'i-am' beyond

Jazz cello has come a long way since Fred Katz 's pioneering work with Chico Hamilton in the 1950s. Back then, the instrument was looked on as a novelty turn. In 2024, while still relatively avant-garde, its presence in a lineup is less exceptional. A pivotal point was American cellist Adbul Wadud's By Myself

Pianist Oliver Schwerdt 's Fucking Ballads is not just an album title; it is a declaration of sonic defiance, a rallying cry for those who dare to challenge the status quo. The juxtaposition of the genteel term "ballads" with the bold expletive "fucking" sets the stage for a musical escapade that is as cheeky as it is profound.

On Standards II, pianist Noah Haidu embarks on a captivating journey through the jazz tradition, accompanied by bassist

It has been over a decade since a release from the Norwegian jazz band The Core. Founded in 2001, the quartet released half a dozen albums before mostly going their separate ways. Saxophonist Kjetil Møster worked with Gard Nilssen, Mats Gustafsson, and Per Zanussi, pianist Erlend Slettevoll with Hedvig Mollestad and Petter Wettre, bassist Steinar Raknes with Tord Gustavsen, and drummer Espen Aalberg in the Basement Sessions with Jonas Kullhammar and Torbjorn Zetterberg.

Say what we might about quartets, quintets, sextets and beyond, it might be fair to say the trio is the most potent instrumental lineup of them all. Three-piece ensembles hold a special place in the annals of improvisational music (and not just in the jazz milieu: the term 'power trio'was coined in the rock realm to describe Cream

In the dense jungle of contemporary jazz, where rhythm is both compass and sustenance, Belgian drummer Stéphane Galland emerges as our audacious guide. His European ensemble, The Rhythm Hunters, embarks on a musical safari that transcends borders, time zones and conventional beats.

By Maurice Hogue | One Man's Jazz May 7, 2024 Sign in to view read count

New Beginnings from trumpeter, composer and producer Keith Fiala offers up ten varied tracks of exciting, originally-composed and superbly-performed jazz. It delivers a vibrant mix of engaging melodies and intelligent hard bop jazz improvisation with platforms both in and beyond the smooth jazz vein.

Although Elephant9's plugged-in lineage includes the usual suspects— Miles Davis' electric bands and Soft Machine —the Norwegian organ trio's tap root is unmistakably planted in the work of the late British musician Keith Emerson, keyboards player with the Nice in the late 1960s and Emerson Lake & Palmer from 1970. For his own snarling jazz-rock oeuvre, Emerson's favoured keyboard was the Hammond L-100. He loved it so much that onstage he liked to plunge a hunting knife between its keys to produce sustained and extreme tonal distortion and then climb on top and engage in vigorous frottage. His technicians had to conduct major surgery on the L-100 after every gig. Emerson was the love child of Jimi Hendrix and Richard Wagner. He was a genius, too.

By Ludovico Granvassu | Mondo Jazz May 7, 2024 Sign in to view read count