Bees, who were formed in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight in 2001 and went on to release four albums between 2002 and 2010. However, he wasn’t an original lineup of the …
KJETIL MULELID-PIANO.
Kjetil Mulelid-Piano. Label: Rune Grammofon. Format: CD. Prodigiously talented describes thirty year old Norwegian composer, bandleader and pianist Kjetil Mulelid who recently released his debut album Piano on the Rune Grammofon label. It’s the latest chapter in the story of one of the rising stars of Norwegian jazz. Kjetil Mulelid was born in Hurdal, a …
KASAI ALLSTARS-BLACK ANTS ALWAYS FLY TOGETHER, ONE BANGLE MAKES NO SOUND.
Kasai Allstars-Black Ants Always Fly Together, One Bangle Makes No Sound. Label: Crammed Discs. Format: CD. In December 2008, the Kasai Allstars released their critically acclaimed debut album In The 7th Moon, The Chief Turned Into A Swimming Fish and Ate The Head Of His Enemy By Magic. Critics were won over by music which …
WARREN HAMPSHIRE-LANGUAGE OF THE BIRDS.
Warren Hampshire-Language Of The Birds. Label: Athens Of The North. Format: CD. Many people will remember Warren Hampshire as the guitarist in The Bees, who were formed in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight in 2001 and went on to release four albums between 2002 and 2010. However, he wasn’t an original lineup of the …
CULT CLASSIC: BOBBY HUTCHERSON-OBLIQUE.
Cult Classic: Bobby Hutcherson-Oblique. On July the ‘21st’ 1967, Bobby Hutcherson journeyed to Van Gelder Studio, in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, to record Oblique which was his sixth solo album for Blue Note Records. It was just the second album he had recorded with a quartet. The first was Happenings, an album of modal hard bop …
FAREWELL RODION LADISLAU ROSCA.
Farewell Rodion Ladislau Rosca. Nowadays, the word innovator is used far too often, but the music that Rodion Ladislau Rosca the founder of Romanian experimental rock group Rodion G.A. recorded was innovative, influential and way ahead of its time. Sadly, living and making music behind the Iron Curtain meant music fans in the West never …
HEDVIG MOLLESTAD TRIO-DING DONG, YOU’RE DEAD.
Hedvig Mollestad Trio-Ding Dong, You’re Dead. Label: Rune Grammofon. Format: CD. Just nine months ago award-winning Norwegian guitarist, vocalist, bandleader and composer Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen released her critically acclaimed debut solo album Ekhidna. By then, she was one of the leading lights of Norway’s vibrant music scene. She had founded the Hedvig Mollestad Trio in 2009 …
MANONGO MUJICA AND TERJE EVENSEN-PARACAS RITUAL
Manongo Mujica and Terje Evensen-Paracas Ritual. Label: Buh Records. Format: 2 x LP. Manongo Mujica has been a leading light of the Peruvian avant-garde music scene since the seventies, and has met a myriad of musicians who were touring Peru. In 2003, this included Norwegian drummer, sound designer, teacher and composer Terje Evensen who was …
SPIRITUAL JAZZ 13: NOW! PART TWO.
Spiritual Jazz 13: Now! Part Two. Label: Jazzman Records. Format: CD. Nowadays, there aren’t many compilation series’ that are still going strong after thirteen years and thirteen volumes. However, Jazzman Records’ critically acclaimed compilation and commercially successful Spiritual Jazz seems to be going from strength-to-strength. Recently, the label released Spiritual Jazz 13: Now! Part One and Two which are …
SPIRITUAL JAZZ 13: NOW! PART ONE.
Spiritual Jazz 13: Now! Part One. Label: Jazzman Records. Format: CD. Little did anyone at Jazzman Records know when they released Spiritual Jazz (Esoteric, Modal and Deep Jazz From The Underground 1968-77) in 2008, that this was the first instalment in what would become their longest-running and most successful compilation series. Over the next thirteen …
CULT CLASSIC: SUN RA AND HIS MYTH SCIENCE ARKESTRA-WHEN ANGELS SPEAK OF LOVE.
Cult Classic: Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra-When Angels Speak Of Love. One of the most prolific artist of the twentieth century was the inimitable Sun Ra, who released around 125 albums during a career that spanned six decades. One that is a render of one of jazz’s pioneer and innovators is When Angels Speak Of Lovse. …
TERJE RYPDAL-CONSPIRACY.
Terje Rypdal-Conspiracy. Label: ECM. Format: CD. Norwegian guitarist Terje Rypdal was twenty-one when he released his debut album Bleak House on Polydor in 1968. This was the start of a recording career that has spanned six decades and saw the him become one of Norway’s most successful musical exports. Three years later, in 1971, Terje …
ODED TZUR-HERE BE DRAGONS.
Oded Tzur-Here Be Dragons. Label: ECM. Format: CD. In 2015, thirty-one year old Israeli tenor saxophonist Oded Tzur released his much-anticipated debut solo album Like A Great River on Enja Records. It was released to plaudits and praise with critics heaping praise on a pioneering musician who had developed his own saxophone technique which he …
HUNTSVILLE AND YUKA HONDA, NELS CLINE, DARIN GRAY, GLENN KOTCHE-BOW SHOULDER.
Huntsville and Yuka Honda, Nels Cline, Darin Gray, Glenn Kotche-Bow Shoulder. Label: Hubro Music. Format: CD. In the spring of 2006, Chicago alternative rock band Wilco and Huntsville were booked to play at the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville in Quebec, Canada. Wilco played first and their guitarist Nels Cline decided to watch …
SUN RA ARKESTRA-SWIRLING.
Sun Ra Arkestra-Swirling. Label: Strut. Format: CD. On May the ’30th’ 1993, Sun Ra passed away aged seventy-nine and that day, music was in mourning at the loss a musical pioneer who had played his part in rewriting the history of jazz. From the late-fifties, Sun Ra was one of the pioneers of free jazz …
EABS-DISCIPLINE OF SUN RA.
EABS-Discipline Of Sun Ra. Label: Astigmatic Records. Format: CD. Having orbited planet earth and ascertained that it was safe to land, the spaceship carrying the Sun Ra Arkestra landed in Kalisz, one of the oldest cities in the Polish People’s Republic on the ‘7th’ of December 1986. Martial law had been imposed by the Pro-Moscow …
CULT CLASSIC: TOHRU AIZAWA QUARTET-TACHIBANA.
Cult Classic: Tohru Aizawa Quartet-Tachibana. For many connoisseurs of jazz, especially seventies J-Jazz, one little known private pressing is their holy grail, and everywhere they go it’s the one album that they always search for. There’s always the hope that in a backstreet record shop, antique centre or thrift store in a town or city somewhere in …
BOBBY HUTCHERSON-OBLIQUE.
Bobby Hutcherson-Oblique. Label: Blue Note Records-Tone Poet Series. Format: LP. On July the ‘21st’ 1967, Bobby Hutcherson journeyed to Van Gelder Studio, in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, to record Oblique which was his sixth solo album for Blue Note Records. It was just the second album he had recorded with a quartet. The first was Happenings, …
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