Europe Jazz Media Chart

 

Dick Hovenga, Written in Music

Ralph Towner: AT FIRST LIGHT (ECM)

It is only the truly great ones in music, like Ralph Towner, who make virtuosity in technique sound so easy, releasing emotions that hit you right away. From the very first tones of the album opener Flow to the last tones of Empty Stage, the closing song, you are completely captivated by his magnificent playing. It pulls you completely out of time and let you be in the moment for a moment. Towner's playing time eludes you, gripped by the quality of everything you hear.
     AT FIRST LIGHT, recorded earlier this year at the Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano, where Manfred Eicher and his team have made so many other splendid recordings, is a perfect album, a masterpiece from a musician, who devoted his full life to music and lets us hear everything he has in him once again in 11 glowing compositions. AT FIRST LIGHT is a masterpiece.

 

Christine Stephan, JAZZTHETIK

Kenny Wheeler: GNU HIGH (ECM Reissue)

 

Viktor Bensusan, jazzdergisi.com

 

Sebastian Rochford, Kit Downes: A SHORT DIARY (ECM)

In A SHORT DIARY, when Sebastian plays the silence, nothing but the essence is left to Kit; and the message will surely stay in your ears...

 

Nuno Catarino, jazz.pt

 

The Acrylic Rib: AS FAR AS NOVEMBER (Fundacja Słuchaj)

Albert Cirera (ss / ts), Olie Brice (b) and Nicolas Field (d, perc) practice an improvised music without net, without compositions or pre-defined elements. The album records a live performance of the trio in Geneva and consists of two long pieces. This music is neither subtle nor delicate: the trio develops a music inherited from free jazz, with the saxophone always spitting flames, well accompanied by the fiery rhythm section.

 

Henning Bolte, freelance

 

Taiko Saito: TEARS OF A CLOUD (Trouble in the East)

 

Peter Slavid, LondonJazz News (UK)

 

The Remote Viewers: THIS STRANGE PLACE (self-released)

The Remote Viewers have been making their unique brand of music since 1997 based around a selection of improvising saxophonists, alongside those of founders David Petts and Adrian Northover. Here they feature two additional saxes, plus the bass of John Edwards, and lots of electronics. They have an instantly recognizable sound which is like no other band. It’s clearly improvised music over a solid rhythmic base, and yet it’s dark and brooding with an industrial feel – verging on musique concrète.

 

Patrik Sandberg, Jazz

 

Meshell Ndegeocello: THE OMNICHORD REAL BOOK (Blue Note)

Songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello (b, voc) makes her Blue Note debut with a visionary, expansive, and deeply jazz-influenced album that marks the start of a new chapter in her career. Following her 2018 album VENTRILOQUISM, Meshell returns with an album of new original material that taps into a broad spectrum of her musical roots. Features a wide range of guest artists including Jason Moran, Ambrose Akinmusire, Joel Ross, Jeff Parker, Brandee Younger, Julius Rodriguez, Mark Guiliana and Cory Henry.

 

Cim Meyer, Jazz Special

 

Elvin Jones: LIVE AT POOKIE’S PUB (Blue Note)

 

Lars Mossefinn, Dag og tid

 

Knut Kvifte Nesheim & Ojkos: GRAOSIDO (Taragot)

 

Matthieu Jouan, citizenjazz.com

 

Aki Takase: CARMEN RHAPSODY (BMC)

Jazz musicians playing Carmen. The idea is nothing new. Approaching opera in the jazz sphere means first making it one’s own; this is Carmen Rhapsody’s postulate. In a quartet, reduced to the simplest and most flexible. For Takase, Bizet’s work appears only in fragments. This CARMEN RHAPSODY is above all a tribute to the independence of the character created by Prosper Mérimée. Aki Takase, like Flaubert, can say: "Carmen is me”.
     Takase and his companions play with the theme without rushing it, as if it were a question of getting to the essential. Aki Takase is free. Like Carmen. (Franpi Barriaux)

 

Axel Stinshoff, Jazz thing

 

Brötzmann – Bekkas – Drake: CATCHING GHOSTS (ACT)

 

Luca Vitali, Giornale della Musica

 

Don Karate – Stefano Tamborrino: SPACE FORESTA (Hokkaidō)

 

Yves Tassin, JazzMania

 

Dishwasher: DISHWASHER (Sdban)

According to these little teenagers: “jazz for those who are reluctant to jazz...”

 

Jos Demol, jazzhalo.be

 

Joëlle Léandre: ZÜRICH CONCERT (Intakt)

The “grande dame” grants listeners a glimpse into her world through five instant compositions (Zurich Concert 1-5). She actively wields the bow in her well-known physical style. A few times she adds shamanic vocals. An incantatory listen. (Georges Tonla Briquet)

 

Christof Thurnherr, Jazz’n’More

 

Alfa Mist: VARIABLES (Anti)

 

Kaspars Zavileiskis, jazzin.lv

 

Miķelis Dzenuška & Uzvaras Bulvāris: SATIKSMES MEZGLS (Jersika)

The album by the new Latvian jazz generation’s vibraphonist, keyboardist, composer and producer Miķelis Dzenuška and his band Uzvaras bulvāris (Victory Boulevard) is based on both the roots of fusion and modernity and offers a playful approach to the specific style. The concept and musical material of SATIKSMES MEZGLS (Traffic Junction) was born in 2021, at the height of the pandemic. Inspired by the analog recording process of Jersika, the compositions of this album were also created “analogously” – using a piano, sheet music and a pencil. The idea of the album was to create new “Latvian jazz standards” – clear, understandable, and easy to remember themes. And the summer party can begin!

 

Jacek Brun, www.jazz-fun.de

 

Pesh: PESHISH (AMP)

The music of PESH defies easy classification. It is a fusion of interestingly composed modern jazz and improvisation. Despite the different backgrounds of the band members, the sounds of the album form a coherent whole and the expression of the band is surprisingly orderly. The music is very inspiring, modern and at the same time strongly influenced by jazz history.

 

Madli-Liis Parts, Muusika

 

Donny Mccaslin: I WANT MORE (Edition)

 

Paweł Brodowski, Jazz Forum

 

Kasia Pietrzko Trio: FRAGILE EGO (Warner Music / Polish Jazz)

Kasia Pietrzko (p) has emerged as one of the most cherished and popular musicians of the new jazz generation in Poland. FRAGILE EGO is her third outing as a leader, following FORTHRIGHT STORIES (2017) and EPHEMERAL PLEASURES (2020). Surprisingly, her newest effort is the first album by a woman instrumentalist released in the venerable Polish Jazz series since it was launched nearly 60 years ago.
     In a set of original compositions, Kasia is joined by two more experienced colleagues: Andrzej Święs (b) and Piotr Budniak (d). With their sure support and interaction, she can allow herself to play with abandon – her music unfolding as a story full of drama and emotions, replete with folksy melodies and classical motifs. At once impressionistic and expressionistic. Sensitive (fragile) and personal (ego).

 

Mike Flynn, Jazzwise

 

Grievous Bodily Calm: CASCADES EP (self-release)

 

Krzysztof Komorek, Donos kulturalny

 

Irka Zapolska Quartet: PERCEPTION OF PERCEPTION (self-release)

The debut album from the award-winning project, which combines an open view of the instrumental side of jazz with a mainstream approach to jazz vocalism. In their original compositions, the quartet juxtaposes a song-like vocal formula – where the melody and the arranged accompaniment parts are heard – with an open space for improvisation.

 

Jan Granlie, salt-peanuts.eu

 

Kasper Tranberg: NOBODY’S HEART (April)

NOBODY’S HEART has become an exceptionally beautiful album, which should bring Kasper Tranberg (tp), Nils Bosse Davidsen (b / cel) and Frands Rifbjerg (d) on tour all over the world in the next few years. And if this record is not named The Record of The Year at the Danish Music Award Jazz in December, someone will have to give the jury a big overhaul. Because this must be one of the greatest records from Denmark the last years. Absolute perfect, for heeeelvede!