I can’t recall precisely when I first heard the music of the Tunisian oud maestro Anouar Brahem; it was probably when I bought Madar, an album of duets with Jan Garbarek, released in early 1994, which was some months before I saw Moufida Tlatli’s film The Silences of the Palace, for which he wrote and … Continue reading But Is It Jazz? Cool Music in a World on Fire…
If by any chance you read my recent ‘best of 2024’ post, you may have noticed, among the new musical releases, the inclusion of an album entitled Relations, attributed to Thomas Strønen, Craig Taborn, Chris Potter, Sinikka Langeland and Jorge Rossy. That would be a rather eccentric line-up for a group – a Norwegian percussionist, … Continue reading It Takes Two to Tango… or the Magic of Musical Duets
It’s emphatically a reflection not of their musical quality but of how busy I’ve been recently that I’m only now writing to pass on my enthusiasm for three rather wonderful albums released by ECM in January and early February. I’ve been listening to each of them a lot, but due to work I was so … Continue reading But is it jazz? (Yes!) Three more musical gems
Thanks to the recent London Jazz Festival, my customary diet of classical concerts has been pleasingly enriched by a few other gigs, one of which – by the Tyshawn Sorey Trio at King’s Place last Friday – was quite simply superb, and probably my best non-classical concert of the year so far. Sorey is probably … Continue reading Mesmerisingly fine music: the Tyshawn Sorey Trio
Four years ago this month, a friend, knowing I was a big admirer of the music put out by ECM, suggested I put together a list of my all-time favourite releases on the label, in response to a New York Times list of 21 ‘essential’ ECM albums published to mark the music then newly available … Continue reading Further Gems from ECM: revisiting some favourites
‘In Munich I used to frequent a record shop where the owner liked jazz, and he gave me some money to make some recordings. It was all quite accidental, and I’d no idea about business or money. I’d worked as a production assistant with Deutsche Grammophon, and I’d already met, in New York, musicians like … Continue reading Happy 50th birthday, ECM!
A couple of years ago, to coincide with the release of his quartet album Daylight Ghosts, I posted a piece about the great American pianist Craig Taborn in which I ended by wondering enthusiastically about what he would come up with next. Well, we now have the answer in the form of a new album, … Continue reading Luminous meshwork: the dazzling piano duo of Craig Taborn and Vijay Iyer
notes and observations by Geoff Andrew 