The last fifteen, pandemic-dominated months have undoubtedly pulled focus on our mercurial emotions. So the premise of debut release Worry Not, from Leeds-based tenorist/composer Emma Johnson and quintet, resonates all the more loudly. As Peter Whittingham Award winners, their recording [...]
There’s always a frisson of excitement when a left-field approach to ‘piano trio’ comes into view; and an online search for ‘Amaro Freitas’ soon returns live video which goes towards confirming the audio essence of new album Sankofa – that [...]
Cool as you like, Viennese alto saxophonist Guido Spannocchi’s Perihelion (a title referencing the position in the orbit of a planet where it’s nearest to the sun) has ‘summer’ written all over it! London-based Spannocchi boasts a vibrant, big-name sextet [...]
Subtitled Music for bellringers, improvisers & electronics, Andrew Woodhead’s Pendulums delivers, without doubt, one of the more unexpected and intriguing releases of the year – something which a random dive into its chiming and full-bodied complexities confirms. Experimental composer Woodhead, [...]
The evocative strains of the oud were the immediate allure of this attractive debut recording, as leader, by Israeli pianist Roy Mor. His album title references a venturous decision to both complete his studies and fulfil his career ambitions in [...]
The bold, solid colours of renowned Argentinian artist (and musician) Mariano Gil introduce Dance Little Lady, Dance Little Man – a new recording from London-based alto saxophonist Sam Braysher in an essentially chordless trio with double bassist Tom Farmer and [...]
Mystical, a touch retro, and increasingly spellbinding, Wax///Wane is the work of New Zealand saxophonist and composer Lucien Johnson. It’s an album described as being inspired by the lunar landscape of the southern skies – echoed by Julien Dyne’s almost [...]
David Helbock is clearly a guy who is difficult to pigeonhole, his Random Control Trio project, for example, often involving a complex array of instruments on stage to present his own music and almost comedic reinterpretations at the edge of [...]
A sultry sun silhouetting Badshahi Mosque and the Samadhi of Ranjit Singh in the cosmopolitan city of Lahore, Punjab, signals a quite different project from Wirral-born, London-based electric bassist Shez Raja. Over the past few years, Raja has won hearts [...]
There’s something reassuringly inviting about the music of guitarist Patrick Naylor – a seasoned player and composer in the fields of TV, film, radio and advertising, also known for his session work and as an educator. His first solo album [...]
