Tommy Flanagan was always known for his tasteful, flawless and swinging piano playing. The American jazz pianist and composer grew up in Detroit and was initially influenced by artists Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Nat King Cole. Within months of moving to New York in 1956 he was recording with Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins. His recordings under various leaders, including the historic Giant Steps of John Coltrane, continued well into 1962 when he became vocalist Ella Fitzgerald’s full time accompanist. He added class to every session that he was involved in and fortunately he was well documented during the latter part of his career.

Solo Piano was not initially released until decades after its 1974 recording. It is significant historically because this outing was the pianist’s first record date as a leader in 13 years and, most importantly, because it is very good music.

REVIEW:

What strikes me most on this solo album is the clarity Flanagan brings to each of the tunes. The more "cerebral" jazz artists often begin an account of a tune with a "variation" resulting from thick embellishment of the melody itself and/or the rhythm of that melody. Flanagan consistently begins by honoring his "source material," after which he unfolds no shortage of embellishments involving the tune, its rhythms, and the underlying chord progressions. This was the "bread-and-butter" approach to jazz improvisation during the second half of the twentieth century; and, as such, the album is not only an account of bravura solo piano work but also a first-rate introduction to cultivating the skills of listening to jazz.

-- The Rehearsal Studio (Steven Smoliar)

The history of the JAZZPAR AWARDS constitutes, in retrospect, a significant development in the recognition of jazz by international arbiters of taste, and by distributors of monetary recognition. Between 1990 and 2004, the award was made to several American performers but also, reflecting the history of the music itself, to six Europeans (Tony Coe, Django Bates, Martial Solal, Marilyn Mazur, Enrico Rava and Aldo Romano). It's worth remembering too that, as well as celebrating jazz per se, the fundamental idea was to draw attention to the world-class ability of Denmark's own musicians. Each annual winner was required to perform in a situation of their own choosing, but one which would involve several local players, as seen in the present series of reissues. In addition, it shouldn't be forgotten that each year a smaller prize was given to a Danish musician who was given the opportunity to invite a foreign player of their choice, often but not always an American, to appear and record with them. The international winners tended to be distinguished figures who, up to that point, had not received the amount of wider recognition that they deserved, and who found the award to be an honor that also increased their reputation. Such was the case with the initial recipients of the award, namely Muhal Richard Abrams (1990), David Murray (1991) and Lee Konitz (1992). This 1992 set showcases the work of the Danish pianist/composer Jørgen Emborg with a quintet including his specially invited guest, the American bass-guitarist Steve Swallow.

When the Darmstadt teenager Volker Kriegel (1943-2003) officially debuted his first chords in the late 1950s, the guitar was still an outsider instrument in jazz. It could boast a few luminaries, but actually everything was still open when, in 1963 and 1964, the autodidact from Hessen won first prizes as guitarist and soloist at the amateur jazz festival in Düsseldorf. The debut recordings in 1963, which Südwestfunk (SWF) recorded with the nineteen-year-old guitarist in trio at the Deutschhaus in Mainz, and the 1969 studio sessions in the Kammersaal Studio, are worlds apart. For one thing, the guitar itself had carved out a career. On top of this, Kriegel had gained in self-confidence. But above all, he had found a counterpart in Claudio Szenkar, who opened up perspectives not only in terms of communication and composition but also through Kriegel’s own instrument. The combination of vibraphone and guitar was then still fairly new. In 1968, Kriegel decided to make music his main profession. Thanks to "With A Little Help from My Friends" and an appearance at the German Jazz Festival in Frankfurt, he achieved the breakthrough into public recognition. Together with the vibraphonist Dave Pike, the bassist Hans Rettenbacher and the drummer Peter Baumeister, he founded the Dave Pike Set, which became for four years his artistic center and a beacon combo of European jazz rock. And for the SWF (Südwestfunk, today SWR) he went twice into the sound studio. With the exceptions of The Beatles’s anthem "Norwegian Wood" and "Mother People" by the young guitar berserker Frank Zappa, hardly any pieces by other musicians are still to be heard in these recordings.

Listening to this album takes you back to the atmosphere and sound of Jazzhus Montmartre on a random night in the 1960s, engulfing you in Dexter Gordons enormous aura. Dexters arrival in Copenhagen had a tremendous impact that left a lasting impression on the Danish jazz scene. He was handsome and well-dressed. His playing was superb, with a giant sound; his introductions and showmanship were unique and captivating. In addition, Dexter felt the Danish mentality was well-suited for playing and enjoying jazz. It was always there, Alex Riel remembers It wasnt a case of going to work, even though we played every, single night in June, July and August during the summer of 1964. Dexter and Tete were there solely for the music, and so were Niels-Henning and I. It is so obvious when I hear the music today. Dexter loved being in Montmartre. He often stayed and jammed with the night shift when it took over, playing on till early morning And Dexter ended up owning Copenhagen!

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.

When pianist Carsten Dahl went into the studio with his perennial fellow musicians, the bassist Niels Bo Davidsen and the drummer Stefan Pasborg, it was with a special dogma: Not to say a word throughout the recording. The album was created in a continuous sequence of first takes and everything was improvised without previous agreements or ideas except 'Falling Down' and 'How I Hear Beauty' based on some chords Dahl scratched down on a piece of paper in the studio. There is a natural, fluent and electric feeling in the music. The trio creates a series of intense pieces most of them no longer than 3-4 minutes, but together they constitute a suite-like process with stimulating variation in form and expression. 'To me Mirrors Within is the picture of the collective and the universal', Dahl says. 'In the music we mirror ourselves in one another. But the mirror can also break and behind it is black'. Hereby he insinuate the both bright and dark sides of his own artist life. He has spoken in public about trauma, therapy and medicine. Music, painting and poetry are his creative responses. Mirrors Within points in the direction of the inner landscapes of music, those places in the mind where music can become 'sound that bleeds, infect and flourish', as written in the Brøndums Encyklopædi. Dahl, Davidsen & Pasborg have developed a special musical dialect together. We are way beyond instrumental skills, which are top class, but it is about much more than that. The best way perhaps to summarize the activities is with the word: empathy. Not as a feeling, but as an ability to participate in a mutual human action which otherwise could not be realized.

'Pieces' is the meeting of two generations - The experienced and mature: the trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg and the guitarist Bjarne Roupé and the two young and ready: Anton Langebæk on bass and the percussionist Benjamin Barfod. Bjarne Roupé Trio had been with Langebæk and Barfod for a while, and when Palle Mikkelborg was set to play a concert for Jazz Grooves at JB10 in Næstved, it was obvious that the four musicians worked together this evening. It became a success and the musicians took the initiative to use the recordings for this release. Here it is: 'Pieces: Generations at Sunrise' - five well-chosen compositions with Roupé's overview and broad sounds, Langebæk's pulsating bass, Barfod's distinctive percussion and Mikkelborg's trumpet and flugelhorn on top. We get extremely personal renditions of John Coltrane's "Naima" and the Abez classic "Nature Boy". A Swedish folk melody, "Saudi", with a beautiful guitar intro and more of the same sonorous element in the opening track "Witchi-tai-to", which is carried on by Barfod's gubal. The fine little theme is presented only at the end. Coltrane's great ballad "Naima" is performed for the first time in the history of music with sansula. In the collectively composed and arranged "Pieces", there are fanfares with electronics underneath, and Langebæk rounds off with a very solid bass solo. "Nature boy" gets new and very beautiful life with Mikkelborg's horn followed by a very well-playing Roupé.

After Anette von Eichel opened a small window for the audience in 2001 with her debut release "Welcome To My World" to let people discover a previously unknown vocal talent, the spectacular and official start of her career was in 2004 with the release of "Get Out Now" in the beginnings of Jazz thing Next Generation. She has been teaching at the Academy of Music and Dance in Cologne as a professor of jazz singing since 2010. Nevertheless, she realigns her musical parameters and surprises with releases that stand out from the enormous sea of sound recording media in a pleasantly unpretentious way. After "Golightly" (Double Moon DMCHR 71106) from 2012, a duo album in 2017 and a Mingus project in 2019, "Inner Tide" is now her next work. The album unites a top-class instrumental combo with pianist Sebastian Sternal, bassist Henning Sieverts, drummer Jonas Burgwinkel and saxophonist Jonas Blom, in which the names alone prove that they cannot be reduced to mere accompanists. "This is exactly where I am now," Anettevon Eichel described the core statement of the nine titles of "Inner Tide". For her, it is a sign of the way, as always, when the singer, after a supposedly quieter public phase, comes out into the open again, deeply authentic, prominently, the field staked out with the "Eichel" brand. Or as she puts it laughingly: "Pure Me." Her older albums always featured pieces by others that fit her well. "Now, for the first time everything comes from me, not only the lyrics, but also the entire music. This is a big and important step for me, almost a new phase of my identity. And the result really makes me very, very happy!"

"Every time I listen to the very first tones of Afterglow, I get struck immediately, as if by a force of nature. Suddenly, I am part of a natural phenomenon, that manifests right in front of me. At that very moment, everything else in the world doesn't seem to matter that much. There's only you and the musical synergy of two masterminds, who put their hearts and souls in every detail of their private conversation. Exactly the same feeling hit me over and over, when audio engineer Floren Van Stichel and I were part of the creation of Afterglow, in September2018. The sheer beauty of the music by Enrico Pieranunzi and Bert Joris was present at every single moment. The only thing Floren and I had to do was listen. We simply guarded the entire process. While performing together, Enrico once said: "Sometimes, the moment you don't play adds more significance to the things you do play". The same thing applies to being a producer. Being present was just enough. Nature took it's course and Afterglow saw the light of day." (Jasper Somsen)

"Avalon is inspired by an ancient Celtic myth of an island in dense fog where the Holy Grail is said to be located, King Arthur is buried and where Excalibur is hidden. I use it as a metaphor for the present time in which we live in which it is not clear to anyone what the world will look like after the pandemic. The single Avalon is a dreamy piece of music that is also used for the exhibition in de Fundatie that will run until the spring of 2021." (Yuri Honing)

On the occasion of his 50th anniversary, Avishaï Cohen offers a sumptuous present: 50 titles selected by his fans in a luxurious box set including 6 golden 180g vinyls. Deluxe edition limited and numbered to 2.000 copies worldwide! Each title has been commented by Avisaï Cohen in a beautiful 32-page hardcover book. Avishai Cohen, born in Kabri, Israel on April 20th, 1970, grew up in a multicultural family whose roots were found in Spain, Greece and Poland. At home, music was always in the air, with his mother Ora, an artistic influence, listening to both classical and traditional music. Avishais musical journey began when he was nine years old, when he began playing the piano. After moving to St. Louis, Missouri with his family at age fourteen, he continued to study the piano and began to play the bass guitar. The electric bass put a spell on him when his teacher introduced him to the music of luminary bassist Jaco Pastorius. Back in Israel, Avishai joined the Music and Arts Academy in Jerusalem to further explore the bass universe.

Marcus Klossek is one of the growing number of guitarists who perform Jazz on a Fender Telecaster, the archetype of the electric guitar. A class of musicians that consists of many extraordinary artists; from Jimmy Bryant to Ed Bickert, Bill Frisell, Mike Stern, Jim Campilongo or Jakob Bro, just to name a few. An established name within the Berlin jazz scene who knows how to get to the point with his Electric Trio. A guitar, bass and drums; that's all it takes to make the songs of Marcus Klossek sound great! His brand new album "Time Was Now", the 8th release as a bandleader and the first one for Double Moon/Challenge Records, is another proof of exceptional storytelling composing skills which go far beyond the average guitar release. The Marcus Klossek Electric Trio has toured countless European clubs and festivals since releasing their first album "Now & Again" in 2012.

Piece of Mind is an all-star group that features some of the most talented voices in jazz today. The concept of the group was inspired by the VSOP Quintet from the late 1970s with the intention of being both a touring and recording group. During his career, Rose has worked with each member of the group at different times, as have the other members. The new collective brings together the highly regarded players who, when united onstage, deliver an exciting and fluid musical experience. In Spring 2019, the group recorded their first album, presented here, which features highlights from their series of live concerts at the Blue Llama in Ann Arbor, MI. Members of the group include Adonis Rose: drums; Tia Fuller: alto sax; Maurice Brown: trumpet; Sasha Masakowski: vocals; Miki Hayama: piano; and Jasen Weaver: bass.

The 82nd protagonist of the Jazz thing Next Generation series comes from Minsk in Belarus, where he grew up as the son of an artist family and was gently introduced to the world of music by his mother, a classical pianist, early in his childhood. Alexei began playing piano at the age of five, and he became enthusiastic about the saxophone at the age of twelve, which is why he went to Germany in 2003 with a heavy heart due to the better educational opportunities. He studied under Professor Wolfgang Engstfeld at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne until 2010, and played in the Federal Youth Jazz Orchestra (BuJazzO) under the direction of Peter Herbolzheimer. Malakhau: In Belarus, I could hardly have lived so freely, let alone earned a living from music. Of course, he had to work very hard for a several years to give art the freedom it really deserves. Life between two different countries therefore also gives a distinctive personality stamp in the sense of Leiblich. Hardly any other jazz musician currently combines elements of classical and modern music in such a natural and relaxed way. I grew up with classical music, it paved my way. I encountered experimental art on the wayside.