Editor's Choice: March 2024 | The best new jazz albums

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Outstanding new releases from Charles Lloyd, Julian Lage, Vijay Iyer Trio, Empirical and more

Adam Bałdych & Leszek Możdżer

Passacaglia

ACT Music 

Adam Bałdych (vln) and Leszek Możdżer (p). Rec. 3-25 January 2023

Two of Poland’s most accomplished musicians at one with the art of spontaneous improvisation here create their own musical genre to create their own space. Rather than being limited by the terms jazz and classical music, they dip into both with a spirit of enquiry and no little adventure to see where they end up... Stuart Nicholson

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Empirical

Empirical

Wonder is the Beginning

Whirlwind Recordings 

Nathaniel Facey (as) Tom Farmer (b) Shaney Forbes (d), Lewis Wright (vb), plus Jason Rebello (p) and Alex Hitchcock (ts) Rec. December 2022

The ensemble interaction to some extent can be said to be derived from the open-ended, free bop-ish approach of Wayne Shorter’s late quartet. The urgency and tight-knit ensemble play are still there, even if it’s a more mature, reflective development on previous albums... Selwyn Harris

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Ron Horton

Ron Horton

A Prayer for Andrew

Newvelle Records 

Ron Horton (t, f), Marty Ehrlich (as, bs, cl), John O Gallagher (as), Frank Kimborough (p), Dean Johnson (b) and Tim Honer (d). Rec. 2 June and 15 July 2016

The devious rhythms, angular lines and tense emotions that mark the late pianist/composer Andrew Hill’s music are embedded in New York’s contemporary left field. Ron Horton’s double album A Prayer for Andrew captures the essence without resorting to mimicry... Mike Hobart

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Vijay Iyer Trio

Vijay Iyer Trio

Compassion

ECM

Vijay Iyer (p) Linda May Han Oh (b) and Tyshawn Sorey (d). Rec. 2023

Vijay Iyer’s latest trio made its studio debut, Uneasy in 2021, and played an outstanding gig at the London jazz festival the following year, emphatically showing the band was in the creative ascendant. This new album confirms as much. The collegiate skill and advanced musicianship of pianist Iyer, double bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey are asserted without any individual dominating proceedings... Kevin Le Gendre

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Julian Lage

Julian Lage

Speak To Me

Blue Note 

Julian Lage (g), Levon Henry (ts), Kris Davis (p), Patrick Warren (ky), Jorge Roeder (b) and Dave King (d). Rec. date not stated

The term 'complete musician' is overused, but in both composing and improvising Julian Lage has to be close to one... John Fordham

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Charles Lloyd

Charles Lloyd

The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow

Blue Note 

Charles Lloyd (ts, f), Jason Moran (p), Larry Grenedier (b) and Brian Blade (d). Rec. March 2023

After the artistic success of A Trio of Trios in 2023, a trilogy of three quite different trios – the Chapel Trio, the Ocean Trio and the Sacred Thread Trio – Lloyd returns to the tried and tested combination piano bass and drums, the format with which he made his astonishing breakthrough in the 1960s that for a while at least, was more popular than the Miles Davis Quintet... Stuart Nicholson

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QOW Trio

QOW Trio

The Hold Up

Ubuntu

Eddie Myer (b), Spike Wells (d), Riley Stone-Lonergan (ts). Rec. date not stated

This superior follow-up to the band’s self-titled debut is frontloaded with Stone-Lonergan originals. His tenor is insistent then sinuous on ‘High Noon’, Myer holding the rhythm then diving forward, Wells’ bass-drum deployed as colour, till slow, sultry expiry from Latin heat... Nick Hasted

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Joel Ross

Joel Ross

nublues

Blue Note 

Joel Ross (vb), Immanuel Wilkins (as), Gabrielle Garo (f), Jeremy Corren (p), Kanoa Mendenhall (b) and Jeremy Dutton (d). Rec. date not stated

Young vibraphone star Joel Ross went back to an unfinished music degree at New York's New School in 2020, when the pandemic had scuppered live performing – and was inspired there to dig deeper into the endless adaptability of the blues. The result has been nublues, Ross's fourth Blue Note release... John Fordham

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All of these albums, and dozens more, are reviewed in the March 2024 issue of Jazzwise magazine. Never miss an issue – subscribe today

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