On SEVEN WHITES the three musicians (Peter Ehwald - saxophone, Stefan Schultze - piano and Tom Rainey - drums) sketch out a complex musical structure, whose brilliance and depth lies precisely in the way they elaborate upon shades. Crucial are the shades and intricacies with which the musicians immerse themselves in a rhythm that is sometimes an energetic shared quest, and sometimes a contrapuntal pulsing, which dissolves into a frame of each other. The music on this album has a magnetism far beyond that of a black and white painting.

Common Ground plays music that pushes into new areas, preserving the commitment to expand feel, harmony and pulse. Matthias Akeo Nowak's new album ORIMUSIC features compositions of all four band members, inventing sound narratives with high intensity and a sovereign, calm fire.

1989: the wall falls – freedom at last! What could be more obvious than a German/ German jazz band. The musicians claim it as the first German/ German jazz band, as contact among them already existed before the wall came down. Not the form, but the musicians and their being are the quintessence - the form adapts. Every note, a statement. It's about creativity and improvisation. 1992 is the time. 30 years after the fall of the wall, much has changed in Germany. The mood is completely different. It is no longer a time of change and exploration, and now uncertainty and radicalization dominate. The music sounds different, but remains just as brilliant. Polyphonic melodies and rhythms characterize the sound. Jazz becomes even more of a home. The metamorphosis succeeds! The music fits into the new era.

We are memory and repetition. We repeat familiar sounds and communicate in this way, we call them language or music. We vary the repetition and create something new out of the old, shifting behavior and perception. Without a counterpart, our ego would be without borders - but our spirit also perforates the borders. Change occurs. Art, or in another word, communication. Tenor and soprano saxophonist Bruno Angeloni has worked with many fine musicians, including Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille and Michael Zerang. Although primarily regarded as a Free Jazz musician, his playing actually comprises virtually all types of music. The inner and outer struggle to find his way in the '80s music business, as a then young improvising saxophonist, without having to work in a commercial and adapted manner, eventually made him abdicate the market entirely and to earn a living on construction sites. Through perseverance he eventually travelled to Iran, South Africa and Russia, where he could rediscover his own sound, sharpen and strengthen it in such a way as to let music once again govern his life. After a short orientation phase in Rome at the beginning of the noughties, invitations to the Monterrey Jazz Festival took him two years in a row to Mexico, further broadening his musical pallet. Since 2016, back in Leipzig, he has had several rather coincidental meetings at public sessions with the 24 years younger drummer Steffen Roth. Henceforth, together they formed the duo 'Spirale' and have recorded this fascinating album.

This is one of the most “cult” experimental records in the entire history of jazz. Jo Jones, an immense drummer—a pioneering reformer with peerless technique—here gives us a complete demonstration of his art. Part 1 is devoted to drumming technique while Part 2 focuses on the great historical drummers in classical jazz. First released as two separate vinyl records in 1974, these titles were digitized, restored and reassembled in 2002 by Laurent Verdeaux, who also proposed extended versions. This is a vital set: it improves the quality of the listening-experience and increases the historic experimental value while enhancing the quality of the music. Drum-records, of course, but not just for drummers, whether they are amateurs or experts: this set is just as much for musicians, jazz fans, music historians and beat makers of all kinds.

Because Avishai Cohen’s previous outing—a 2017 album titled 1970 (Sony)—was his most commercially successful release thus far, one wouldn’t blame him for revisiting a similar artistic wellspring. Instead, for his 17th leader date, the bassist went in another direction, recruiting an entirely different set of musicians for the deeply personal, nostalgia-fueled Arvoles. Half the program here consists of trio recordings with pianist Elchin Shirinov and drummer Noam David, and on the other half, the band expands to a quintet with trombonist Björn Samuelsson and flutist Anders Hagberg. - DownBeat Magazine Editors' Pick

Click here to read the full review at DownBeat Magazine

‘At Home’ Includes the iconic track ‘Remembering’, probably Avishai Cohen’s soundtrack to date. Avishai Cohen is an Israeli jazz double bassist, composer, singer, and arranger. He began playing the piano at 9 years old but changed to the bass guitar at the age of 14, inspired by bassist Jaco Pastorius. In 2002, Cohen founded his record label, Razdaz Recordz. "I've always been interested in several genres of music, including jazz, rock, pop, Latin and funk," says Cohen. "I'm always packed with ideas. I decided to start my own label because I'm involved in so many different projects." Cohen's signature sound is a blend of Middle Eastern, eastern European, and African-American musical idioms.

On Rosenhill is a tribute to the neighborhood where Jakob Buchanan grew up, revisiting the area many years later on. Initially a Danish housing project, characterized by high-rise concrete apartments built in the 1960s, today's Rosenhøj (Rosenhill) is a fascinating cultural melting pot that offers previously undreamt-of possibilities to the locals. The album is Buchanan's first for Dacapo Records, introducing a wonderful new group of close musical associates in music of flowing lyricism, delicate texture and inspired interplay in settings of poems by best-selling writer, Iain S. Thomas. Buchanans previous albums have been heralded by critics as An eminently impressive contribution to new Danish music and an obvious candidate for the Nordic Council Music Prize (Politiken) and without a doubt, one of this decades most important jazz releases, a true masterpiece! (Gaffa)

This laid back program of classics by powerhouse jazz composers Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn adequately show Tommy Smith’s virtuosic saxophone playing. Smith does a fantastic job of keeping the composers’ intentions in mind, while still adding his own colors and textures to these classics. Smith is accompanied here by an all-star trio of musicians, including Kenny Barron, Peter Washington and Billy Drummond. Many of these tracks were recorded in just one take. This album was originally released in 1998, and is being re-issued here as part of Linn’s ECHO series.

Described by critics as beyond category, to use Duke Ellingtons signature compliment (All About Jazz), Japanese marimba extraordinaire Mika Stoltzman brings her wealth of experience to her latest Mikarimba album, Big Round Records Taperebá. Vibrant and bursting with flavor (just like the Brazilian fruit which the album derives its title from), the jazzy Taperebá features performances by Stoltzman and a circle of legendary fellow artists. With over 25 Grammy Awards shared between the members on this record, a memorable listening experience is practically guaranteed. Taperebá brings notable names from around the globe and a spectrum of musical experiences into one collection. Featuring the likes of Stoltzman, her husband and Grammy Award-winning clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, and a lineup including the legendary bassist Eddie Gomez, iconic percussionist Steve Gadd and his son Duke, and Brazilian mandolin great Hamilton de Holanda, the album leads audiences through a lighthearted yet technically spellbinding listening experience with just the right amount of flare. Each piece on the album was either written or arranged for Stoltzman, such as the Paul Simon classic 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, arranged by Steve Gadd (who, not to mention, played drums on the original Simon version). From this, to Return to Bahia written specifically for Stoltzman by Bill Douglas, an arrangement of Chick Coreas Spain, and more, Taperebá altogether moves listeners through a kaleidoscope of 20th and 21st-century jazz, popular music, and more. Taperebá is many things: a collection of works by legends past and present, a celebration of rich and diverse styles, and a group of friends making beautiful music together. However one connects with the music most, Taperebá is an experience not to be missed.

Award-winning Vibraphonist Lewis Wright returns to Signum following the success of his recording 'Duets' in 2018, with a selection of new compositions this time performed with Matt Brewer (Double-Bass) and Marcus Gilmore (Drums). "The Colour of Intention refers to the creative process itself: that in order to express yourself honestly in music, you have to generate clear intentions developed from thoughts and emotions which then color the work rather than explaining every aspect of it. In the moment of performance, the goal then becomes to put all these previous investigations out of mind and exist in the present. The color of intention is describing everything except performance; the slower processes of development, reflection and refinement and how they'll seep, often unpredictably, into everything that ends up being realized. Working with Matt (Brewer) and Marcus (Gilmore) adds the last and most engaging dimension. How they interpret the music, interact and bring their own highly developed languages to bare, creates something that's both a reflection of my intentions and also infinitely more sophisticated than it's possible for me to conceive of. I think in this sense, human connection is the greatest element of what it is we do as musicians." (Lewis Wright)

Coming under the form of a beautiful antique pink and dark green 3-shutters digipack and two-LPs Gatefold, 'Two Roses' is by Avishai's words "a once in a lifetime project". Associating his core trio (Mark Guiliana, Elchin Shirinov) with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Avishai Cohen offers a very cinematic project between Jazz, Mediterranean Folklore and Classical music, reexploring a part of his musical journey. Not only proposing new orchestrations of his most successful works, 'Two Roses' is also strongly supported by 'When I'm Falling', an original composition showing how far the sound of Avishai Cohen has developed. The vinyl edition features 2 exclusive tracks in addition to the 12 songs already recorded; including a Symphonic version of Seven Seas which is one of Avishai's most beloved compositions.

Two years after the revelation "Opening" which was awarded the Django Reinhardt Prize from the Academie du Jazz, Fred Nardin is back with the bass player Or Bareket and the drummer Leon Parker for the Fred Nardin Trio's second album: "Look Ahead. " "You can be both as intellectual and as soulful as you want, and the swing beat is powerful but subtle. I think you have to devote yourself to it exclusively to do it at that level". (Mulgrew Miller, DownBeat Magazine. ) A pianist bred on experience(s) and tradition, Fred Nardin has only one aim in life: to play as well as he can, just as long as it swings. Reasonable but determined, passionate and enthralling when it is a question of tackling the great masters - Kenny Barron, McCoy Tyner or Mulgrew Miller -every day Fred Nardin gets a little closer to his objective, and Look Ahead is the resounding proof. Co-founder of The Amazing Keystone Big-Band, chosen sideman for Cecile McLorin Salvant, Bria Skonberg, Jacques Schwarz-Bart, Natalia M. King, Stefano Di Battista, Jesse Davis and Gael Horellou, regular feature "After-Hours" at the Duc Des Lombards in Paris: Fred Nardin is everywhere where jazz is happening but it is with the trio of the album "Opening" that he was really discovered in 2017.