John Fordham
Kairos 4tet: Everything We Hold - review
Kairos 4tet , the 2011 Mobo jazz prizewinners, are an instrumental band first, but saxist/composer Adam Waldmann has always left room for vocals, and on their third album half the tracks are songs.
Aki Takase: My Ellington - review
(Intakt CD 213) Aki Takase, the Berlin-resident Japanese pianist, combines some very attractive virtues: a fearless relish for treading close to the edge, formidable technique, deep jazz knowledge, a shrewd sense of how to balance abstract improv and son
Jeff Williams: The Listener - review
(Whirlwind) Drummer Jeff Williams presents the follow-up to 2011's Another Time. It's a set of hot-and-cool Ornette Colemanesque themes, hip postbop and slow-burn reflections performed, on this live recording, by Williams' New York quartet. It's thematic
Human: Being Human - review
(Babel) UK improv and new-music specialists Babel are currently releasing a varied batch of releases, with drummer Stephen Davis's quartet Human leading the charge. Human comprises Django Bates's violinist brother, Dylan, trumpeter Alex Bonney and pianis
Lucian Ban/Mat Maneri: Transylvanian Concert - review
The New York-resident Romanian pianist Lucian Ban and American violinist and viola-player Mat Maneri are touring (with three UK dates from 21 May) to launch this live duo set.
Ray Russell: Now, More Than Ever - review
(Abstract Logix) UK guitarist Ray Russell, a composer and studio specialist for much of the past three decades, broke cover for some dynamic live shows last autumn. He's aided on a jazz-rock fusion programme here by gifted guests including Gary Husband
Joshua Redman/Christian McBride - review
Joshua Redman's duet with Christian McBride looked like one of the more orthodox encounters on the Redman-curated series at the Wigmore Hall, but the two made sure that if the structures were familiar, the variations definitely weren't.
Charles Lloyd: Quartets - review
(ECM) This five-disc set collects recordings by Charles Lloyd for ECM between his comeback in 1989 (after what had seemed like a terminal layoff) and the late 1990s, released to coincide with the saxophonist's 75th birthday. Though his post-1999 work, wi
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Valerie June, Angel Haze: new live music this week
I'll Be Your Mirror: Yeah Yeah Yeahs | Valerie June | Angel Haze | Ravi Coltrane | Avishai Cohen With Strings | A Scream And An Outrage I'll Be Your Mirror: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, London The Yeah Yeah Yeahs emerged in that wave of New York creativity that bro