Editor's Choice: September 2023 | The best new jazz albums
Thursday, August 31, 2023
Introducing outstanding new albums from Bebel Gilberto, Sammy Figueroa, Emma Rawicz, Tyshawn Sorey and more
Johnathan Blake
Passage
Blue Note
Johnathan Blake (d), Immanuel Wilkins (as), Joel Ross (vb), David Virelles (p, ky) and Dezron Douglas (b)
'Running through this varied and absorbing record are Johnathan Blake’s reflections on and tributes to his late father, the violinist John Blake Jr, who died in 2014. After a solo drum memory of fellow percussionist Lawrence Leathers, the band launches into ‘Passage’ which has a long alto solo by Wilkins at its core, but an equally strong and direct contribution from Virelles...' Alyn Shipton
Jeremy Dutton
Anyone is Better Than Here
Self-release
Jeremy Dutton (d), Ben Wendel (ts), Ambrose Akinmusire (t), Joel Ross (vib), James Francies (p), Mike Moreno (g), Matt Brewer and Daryl Johns (b)
'This is a fine self-released debut from a young artist spreading wings that should take him a long way...' John Fordham
Bebel Gilberto
João
PIAS Recordings
Bebel Gilberto (v), plus various personnel including Guilherme Monteiro (g, arr)
'Written by Gilberto Gil and the first of four songs from João Gilberto, ‘Eu Vim De Bahia’ is a paean to the Bahia region of Brazil, while in ‘É Preciso Perdoar’ and the enigmatic ‘Undiú’, both standouts, the singer captures the phrasing and intimacy of her father’s delivery to a remarkable degree...' Peter Quinn
Sammy Figueroa
Searching for a Memory
Ashé Records
Sammy Figueroa (perc, v), Aymée Nuviola (v), Miguel Zenón, Felipe LaMoglia (s), Gonzalo Rubalcaba (p), John Daversa (t, arr), Magela Herrera (f), Ricardo Rodriguez (b) and Munir Hossn (g, perc)
'Apart from perhaps Ray Barretto, Tito Puente and Mongo Santamaria, few percussionists ever become household names. But if only on the evidence of this set, Figueroa belongs in that tiny, select group...' Peter Jones
Nite Bjuti
Nite Bjuti
Whirlwind Recordings
Candice Hoyes (v, pedals), Mimi Jones (b, pedals) and Val Jeanty (perc, d, elec, pedals)
'Much of the material on this eponymous debut feels like a single fertile melodic or rhythmic idea that is allowed to grow in all manner of unexpected ways that reflect profound Caribbean folklore and ritual in creative collision with technology that does not have the rigidity or bloodlessness of much contemporary digital production...' Kevin Le Gendre
Emma Rawicz
Chroma
ACT
Emma Rawicz (ts, f, bcl), Ivo Neame, Ant Law (g), Conor Chaplin (b), Asaf Sirkis (d, v) and Immy Churchill (v)
'The splendour of Chroma is that it’s an ensemble work. Neame, Law and Sirkis have been powerful mentors in Rawicz’ meteoric development, and Chroma was very much written with their fearless voices in mind. And the three takes on the brief tune ‘Xanadu’ (a grey green, not the Olivia Newton-John single!) illustrate the band’s to-and-fro self-reflexivity...' Andy Robson
Tyshawn Sorey
Continuing
Pi Recordings
Tyshawn Sorey (d), Aaron Diehl (p) and Matt Brewer (b)
'Very few jazz piano-trios in that long-honed method's brilliant history can have played with quite this spellbinding equilibrium of understatement and simmering power...' John Fordham
David Virelles
Carta
Intakt
David Virelles (p, comp), Ben Street (b) and Eric McPherson (d)
'My word, this is good. Renowned Cuban pianist/composer Virelles is joined by a first-class rhythm section for this, his eighth album as leader, and debut for Intakt. He wrote eight of the nine numbers on this superb (and refreshingly accessible) collection, which combines cerebral improvisation with dreamily poetic expression...' Kevin Whitlock
Read the reviews of all of these albums, and many more, in the September issue of Jazzwise. Never miss an issue – subscribe today
