The best new jazz albums: March 2022
Friday, March 4, 2022
The Editor's Choice albums from the March issue of Jazzwise, featuring Melissa Aldana, Binker & Moses, Avishai Cohen, Anna von Hausswolff, Arun Ghosh, Kinetika Bloco and Mattan Klein Quartet
Melissa Aldana
12 Stars
Blue Note
Melissa Aldana (ts), Lage Lund (g), Sullivan Fortner (p), Kush Abadey (d) and Pablo Menares (b)
'It’s a brave move indeed to make a label debut as introspective as Aldana does here, but equally remarkable is how 12 Stars manages it without ever feeling forced or leaving the listener overwrought. Aldana’s first leader disc on Blue Note already feels like an album of the year contender...' Hugh Morris
Binker & Moses
Feeding the Machine
Gearbox
Binker Golding (ss, ts), Moses Boyd (d) and Max Luthert (live tape loops, modular syn, elec)
'The duo’s live interplay is filtered through a Modular synth with sampled tape loops in real-time, yet the spontaneity isn’t lost. The soundscape is epic yet Luthert’s methods are minimalistic: looped samples built around Golding’s sax motifs and spacey drones instead of the tunes/grooves of previous albums, and there’s an added thunder to Boyd’s superb drumming improvs...' Selwyn Harris
Avishai Cohen
Naked Truth
ECM
Avishai Cohen (t), Yonathan Avishai (p), Barak Mori (b) and Ziv Ravitz (d)
'This haunting album is barely 37 minutes long, but since the trumpet-playing Avishai Cohen is a master of doing more with less – and proves it with an exquisite precision even by his own exacting standards on Naked Truth – it's hard to imagine anyone feeling shortchanged...' John Fordham
Anna von Hausswolff
Live at Montreux Jazz Festival
Southern Lord
Anna von Hausswolff (org, g, v, Octatrack), Maria von Hausswolff (v), Filip Leyman (syn, perc), Ulrik Ording (d), Karl Vento, Joel Fabiansson (el g) and David Sabel (el b)
'A unique and uncategorisable artist, Swedish composer-keyboardist Anna von Hausswolff is one of those musicians whose work and appeal transcends boundaries – jazz, improv, rock, the avant-grade, all inform her work. This stunning (and superbly-recorded) live album sees her revisiting six (occasionally) lengthy pieces from her Dead Magic and The Miraculous albums, and re-presenting them anew...' Kevin Whitlock
Arun Ghosh
Seclused In Light
Camoci
Arun Ghosh (ct, g, p, el b, prod), Idris Rahman, Chris Williams (ts, as), Myke Wilson, Dave Walsh (d) and Aref Durvesh (tabla)
'The fact that Ghosh is in the role of multi-instrumentalist as well as composer has given much of the material the kind of distilled clarity that betrays his allegiance to pop and folk and improvisation. The result is a series of strong melodies set to slow tempos that do not overly drag or stall...' Kevin Le Gendre
Kinetika Bloco
Legacy
Banger Factory Records
Mark Kavuma, Claude Deppa, Sheila Maurice Grey, Lily Carassik, Ife Ogunjobi (t), Ruben Fox, Kaidi Akinnibi, Aneira Jenkins, Nubya Garcia, Mebrakh Haughton-Johnson, Sam Reyntiens (woodwinds), Nathaniel Cross, Misha Fox, Richie Seivwright (tb), Theon Cross (tba), Shayanna Dyer Harris (v), Rueben James (ky), Artie Zaitz (g, ky), Marlon Hibbert (steel pan), Sam ‘Blue’ Agard, Paul Goumou, David Mrakpor (d) David Mrakpor, Shayanna Dyer Harris, Andre Johnson and Kieran Pearson (perc)
'There are some spoken word inspirational exhortations in ‘The Ted Williams Villanelle’ reminding us that Kinetika Bloco are a registered charity and their good works are manifest, but there’s nothing didactic or self-consciously worthy about this release – it’s a truly joyous recording that captures the spirit of young London and demonstrates why it’s such a wellspring of creative musical talent...' Eddie Myer
Mattan Klein Quartet
The Long Run
Ubuntu
Mattan Klein (f), Toki Stern (ky), Yoni Ben Ari (bg), Joca Perpignan (perc) and Nitzan Bar (g)
'Hermeto Pascoal’s influence is apparent throughout in long and complex melodic lines woven around subtly modulated Brazilian rhythms and spacious arrangements within which Klein’s crystalline flute rises clear and pure. He’s an extremely adept musician with apparently inexhaustible breath enabling him to convey the fluency of his musical ideas, often tightly locked with Toki Stern’s equally nimble Fender Rhodes...' Tony Benjamin
All of these albums, and many more, are reviewed in the March issue of Jazzwise magazine. Never miss an issue – subscribe today
