Album Reviews

Arve Henriksen - Cartography

Arve Henriksen (t, v), Jan Bang (elec), Audun Kleive (perc), David Sylvian (v, elec), Helge Sunde (arr, elec), Eivind Aarset (g), Lars Danielsson (b), Erik Honoré (syn, elec), Arnaud Mercier (elec), Trio Mediaeval, Vérène Andronikof (v) and Vytas Sonndeckis (arr). Rec. 2005-6. **** This is quite lovely. Henriksen first impressed with Iain Ballamy and Food. Since then, he has grown in stature and Cartography marks his emergence as an important composer. An admirer of the ambient minimalism of...

Julian Arguelles - Inner Voices

Tone of a Pitch Records **** Julian Arguelles (ss, ts, bar s, cbs, clt, bclt, pic, flt, aflt, mouth harp, sax perc, prepared p, voice). Rec. 2007 Though never receiving his full dues as a band leader, Arguelles has produced a very intriguing, if modest-sized catalogue of recordings since 1990. This new solo one-man band effort, a companion CD to the earlier 1996 recording Scapes, is certainly among his very best. Using his ensemble arranging and composing skills, Arguelles has multitracked...

Dave Stapleton - Catching Sunlight

Edition Records (EDN 1005) | ****Dave Stapleton (p), Neil Yates (t), Paula Gardiner (b), Elliot Bennett (d) and Lunar Sax Quartet. Rec. date not statedPianist and composer Dave Stapleton is demonstrating that living in Wales need not be a barrier to getting some exposure. Over just the past few years, he’s been earning a reputation as a composer as well as a pianist of fierce ambition. The only way is up with this newest release, subtitled ‘Music to an Imaginary Film’ and recorded for his...

Donny McCaslin Trio - Recommended Tools

Greenleaf Music GRE 1008 | **** McCaslin (ts), Hans Glawischnig (b) and Jonathan Blake (d). Rec. 2008 This is like waiting ages for a bus. Then two come along at once! There hasn’t been a really outstanding tenor pianoless trio record since the classics by Rollins and Joe Henderson on Blue Note – and now, four weeks apart – we get two killer CDs, first by JD Allen (I Am I Am) and now by Dave Douglas’ tenorman McCaslin, not only known for his Grammy-nominated role in the Maria Schneider...

Herbie Hancock - Then and Now: The Definitive Herbie Hancock

Verve VERF01615-2 |     ***Herbie Hanock (p; el p; key; vocoder) and various ensembles from 1962 to present day.Herbie Hancock is a fully certified jazz giant, and this career retrospective skims over the wave-tops of a remarkable career in jazz. Shoe-horning almost 50 years of recorded music (over 400 albums either in his own name or on which he has played) into just 12 selections is an unenviable job, and rather than bemoan the inevitable omissions which the limited space of one CD offers, it...

EST - Leucocyte

ACT 9018-2     ****Esbjörn Svensson (p; elec), Dan Berglund (b; elec) and Magnus Öström (d; elec). Rec. 2007

Dave Holland Sextet - Pass it On

Dare2 5310667    ****Dave Holland (b), Alex Spiagin (t, flhn), Robin Eubanks (tb), Antonio Hart (saxes), Mulgrew Miller (p) and Eric Harland (d).  Rec. date not stated

Claire Martin - The Early Years Anthology

Linn AKD 317 | ****Claire Martin (v) plus various personnel including Jonathan Gee, Gareth Williams (p), Jim Mullen (g), Arnie Somogyi, Peter Washington (b), Clark Tracey and Gregory Hutchinson (d). Rec. 1991-1996Perfect AlibiLinn AKD 316 | ****Claire Martin (v) plus various personnel including Paul Stacey (ky, g, b), Arnie Somogyi (b), Jeremy Stacey (d) and strings. Rec. 1999-2000

September 2008 CD Reviews - Jazz And Beyond

Frøy Aagre – Countryside (Offbeat), Adriano Adewale Group – Sementes (Segue Records), JD Allen Trio - I Am I Am (Sunnyside), Dave Allen - Real and Imagined (Fresh Sound New Talent), Fahir Atakoglu - Istanbul In Blue (Far and Here), Patricia Barber - The Cole Porter Mix (Blue Note), Alan Barnes Octet - Harlem Airshaft (Woodville), Kenny Barron - The Traveller (EmArcy), Carla Bley and her Remarkable Big Band - Appearing Nightly (WATT), Brainville 3 - Trial By Headline (ReR), Anthony Braxton -...

Terry Callier - Occasional Rain

Cadet/Verve 06251 7664883     ****Callier (v, g), Charles Stepney (org, harpsichord), Leonard Pirani (p), Sydney Simms (b), Bob Crowder (d), Kitty Haywood, Minnie Riperton, Shirley Wahls (v) and Earl Madison (c) Rec. 1972 Although he can lay claim to the soul folk crown with as much authority as anybody, the Chicago singer has always had a more complicated DNA. ‘Ordinary Joe’, the fine opener on this much sought-after collector’s item makes it clear that Callier can swing like Nina Simone and...

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