Post Tagged with: "VA_L2"

John Escreet - 'Seismic Shift' (2022)

John Escreet – ‘Seismic Shift’ (2022)

John Escreet’s first trio album ‘Seismic Shift’ is that rare record where both massive chops and innovative harmonic ideas both come in spades.

Thumbscrew - 'Multicolored Midnight' (2022)

Thumbscrew – ‘Multicolored Midnight’ (2022)

Thumbscrew continues to perform greater than the sum of its considerable parts, as ‘Multicolored Midnight’ retains all the freshness of their first time together.

Joey Alexander - 'Origin' (2022)

Joey Alexander – ‘Origin’ (2022)

All that hype surrounding a child who plays a sophisticated music form like an old veteran is real, but now that Joey Alexander is no longer child and finding his own identity, the hype feels even more real than before with the all-originals ‘Origin.’

www.johnabbottphoto.com

Dave Douglas – ‘Secular Psalms’ (2022)

Dave Douglas’ ambition to honor a classic work of art from six centuries ago strictly on his own terms is what makes ‘Secular Psalms’ a piece of fine art on its own.

Nicholas Payton - 'Smoke Sessions' (2021)

Nicholas Payton – ‘Smoke Sessions’ (2021)

‘Smoke Sessions’ is one of Nicholas Payton’s standouts because in paying homage to some of his idols, Payton does so in an offhand manner that reveals his own inimitable musical personality.

Rich Halley - 'Boomslang' (2021)

Rich Halley – ‘Boomslang’ (2021)

Rich Halley’s ‘Boomslang’ is a mixture between of Halley-written material and group improvisations, and both approaches work equally well.

Noah Haidu - 'Slowly: Song For Keith Jarrett' (2021)

Noah Haidu – ‘Slowly: Song For Keith Jarrett’ (2021)

Noah Haidu’s attention to all of the facets that made Keith Jarrett such a major jazz figure pays off with an album worthy of its incomparable subject.

Nik Bärtsch - 'Entendre' (2021)

Nik Bärtsch – ‘Entendre’ (2021)

Nothing is lost when Nik Bärtsch, bandleader, becomes Nik Bärtsch, solo pianist. It’s still captivating music, only played through the single vessel of piano.

Russ Lossing - 'Metamorphism' (2021)

Russ Lossing – ‘Metamorphism’ (2021)

It’s not just a preponderance of fresh ideas that makes Russ Lossing’s album ‘Metamorphism’ work so well; they are ideas that fit right with the people chosen to carry them out.

Vinyl

Okuden (Mat Walerian, Matthew Shipp, William Parker + Hamid Drake) – ‘Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter’ (2020)

Mat Walerian’s latest Okuden project is his most ambitious yet and when you understand the sweeping, cutting-edge careers of his sidemen, you see an artist whose ambitions matches theirs.