In Common: Walter Smith III, Matthew Stevens, Joel Ross, Harish Raghavan and Marcus Gilmore

Harish Raghavan | Joel Ross | Marcus Gilmore | Matthew Stevens | Walter Smith III

Saxophonist Walter Smith III’s evocative low-lights tenor sound and drily quixotic irregularities of phrasing have already graced a fine album...

Reviewed by John Fordham in issue: Dec/Jan/2018/2019

Marius Neset Quintet: Pinball

Andreas Brantelid | Anton Eger | Ivo Neame | Jim Hart | Marius Neset | Petter Eldh

Such are the superlatives surrounding Neset that's it's hard to place him: precocious yoof? Harbinger of a new generation? Or,...

Reviewed by Andy Robson in issue: February/2015

Aaron Parks: Arborescence

Aaron Parks

Aaron Parks is a young pianistcomposer who has very gradually grown in stature since his teenage years in Terence Blanchard's...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: Dec/Jan/2013/2014

Zhenya Strigalev: Smiling Organizm

Eric Harland | Larry Grenadier | Liam Noble | Tim Lefebvre | Tim LeFebvre | Vitaly Golovnev | Zhenya Strigalev

London-based Zhenya Strigalev has something of the spirit of the wild men of the bebop alto horn about his playing....

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: June/2012

Alex Hitchcock Quintet: All Good Things

Alex Hitchcock | James Copus | Jay Davis | Joe Downard | Will Barry

Among the artists Jordi Pujol's Barcelona-based indie label, Fresh Sound New Talent, has been quietly introducing to the jazz world...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: August/2019

Steven Lugerner: For We Have Heard

Featuring the acclaimed maverick pianist Myra Melford, this US quartet is led by a multi-reedist taking inspiration for his absorbing...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: August/2013

Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus

Doug Watkins | Max Roach | Paul Chambers | Percy Heath | Philly Joe Jones | Ray Brown | Roy Haynes | Shelly Manne | Sonny Clark | Sonny Rollins

Well, now you’re talking. All criticism of reissue illustration (e.g. the “images”, in this case by Francis Wolff) or presentation...

Reviewed by Brian Priestley in issue: February/2020

Ed Blackwell: Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note

Assembling all of Blackwell's appearances on Black Saint and Soul Note proves a slightly mixed bag but, most importantly, the...

Reviewed by Brian Priestley in issue: February/2016

Dave McDonnell Group: The Time Inside a Year

On his debut for the cult Chicagoan label, the cutting edge alto saxophonist, in the company of locals Joshua Abrams,...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: March/2016

Teodross Avery: Harlem Stories: The Music of Thelonious Monk

Teodross Avery

The precocious sax virtuosity that got Teodross Avery a record deal in 1992 while a 19 year-old Berklee College student...

Reviewed by John Fordham in issue: October/2020