“Emerson Enigma”, the new album from French pianist Thierry Eliez, is a reimagining of the works of Keith Emerson, one of the most celebrated prog-rockers from the 1970s. Emerson, Lake & Palmer achieved worldwide success throughout that particular decade, selling over 49 million albums, with Keith Emerson at the forefront of shattering musical boundaries by combining original compositions with classical and traditional pieces of music, often turning the music on its head with his fantastical rock epics. On this album, Thierry Eliez attempts to capture the essence of Emerson’s original work ..read more

Released on Record Store Day via the Jazz Detective label, Sun Ra and The Arkestra ‘Live At The Showcase’ is a collection of tracks from performances at the legendary Chicago venue between 1976 and 1977. The double album package is constructed from previously unreleased material, carefully chosen by Jazz Detective’s Zev Feldman and Michael D. Anderson of the Sun Ra Music Archive, ranging from the swinging traditional side of Sun Ra’s idiosyncratic style to his more outer-leaning experimental side which is less prominent on this collection. Accompanying the album is a booklet with some excellen ..read more

It feels as if Swedish guitarist and composer Lage Nordling has been working towards this album for some time, searching perhaps for the right balance between composition, improvisation, and performance. He has found it. Within the music on LNEE lives a breathing, expanding musical universe all of his own making. Having delivered a couple of noteworthy albums in the last few years – with his band Kosmo Kid, a quartet that included some of Sweden’s most promising musicians, and Our Haunted Garden, a duo project with Swedish singer Alexandra Shabo, this latest release from Nordling finds the gui ..read more

Record Store Day (Spring 2024) brings us a couple of wonderful Cannonball Adderley releases from Elemental Music. “Poppin’ in Paris” – recorded live in 1972, is released at the same time as the 1969 recording “Burnin’ in Bordeaux”. Both sets are previously unreleased and are issued exclusively for RSD, as special edition, deluxe albums on 180-gram double vinyl and double CD, with digital files also available. “Poppin’ in Paris: Live at L’Olympia 1972” was recorded at the world-famous Olympia Theatre in Paris, France on October 25th, 1972 as part of the Paris Jazz Festival. This formidable set ..read more

At a time when we are bombarded from all directions by the possibilities and pitfalls of AI, Kenny Garrett and Svoy’s new release asks the question: Who Killed AI? It’s Garrett’s first excursion into electronic music, he’s chosen to work with his friend and long time collaborator Mikhail Tarasov, AKA Svoy, composer, programmer, vocalist and pianist. In a series of informal sessions at Garrett’s home the pair have created a digital and acoustic soundscape which merges the post bop soprano and alto sax melodies of Garrett with the sound of Svoy’s trance-like electronica. Garrett learnt his art a ..read more

Although predominantly working as an exponent of the hard bop style of jazz of the 1950s and 1960s, the American alto saxophonist Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley may best be remembered for his excursions into soul jazz, notably with “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”, a theme written for him by keyboard player Joe Zawinul and which became a crossover hit on the pop and R&B charts. Adderley and his cornet-playing brother Nat worked with Ray Charles in the early 1940s and sometime later, whilst working on the New York jazz scene, was tipped to be heir to the mantle of fellow saxophonist Charlie Parker. Foll ..read more

“Atlantis Lullaby” is a Record Store Day special release that captures the performance of Yusef Lateef’s quartet on July 19th 1972 at Cloître des Célestins in Avignon. Alongside Yusef Lateef’s saxes and flute, there’s Kenny Barron on piano, Bob Cunningham on bass and the late Albert “Tootie” Heath on drums (mostly). It’s a double album with a smart booklet that features exclusive tributes from luminaries such as, amongst others, Sonny Rollins and Reggie Workman but also Barron, Heath and Ayesha Lateef, confirming the claims of ‘full collaboration of the Yusef Lateef Estate, as well as those of ..read more

25 years after their early ’70s album ‘Journey Without End’, Mal Waldron celebrates his 70th Birthday alongside long-time collaborator Steve Lacy for a memorable 1995 performance in Antwerp, Belgium that also features two other great names in jazz; bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille. Thanks to Patrick Wilen, the original master tapes have been well preserved and the recording can be enjoyed for the first time. The album marks over two decades of piano-soprano collaborations between Mal Waldron and Steve Lacy, which have produced some defining moments in jazz, pairing two artists ..read more

As a graduate of the prestigious Conservatory of Amsterdam, Galway guitarist and composer Aengus Hackett studied under world-renowned guitarist Jesse Van Ruller. Having also studied jazz in the US, with the likes of guitarist Wayne Krantz, Curtis Fuller, Pat LaBarbera and Grammy-winner Bobby Shew, Hackett’s influences spread far and wide. A versatile musician, Hackett’s music encompasses many genres, as diverse as jazz, electronica, hip-hop, post-rock and folk, with the guitarist involved in several projects, never limiting himself to any set musical boundaries. This self-titled album focuses ..read more

It’s an incredibly warm and welcome return for the Robert “Sput” Searight and Nate Werth-helmed supergroup of Ghost-Note. With six years now having passed since their 2018 sophomore album ‘Swagism’, Ghost-Note unveil their third full-length release in the form of ‘Mustard n’Onions’. Comprised of long-standing members of the Texan jazz-fusion group, Snarky Puppy, drummer Robert Searight partners with percussionist Nate Werth to create – what they dubbed at the outset of their musical journey as – ‘conscious funk’. With a decided focus on percussion, Ghost-Note’s initial two releases came in the ..read more