Okonski: Magnolia

Aaron Frazer | Michael Isvara Montgomery | Steve Okonski

Dinner jazz for candlelit nights, this mini-album, six tracks over about 25 minutes, has a casual intimacy that's hard not...

Reviewed by Andy Robson in issue: March/2023

Till Brönner and Bob James: On Vacation

Bob James | Christian von Kaphengst | David Haynes | Harvey Mason | Till Brönner | Wolfgang Haffner | Yuri Goloubev

My, this album from German trumpeter/vocalist Till Brönner and US keyboard maestro Bob James, now in his ninth decade, is...

Reviewed by Robert Shore in issue: February/2021

Wes Montgomery: In The Beginning

For the most part these two CDs document Montgomery's pre-fame years when he split his waking hours between being a...

Reviewed by Roy Carr in issue: February/2016

The Comet Is Coming: Channel The Spirits

Dan Leavers | Joshua Idehen | Maxwell Hallett | Shabaka Hutchings

Black American music has sought metaphors of transcendence in science-fiction ever since Sun Ra announced his arrival from Saturn, and...

Reviewed by Nick Hasted in issue: May/2016

Basil Hodge: A Point of Reference

Basil Hodge | Ed Jones | Oli Hayhurst | Winston Clifford

Pianist and composer Basil Hodge established himself on the British jazz scene in the 1990s before releasing his widely-acclaimed debut,...

Reviewed by Robert Shore in issue: September/2022

Terry Gibbs: The Exciting Terry Gibbs Big Band!!!!!! Recorded Live At The Summit In Hollywood

Al Porcino | Bill Perkins | Bob Edmondson | Buddy Clark | Conte Candoli | Frank Huggins | Frank Rosolino | Jack Nimitz | Joe Maini | Mel Lewis

Two of the distinguishing features of Terry Gibbs’ big band, which lit up the West Coast jazz scene from 1959...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: May/2020

Nat Adderley Quintet: Workin'

Jimmy Cobb | Nat Adderley | Rob Bargad | Vincent Herring | Walter Booker

Cannonball Adderley didn’t employ his younger brother Nat because he felt some kind of family obligation to his sibling. No....

Reviewed by Roy Carr in issue: September/2013

Mark Turner/Gary Foster: Mark Turner Meets Gary Foster

Gary Foster | Joe La Barbera | Mark Turner | Putter Smith

Although this live session is 16 years old it is nonetheless a notable entry in tenor saxophonist Mark Turner's large...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: August/2019

Fofoulah

Dave Smith | Johnny Brierley | Kaw Secka | Phil Stevenson | Tom Challenger

I've never liked the term ‘world music’ so, I promise, the words ‘world’ and ‘music’ will not appear in the...

Reviewed by Marcus O'Dair in issue: October/2014

Mulatu Astatke: Sketches Of Ethiopia

Alexander Hawkins | Byron Wallen | Danny Keane | Fatoumata Diawara | Indris Hassun | James Arben | John Edwards | Messale Asmanow | Mulatu Astake | Richard Olatunde Baker

Although not the only musician to have contributed to l’age d’or (the golden age) of Ethiopian music in the 1960s...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: September/2013