'Future Memories' is About Aphrodite's second album on Floating World Records. It is a brilliant follow up to their debut album 'Polaris'. Their music is a progressive crossover between experimental jazz improvisation, classical and electronic music. The rhythmic and textural complexity that comes from the combination of Theremin, Pipe and vocal harmonies is both haunting and uplifting, adding an ethereal layer to the percussion and piano which drive the majority of the albumThe band comprises Gilda Razani on Theremin, Soprano saxophone, Pipe, Live electronics, and Hans Wanning on piano / synthesizers,/ live electronics featuring Jaime Moraga Vasques on drums / percussion / vocals. Composed and produced in 2019 by Razani and Wanning, the album was recorded and mastered at Hansahaus Studio Bonn by Klaus Genuit.

Inverted Forest

Anima

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.

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)

Concept Art Orchestra is an occasionally performing Czech big band comprised of first class Czech jazz musicians, led and conducted by trumpetist/composer Štepánka Balcarová. Their album, The Prague Six, contains six first-time recordings of contemporary compositions by the young Czech composers who formed the group of the same name, the majority of them also ranking among the band’s members. Large original compositions lie at the border of jazz and classical music, using all expressive possibilities and orchestral interplay, as well as the improvisational skills of its individual members.

Building a bridge between jazz and experimental dance music, Brotherly were one of the most creative bands to emerge from Britain in the mid-2000s, a collection of their standout tracks is now issued for the first time on limited edition double vinyl and CD/DL as 'Analects', with an eye catching list of guest artists including Kaidi Tatham, Ty, Eska and Donny McCaslin. Tracks: System / Put It Out (feat. Eska) / Raindown (feat. Kaidi Tatham) / World In A World (feat. Jason Rebello) / Requiem / Skin Deep / Hiding Behind Your Lies / Spin Down / Shame / Searching / A Little Trouble / Breather / The Code / Navigator / DTs (feat. Donny McCaslin) / One Sweet Life (feat. Ty)

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)

100 YEARS or, "The Country at One Hundred" is a large suite, a collective work of the Prague Six, the composers concentrated around the Concept Art Orchestra big band. The composition originated as a tribute to the one hundredth anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia in 2018 and consists of six parts in which the authors allude to various periods in the history of the Czechoslovak and later Czech Republic, with originality and energy typical of the big band. Štepánka Balcarová, Jan Jirucha, Luboš Soukup, Martin Brunner, Tomáš Sýkora and Vít Krištan each have authored one of the six movements in which they make full use of all the orchestration possibilities offered by a big band, expanding these with non-traditional instruments such as Ondes Martenot, the chimes or Moog synthetizer. The individual compositions also include sensitive references to period music and samples and citations from political speeches. The fourth movement, dedicated to the period of the so-called normalization in the 1970s and 1980s and based on the motives of a song by The Plastic People of the Universe, features a special guest, the saxophonist Vratislav Brabenec. This, already third recording by Concept Art Orchestra on the Animal Music label confirms the indisputable place of the band (the holder of the 2015 Andel Award for the best jazz album of the year) on the current big-band scene and testifies to their capacity to create original works rooted in the current musical and historical context as well as perform them to the highest professional standards.

Memorabilia was written in 2016 by jazz bassist and composer Mats Eilertsen and premiered at JazzFest in Trondheim the same year. The work is written for two trios: Mats Eilertsen Trio (Harmeen Franje, piano; Thomas Stronen, drums; and Mats Eilertsen, bass), and the vocal ensemble Trio Mediaeval (the acclaimed vocal trio of the three sopranos Anna Maria Friman, Linn Andrea Fuglseth and Berit Opheim.) Recently recorded in Newtone studio in Oslo, the album is now available, and has been released alongside a concert in the Norwegian Opera House. The music unites the two trios in a sacred, lyrical expression, giving the piano trio room to improvise. The lyrics are a mixture of traditional masses and poems by the Norwegian lyricist Tor Ulven. Darkness and drama meet nicer views of life. About faith, doubt, and time. “Minutes, maybe hours, of your own existence. That you forgot, but I still remember. You live a secret life in someone else’s memory.” (Tor Ulven)

This 8 CD box set has more than 10 hours of Ben Webster's music including previously unreleased tracks. The sessions were recorded mainly during 1964-1973 in Europe, mostly in Scandinavia, and include live recordings from festivals, clubs and radio and television broadcasts. They feature Webster at Copenhagen's famous Montmartre club and other Danish locations as well as sessions from his renowned month-long residency at London's Ronnie Scott's. Completing the set are recordings from Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Germany and several tracks recorded before he left New York.

Stephen Riley’s acclaimed previous release SCCD 31850 Hold ‘em Joe was following Sonny Rollins’ pioneering tenor trio format. Here on his new disc Riley draws his inspiration from Rollins piano-less quartet with cornetist Don Cherry from the 60s. With ace trumpeter Joe Magnarelli as his side kick Riley initiates a new fertile ground for jazz’s old and new expression. “No matter what group Riley puts together for a record date, he merits top marks every time”. (Ken Dryden – NYC Jazz Records on SCCD 31850 “Hold ‘em Joe”) “Riley is a singular talent, not least for his twists on the standard repertory, and this is well up to scratch”. (Ronald Atkins – Jazz Journal on SCCD 31850)

This two-disc colllection features a selection of Nat King Cole songs, recorded by vocalist Hugh Coltman in live & studio settings. Disc one includes studio tracks, while disc two features many of the same tracks in a live setting, recorded at the Jazz à Vienne Festival. Tracks include "What'll I Do," Nature Boy," "Mona Lisa," "Are You Disenchanted," "Pretend," "Smile," "I Never Had a Chance," and more.

The Lincoln Center Orchestra’s long-time star trumpeter Marcus Printup has teamed up here again with harpist Riza Hequibal Printup to present a brilliantly conceived program of jazz and pop standards together with inspiring originals by Printup and Hequibal. On the previous collaboration between Marcus and Riza “A Time For Love” SCCD 31711 Mike Joyce of JazzTimes comments “…Printup’s cohesive and resourceful trio with harpist Riza Hequibal and bassist Kengo Nakamura recasts and rekindles a string of romantic ballads with a lean mixture of lyricism and swing….”

Symbol Systems occupies a special place in Matthew Shipp's discography. Originally issued in 1995 on the No More Records label, it was at the time his sixth release as a leader or co-leader, but significantly his first solo album, and as such provided us with the purest view to date of his multifaceted, indivisible improvisational/compositional concepts. Matthew Shipp was born in 1960 in Delaware. He began piano at 5 years old, and fell in love when jazz when he was 12. After moving to New York in 1984 he quickly became one of the leading lights in the New York Jazz Scene. Mr. Shipp has reached the holy grail of jazz in that he possesses a unique style on his instrument that is all his own- and he's one of the few in jazz that can say so.

Trumpeter and composer Štepánka Balcarová, known from the successful quintet “Inner Spaces” and as the leader of the progressive big band “Concept Art Orchestra” (for the albums of both she has received the „Angel“ award for the jazz album of the year), has compiled her first solo album from her own compositions made on poems of the Polish poet Julian Tuwim (1894-1953). Tuwim´s poems seem to be very simple and plain, but each of them carries many deep thoughts as well. And the congenial music can be described the same way. Balcarová has invited Polish singer Malgorzata Hutek and the band made of fantastic Czech and Polish players (Jaromír Honzák, Marcel Bárta, Robert Fischmann, Nikola Kolodziejczyk and Grzegorz Maslovski) to record with her.

Ralph Flanagan was a pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader, who worked with the orchestras of Charlie Barnet, Boyd Raeburn, Hal McIntyre, Sammy Kaye, Alvino Rey and Blue Barron before launching his own band in the late 1940s, based very much on the sound of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, being signed to RCA by Glenn Miller's former A&R man. Performing a range of straight orchestral and swinging jazz pieces, along with the hot songs of the day sung by his featured vocalist Harry Prime and his vocal group The Singing Winds, he had a string of over twenty hits between 1949 and 1953, including his signature Top 10 composition "Hot Toddy". This great-value 51-track 2-CD set comprises selected A & B sides on the Rainbow, Bluebird and RCA-Victor labels during this era. It features all his 21 career chart entries, including the Top 10 hits "Don't Cry Joe (Let Her Go, Let Her Go)", Rag Mop", "Nevertheless", "Harbour Lights", "Slow Poke", "I Should Care" and "Hot Toddy". His music was very much of it's era, typifying a particular strand of the pop scene of the post-war decade, and this collection offers an enjoyable selection of his work.

This live recording of Quincy Jones and his Orchestra was taken in Ludwigshafen in 1961. The orchestra had an all-star roster, including Freddie Hubbard, Benny Bailey, and Sahib Shihab. The program includes classics such as Summertime and Stolen Moments.

The selections Whiteman included in the 1924 Aeolian Hall Concert, which had that curious title An Experiment in Modern Music, were divided into various sections, such as The True Form of Jazz and Recent Compositions with Modern Score. The intention was that together they would be audible proof that jazz-inspired music had come of age. These performances of Gershwin classics and hard-to-find rarities capture the 1920's and 30's jazz age style and offers a gamut of lesser known keyboard works, as well as Gershwin's only known works for violin and piano and for string quartet. The three orchestral works include Mr. Peress' theater orchestration of Gershwin's Strike Up the Band Overture, and the I've Got Rhythm Variations recorded in its original orchestration for the first time.

Caprice presents the highly anticipated re-release of Rena Rama's live album from the Stockholm jazz club Fasching in 1975. Formed in 1971, Swedish jazz band Rena Rama was noted for mixing jazz, unusual time signatures, and African and Asian folk themes. It's original lineup included Lennart Aberg, Bobo Stenson, Palle Danielsson, and Bengt Berger. Stenson and Aberg had previously worked with Red Mitchell, and Danielsson with Steve Kuhn. Berger had previously studied percussion in India. Stenson had already recorded his first trio LP. This production features Leroy Lowe on drums.

Alto saxophonist/composer Zaid Nasser has been perfectly pedigreed as a jazz musician, having the legendary bassist Jamil Nasser as the father and growing up surrounded by the elite players of the New York jazz scene. Zaid has performed with Cecil Payne, Junior Cook, Joe Hendricks, Harold Mabern, among others, leads his own group and tours extensively overseas. “Zaid’s sound is organic and authentic. He plays smart music with a kind of freedom that is unusual … Nasser’s unique personal tone and phrasing reveal intricately crafted, imaginative, and ingenious musical lines, woven into tight thematic improvisation.” (Luke Kaven – Smalls)

Reverso is a transatlantic group of outstanding improvisers, equally at home in both jazz and classical music. 'The Melodic Line', the group's second album, is set against the backdrop of Paris in the Années Folles and is inspired by the aesthetic of the composers of the Groupe des Six (Poulenc, Milhaud, Honegger, Auric, Tailleferre and Durey). Jean Cocteau said that the only common point between these composers, apart from their friendship, was their 'salvation of melodic line'. Frank Woeste, co-leader and composer of the group, has developed, in the course of his albums and tours, a unique language that makes him an unclassifiable and polymorphous artist, a sideman with prestigious musicians but also a producer. Vincent Courtois, a stunning cellist, is as comfortable in the classical repertory as in free improvisations or indeed in chanson. Ryan Keberle, the trio's other co-leader and composer, is one of today's key trombonists on the New York scene, whether with his group 'Catharsis' or with Maria Schneider and Dave Douglas. All three pursue, with new points of reference, the same ambition, to 'take music lovers out of their compartments and tune them to an unclassifiable "elsewhere", impossible to label, where a certain French elegance meets American energy' (Le Télégramme).

Peter Asplund is one of Swedens foremost trumpet players. Or why not say it like it is? He is one of Europes or even the worlds foremost trumpeters. Why draw a line when there is no need to? Jazz is not limited by any national borders. It has been written: ""A fantastic musician who always plays straight from the heart"" - and to which we can all readily agree! Over the years he has developed his dynamic and energy-loaded, slightly melancholic and melodic trumpet style until he can express what he feels when he feels. This applies when he plays a standard by, say, George Gershwin, Cole Porter or Duke Ellington. And it also applies when he plays some of his own original compositions, tunes with a distinct accent on melody, my own standards he calls them. Of his new release, he writes: I was born in September. There is something special about that month. The light, the air, the scent of nature. For many it is a beginning of something, for others, an end. You reminisce. You look forward in time. You pause and regard the present. Wherever you happen to be, September brings forth both feelings and thoughts on life. These are mine. All My Septembers stay with me forever.

Classical Music

Henri Texier (b. 1945) is a true jazz legend. The Paris-born French jazz double bassist is most known for his work with Don Cherry in the 1960s and with his band the Transatlantik Quartet in the 1980s alongside fellow musicians Joe Lovano, Steve Swallow, and Aldo Romano. What’s remarkable about Texier is that he is a self-taught bassist. He credits Wilbur Ware as his biggest influence. This release includes seven original compositions by Texier, the connecting theme being the culture and history of the Native Americans. As a special feature, the eighth and final track on the album is an interview with Texier conducted by Gotz Buhler. Texier is joined by fellow jazz heavyweights Sebastian Texier, Francois Corneloup, and Louis Moutin.