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Elton Dean | Paul Dunmall | Paul Rogers | Tony Bianco | Remembrance | No Business Records

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Throughout his life saxophonist Elton Dean had a varied number of associations and styles in which he worked with a sureness and mastery very rare. Whether straight-ahead with Harry Beckett, jazz-rock and beyond with the Soft Machine lineups, or just plain out, he did it all with grace, poise and fire. As far as the out side is concerned you are well served by a new two-CD set of an unreleased session from 2004, appropriately titled Remembrance (No Business NBCD 59/60). Dean and a very able quartet give us extended outings. Elton plays the alto, the incandescent Paul Dunmall takes up the tenor, Paul Rogers smokes the acoustic bass, and the ever-stoking Tony Bianco gets at the drums. — Gregory Edwards Continue reading →

Fabric Trio | Murmurs | No Business Records

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I guess we all know this. You buy a new record/CD and as soon as you are at home you put it on your stereo. You listen to it for the first time and you think: Okay, strong, a good album. Then you listen to it again and again and the more often you listen to it the better it gets. You discover hidden qualities, surprising and interesting details, you recognize what a treat it is. Fabric Trio’s “Murmurs” is exactly such an album. — Martin Schray Continue reading →

Adam Lane Trio | Absolute Horizon | No Business Records

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I’m a sucker for the thick, bluesy tone of Adam Lane’s bass — somehow, he always manages to convey its grittiest, most grounded side. Absolute Horizon kicks off with a track of the same name, a slow tattoo rising from drummer Vijay Anderson and Lane stumbling into a bass line that can’t help but give off a little swagger. Slowly, a groove coalesces, just the sort of low-end ride to best deliver Darius Jones’s sickly-sweet saxophone. Within minutes, you realize: this is what I want in a saxophone trio. There’s an edge for sure, but also the piece that fits perfectly into the well-worn rhythmic folds of your brain. Things heat up, but the trio never breaks a sweat. They ease out of the track just a coolly and calmly as they brought it into being. — Dan Sorrells Continue reading →

Howard Riley | Live With Repertoire | No Business Records

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British pianist Howard Riley’s previous album on No Business, the monumental The Complete Short Stories: 1998-2010 (2011), was a revelation to many, collecting together 6 CDs of stunning aphoristic improvisations. However on Live With Repertoire, as the title suggests, the pianist concentrates primarily on the songbook, particularly Monk, one of his touchstones along with Ellington. In the liners Riley explains that his working method sees him treat a gig as either with or without repertoire, depending on audience, ambience and how he feels. Something was clearly in the air in Leicester in November 2011 as the pianist generates an enthralling set from well-used materials, all captured in sparkling sound. — John Sharpe Continue reading →

Natsuki Tamura | Dragon Nat | Libra Records

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Tamura is a real world citizen of music, as familiar in traditional jazz, European folk as Japanse traditional music, as well as avant-garde. He has the amazing capability of integrating all these influences without diminishing any of the ingredients, but rather enhancing them, and all this while creating his own voice and sound full of artistic authenticity.The closing tune on the album, “Matsuri”, says it all, taking the listener from the usual tender warmth over intense staccato moments to alarming pig squeals and back to normal. Beautiful! — Stef
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Satoko Fujii | Gen Himmel | Libra Records

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What that comes down to is that you must approach Satoko and her music with a refreshed mind and the expectation that she will fill your ears with music that comes directly and pristinely out of her own creative being. And that is indeed the case on Gen Himmel. This is music that has freedom and compositional structuring in more or less equal measure. It is avant without trying to “take it out” so much as explore ideas. With Satoko Fujii’s fertile musical imagination that turns out to be a delightful proposition. More I need not say, except by way of the invitation to listen. This one will repay your attention with a wealth of good sounds. —Grego Applegate Edwards Continue reading →

Kaze | Tornado | Libra Records

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This music is evidence of the existence of entire jazz worlds that most listeners and even collectors might easily be unaware of. Satoko Fujii is obviously a master and a visit to her website reveals a rich catalog of recordings. That such music can be recorded is evidence that such worlds can be easily visited by wanders who fly about in their internet tardis. Tornado was released by Circum-Libra Records. You can also get solo recordings by Fujii (Gen Himmel) and Tamura (Dragon Mat) on Libra Records. I will review these in short order. I urge you to seek out and purchase these recordings. This is music worth investing money, time, and heart in. —Ken Blanchard Continue reading →

Elliott Sharp | Haptikon | Long Song Records

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Haptikon is a set of very-electric-guitar pieces accompanied by computer. Haptikon may be heard as an outgrowth of E#’s Tectonics project. Where Tectonics was a form of psychedelic noise jungle techno played on both saxophones and guitars interacting electronically with computerized grooves and processing, with Haptikon, the focus is on a more melodic and lyrical approach. E# pays homage to improvised traditions in jazz, blues, rock, Indian music, and even country & western! The results are cinematic in scope and give the feeling of a full band. Sharp’s virtuosity on guitar and originality as a composer are in full evidence on Haptikon. Continue reading →

Swedish azz presents: Eric Carlsson & All Stars | Volume One & Two | Not Two Records

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Swedish azz is not a joke or a sideshow, as it might appear in a career as drivingly exploratory as Gustafsson’s. Nor is it merely a verbal game, playing with the derivations of jazz/jass/yazz. It is both homage and homecoming, a warm acceptance of the view from a small window on the world. It doesn’t take up slingshots or seek to knock down the neighbouring structures. It is accepting music, as rich and as heady as cognac. — Brian Morton Continue reading →