New Release Round-up,
Jazz New Release Round-Up - 27th September 2024
Antonio Dayyani
This week's crop of new releases offers a rich exploration of jazz and world music. Antonio Dayyani’s Trop Op fuses Nordic melancholy with Americana influences, creating a reflective yet cinematic experience. BBE's vinyl reissue of Rick Panzer’s Music For the Complete Jazz Dance Class with Lea Darwin encorages us all to don our snazziest leotards and have a jazz-workout, a must-have for both dancers and obscure jazz fans. Walter Smith III’s Three of Us Are From Houston and Reuben Is Not presents a collaborative modern jazz effort, balancing groove and intricate improvisation. Laura Jurd & Paul Dunmall’s Fanfares and Freedom takes a more avant-garde approach, melding brass fanfares with free-form jazz. David Friesen's This Light Has No Darkness, Volume 1 showcases introspective, spiritual jazz, while Bernhard Wiesinger’s Enlightened offers a more personal, melodic journey into saxophone-led jazz. Mferghu’s Manhattanville Serenade paints a soulful, narrative-driven soundscape, while Tenderlonious' Ragas From Lahore bridges cultures through jazz and classical Indian music.
Trop Op is the second studio album by Danish drummer and composer Antonio Dayyani, blending Nordic melancholy with Americana influences, creating a unique sound characterized by lyrical melodies and rich folk harmonies. It features eight original compositions and a reimagined Swedish folk song, all of which offer a richly rewarding sound world.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Originally released in 1979 on the Orion label, 'Music For Complete Jazz Dance Class With Lea Darwin' is an absolute double vinyl treasure vault of tracks composed by percussionist and multi-instrumentalist Rick Panzer. Re-discovered by Klinkhamer Record shop boss Michel Veenstra, it is now being reissued on BBE Music as part of the Klinkhamer series. Veenstra first heard the album in the early 2000s and spent years trawling through German phone directories to find the correct Rick Panzer to get his blessings to once again release the album to a music loving public.
Available Format: Vinyl Record
Saxophonist Walter Smith III pays homage to his hometown of Houston, Texas on his sophomore Blue Note album, three of us are from Houston and Reuben is not, the follow-up to 2023’s Return to Casual. The album’s wry title signifies the lineup, which includes fellow Houston natives – pianist Jason Moran and drummer Eric Harland – while bassist Reuben Rogers, who hails from the Virgin Islands, rounds out the quartet. Together they enliven 10 compelling Smith originals and an imaginative rendering of a Sam Rivers composition – all of which speaks to Smith’s ascending status as one of modern jazz’s most engaging talents of his generation.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Composed by Laura Jurd as a commission for the 2023 Cheltenham Jazz Festival, the music combines Paul Dunmall's improvising quartet integrated with Laura's brass ensemble music. The result is a finely balanced and engaging work in the tradition of the very best of British jazz composition. Laura writes - "I don't think I'll ever forget hearing Paul Dunmall play for the first time. Whilst aware of his gravitas as an improviser, I hadn't been in the same room as him playing the saxophone until the first rehearsal of this music. His utterly courageous and no-holds-barred engagement with the present is something to behold. This album was recorded live at the Vortex Jazz Club in London."
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Lushly orchestrated by Kyle Gordon for a 33-piece chamber orchestra, bassist David Friesen's compositions soar in this new 12-part work, originally conceived for the National Academic Symphonic Band of Ukraine. Following 2020's Testimony, which featured that ensemble, Friesen began on this masterwork with the premier set for the Philharmonic Hall in Kyiv in May of 2022. With that date becoming an impossibility, Gordon instead sculpted the orchestra in his Los Angeles studio with a superbly created sample library and an ear trained in producing for expansive, sweeping film and TV soundtracks.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV
The pianist who goes by the name of Mferghu is SteepleChase's newest discovery. Mferghu, a native of Harlem (Manhattanville), NY has just turned 70. And this is his very first leader album. Unassuming and reserved, Mferghu never seeks the spotlight but could not avoid being spotted by the producer Nils Winther during Jamale Davis' session last year. Here as the leader of his own trio, Mferghu displays his immense aptitude for performing and composing music deeply rooted in hard bop and beyond.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV
In April 2019, 22a boss and multi-instrumentalist Tenderlonious embarked on a trip to Pakistan to work with Lahore-based instrumental quartet, Jaubi. Following on from the success of the three-track limited edition 10" vinyl release of 'Tender in Lahore' earlier this year, 22a presents the full LP-length suite of improvised Ragas from a one-day recording session in Lahore, featuring four previously unreleased tracks.
Available Formats: Vinyl Record, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Born in 1981, Austrian saxophonist Bernhard Wiesinger is a key figure in Vienna’s jazz scene. His second album, Enlightened, recorded in New York City, reflects his belief in the power of artistic clarity. Blending tenor and soprano sax, Wiesinger emphasises chemistry and spiritual depth, shaping his unique sound.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Matt Groom - Head of Jazz
