Jazz

by [email protected] (Paul Acquaro) on March 17, 2026 at 5:00 am

By Fotis Nikolakopoulos Almost three years ago, when reviewing the duo’s (@xcrswx is Crystabel Efemena Riley on human and drum skin with Seymour Wright on saxophone) 10’’ side, a spit 10’’ with Inga Copeland aka Lolina at the time, I was finding it very hard – even impossible as I commented - to rightfully describe the music. But that wasn’t an issue back then, it isn’t an issue now and, certainly, it mustn’t be an issue. Never. On their first 12’’ album, again on the small, eclectic Feedback Moves, the duo goes on to continue exploring new, or maybe abandoned?, sonic territories. The sax and drums duo is the core, the basis one could comment but, or and, a point of departure as well. On MOODBOARD they use technology (be it analogue or digital) so that they can expand their sound towards any direction possible. There is no way to differentiate when their sound is absolutely live, played at the moment (as easy this task can be with recorded audio) and when they have manipulated what you are listening. What @xcrswx seems to be achieving right now is a combination, a unification of the actual improvisational ethos of impromptu music, with the control over the finalized result that technology can achieve. MOODBOARD has indeed a lot of ideas coming out from a 2023 residency in Brussels but those are just a part of the process. A process that incorporates the struggle of redefining the material, changing or shaping it, while playing live and adding the playing live ethos of improvisation –maybe of playing music in general. I must be frank and honest that MOODBOARD is and certainly will be one of the most interesting and intriguing albums for 2026. I must listen to it so many more times in order to decide, if there’s such a need…, what exactly goes on there, how “good” it is and which of my mind’s small boxes are ticking when listening to it. Listen for yourself: MOODBOARD by @xcrswx @koultouranafigo  Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Stef Gijssels) on March 15, 2026 at 5:00 am

Watching a video of a band that should be listened to in a live situation is not always a good idea, yet the quality of the recording, the camera and the editing are truly superb. The band is Angles 11, the ensemble created by Martin Küchen and that has various line-ups from three members up to eleven, as on this recording.  The band are Johan Berthling on double bass, Alex Zethson on Fender Rhodes, Juno 106, Mattias Ståhl on vibraphone, soprano saxophone, Konrad Agnas on drums, Michaela Antalova on drums, Kjell Nordeson on drums, Susana Santos Silva on trumpet, Magnus Broo on trumpet, Josefin Runsteen on amplified violin, Eirik Hegdal on baritone- and alto saxophones, Martin Küchen on tenor- and soprano saxophones.  The music was recorded in 2022 but released in July of 2025. The review of this album can be found here: "Tell Them It's The Sound of Freedom".  Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Paul Acquaro) on March 14, 2026 at 5:00 am

By Hrayr Attarian Cellist Paula Sanchez paints delightfully eerie and abstract soundscapes using unique tonalities that she spontaneously creates on the cello, enhanced electronics, and cellophane wrap. Her solo release, Pressure Sensitive, is a six-part suite of improvised music that, at times, is solid and static, like a sculpture, while at others, it is dynamic and fluid, like a dance. The first movement begins with an expectant drone, punctuated by the cellophane's cracks and susurrations. As the track progresses, the cello’s mournful lines grow anguished, becoming an otherworldly transmission with a mystical meaning. The ebb and flow of the music from cries to whispers is haunting and dramatic. Meanwhile, “II” is a crystalline, rising sonic structure that bends and curves like a fantastical tree. The sheet rustles like leaves, and its pops are akin to raindrops. Cello’s bent notes hover over the background din like branches in the wind. The fourth segment has the most cinematic mood. The cello’s melancholic calls rise into the silent pauses with a primal spirituality. Sanchez wraps her cello with cellophane, and her bow glides over the taut material, stimulating the strings underneath. At times, she uncovers her instrument, and the phrases she plays are melodic fragments influenced by the Western classical tradition. Modulating the tones of her instrument, she creates haunting echoes that further enhance the tune’s ambience. The final segment “VI” is simultaneously meditative and dynamic. Moving from angular and agile con-arco refrains to restless creaking vamps, Sanchez constructs a darkly shimmering piece. It is stimulating and mesmerizing with a dash of angst to keep it interesting. Pressure Sensitive is a provocative and moving album that is more than just a musical performance; it is also an immersive experience that rewards open-minded listeners. With it, Sanchez has fused her interdisciplinary interests into a single, one-of-a-kind work that finds harmony in noise and dissonance in melody. Pressure Sensitive by Paula Sanchez  Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Paul Acquaro) on March 13, 2026 at 5:00 am

By Charlie Watkins Solo recordings are always a risk. There is nobody to hide behind, leaving the musician completely exposed, and the freedom can sometimes lead to over-indulgence. But at the same time, they give a valuable insight into the creative process and could be considered one of the ‘purest’ statements of a musical identity. This is certainly true of John Butcher’s latest solo recording, Away, I Was, out now on Relative Pitch. Butcher is of course a mainstay of British improvised music, an absolute titan of the saxophone who continues to develop its sonic potential in astonishing ways. He is no stranger to solo recording – this is the nineteenth listed on his website. Some of these have explored the acoustics of different spaces, such as The Very Fabric (2023), which was recorded in a water tower, or my favourite of his solo recordings, Resonant Spaces (2008, reissued 2017). But Away, I Was is different: this is a statement of Butcher’s musical vision. All but two of the eight tracks were recorded on separate occasions (tracks 2 and 8 were recorded in the same session), meaning we are given a wide survey of Butcher’s solo work, from 2008 up to the present. But the album is not arranged chronologically, and so feels like a statement of who Butcher is now. And, as someone relatively familiar with Butcher’s extensive catalogue, I was surprised that what stood out to me most clearly throughout the album was Butcher’s melodic prowess. On tracks like Brinks and Fujin’ I was unexpectedly reminded of Steve Lacy’s solo recordings, the way he brought together abstract lines with a wistful charm, which Butcher develops by unobtrusively integrating multiphonics into his melody lines. He takes his improvisations in unexpected directions, at times jaunty, at other times pensive. There is great musical sensitivity here, and the way the album is structured allows for real contrast and variety. The fourth track is a performance of a transcription of the incomparable Derek Bailey, who perhaps has done more than anybody else to define the sound of British improvised music. This is a very unusual contribution on an improvised music record, although it works perfectly – if you didn’t know it was a transcription, you probably wouldn’t realise. Such is the clarity of Butcher’s vision that I can imagine his own improvisations on this record being transcribed by future generations of improvisers, which would surely be a worthwhile endeavour for anyone brave enough to take up the task. And this is the real strength of this record: Butcher shows himself to be a master composer, with a keen sense of structure, theme, development and the element of surprise. There is a healthy mix of extended improvisations and shorter improvisations, allowing the listener to experience both concentrated ideas and the broader musical vision. Mirror Foil and Pricklings utilise specific techniques in Butcher’s arsenal, and their short length is a demonstration of restraint which makes them all the more enjoyable. Mirror Foil is a particularly wonderful study utilising feedback with key clicks, creating a unique and enthralling sound. Pricklings is an insight into an unrealised project where Butcher overdubs himself playing two tenors and two sopranos; anything more than this short minute would probably have felt out of balance with the rest of the album. The use of varied recording techniques throughout the album provides some welcome changes of texture that keeps things interesting. Away, I Was is an inventive and thoroughly enjoyable solo recording. It’s full of surprises, but throughout we get a clear insight into Butcher’s musical vision. It is clear that he has mastered his instrument, but such are his skills as an improviser that his renowned technique is put to great use in these wonderful spontaneous compositions. We get a sense of the full scope of his work, including his creative work with amplification and recording techniques, and I think anyone who gives this album a go will find themselves charmed by the end. Away, I Was is out now on Relative Pitch Records: Away, I Was by John Butcher  Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Paul Acquaro) on March 12, 2026 at 7:00 am

By Nick Ostrum Minimalist solo piano can be a gamble. One cannot make up for weak or inexact vision through sheer density or volume. At the same time, uninspired detours are emphasized in their lonesomeness. Too much quiet or repetition can sound trite or just plain uninteresting. Techniques that can exercise incredible power in trios and quartets, moreover, can fall flat without accompaniment. (We won’t even broach the issues of the arbitrary tastes and wandering attentions of this listener.) A lot can go wrong, maybe even more than in most other settings. The composer and musician are certainly more exposed. The first of four in a series dedicated to Smith’s solo compositions, The Plains consists of a single titular piece composed for and performed by the masterful Cheryl Duvall. The two - pianist and composer - have a close musical relationship. Smith had taught Duvall as an undergraduate. After graduating and presumably getting on her feet, Duvall started performing Smith’s work live and commissioning additional compositions. The familiarity shows. Duvall is confident and compassionate in her playing, and this style of music requires both. The Plains is alternately vast and precise, wandering (Smith’s well-chosen description) but forward-moving rather than meandering. At once the repeated chords imply suspension in an ocean (there’s that vastness) and an insistent trudging forward. Movements (such as the second) can be as wistfully airy as they are heart-wrenching. The Plains, however, never stays in the place, nor in the same motif, for too long, and more active passages open to more spacious ones, more repetitive passages to more hopeful melodic ones. Through it all persists a fascination with tension, slight variations on repeating phrases, slow and patient development, but also slight shifts of tone, pacing, and volume. Primed by an hour of this slow accumulation, the unsteady but defiant surge (relatively speaking) in the last few minutes is simply riveting. The Plains is a solo piano record, but despite the constraints that might indicate, it is big in vision, in scale, in emotion. That is the strength of this corner of the contemporary classical sphere, and that is something that Smith and Duvall do better than most anyone else. Take the intimate, the small, the modest and reveal the universe, the variations and the granular details, inside of that. The Plains is available as a CD and download on Bandcamp: Linda Catlin Smith: The Complete Piano Solos (1989-2023) Vol. 1 - The Plains by Cheryl Duvall  Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Stef Gijssels) on March 10, 2026 at 4:00 am

  By Stef Gijssels Before we discuss the performance, let's have a look at the ingredients.  First, there are the 'flat bells' of Spanish percussionist Vasco Trilla, as demonstrated on this video. Second, there is the Philips Philocorda organ, built in the sixties. I will let you read about the instrument on the Wikipedia link.  Third, there is the inspiration from "Musique Funèbre" by Polish composer Witold Lutosławski. The funeral music is dark and ominous.  The music, the bells and the organ together present this trio's own rendition of the "Música Fúnebre", with Markus Reuter on the organ, Vasco Trilla on his twelve bells and Alex Reviriego on double bass. Reuter is a multi-instrumentalist, usually active in rock music on the Chapman stick, yet also known for his sound sculptures, with more than 140 albums on which he features. Alex Reviriego has appeared on many albums on our blog, notably in the company of Vasco Trilla and other artists from Barcelona or on last year's "Yellow Belle Quartet", or the "Desarbres Ensemble" from 2024. Trilla needs no introduction. The music stands out for its distinctive sonority: a shadowed organ and tolling, solemn bells strengthened by carefully drawn bass lines and the hushed rasp of muted strings. It unfolds at an unhurried, deliberate pace, assured in its direction, sustaining a paradoxical stillness charged with tension. Gentle yet wandering, it carries a deep gravitas, colored by sounds that arrive with quiet surprise. The liner notes describe the music even better: "The music has no direction. Neither a clear beginning nor an ending. Like poison ivy, it just expands in an erratic manner, slowly imposing its evil nature to the space surrounding it. Its roots deepen slowly into your consciousness until it gains control of your soul". That should get your interest and attention!Listen and download from Bandcamp.   Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Paul Acquaro) on March 9, 2026 at 4:00 am

By Richard Blute  Kevin Reilly of the Relative Pitch record label did the free jazz community a great service by setting up a gig pairing two fine musicians in Kelsey Mines on bass and Erin Rogers on sax. (Video of the show below. It’s Part 1 of 3.) That meeting led to the present recording, a beautiful example of two like-minded musicians improvising together to make something wholly novel and exciting. Both Kelsey and Erin have solo albums and I decided to give those a listen before writing this review. Kelsey’s solo album, also on Relative Pitch, is called Look Like. It’s a fine example of a solo bass album. (I say that as someone who owns a preposterous number of solo bass albums.) There’s a nice mix of technical proficiency, both bowing and plucking, with melody and emotion. And Kelsey’s vocalizing adds yet another level of melody. Erin Rogers has a solo album called 2000 Miles, again on Relative Pitch, and it’s a stunner, well-deserving of the **** ½ review it received on this website. It’s full of wonderful technique, Erin uses the keys of the saxophone to add a percussive element to her playing and her breathwork and vocalizations give an appealingly human feel to her music. So it’s not surprising these two put out such a great album in Scratching At The Surface. The first track, Breath,uses the low-end sound of their instruments, Kelsey’s bowing especially gives the track a yearning almost dirge-like sound. This leads into the title track, in which Kelsey switches to plucking. Erin begins by playing Parkerish serpentine lines, but then switches things up in response to Kelsey’s bass. This track is an excellent example of the musicians communicating in their joint improvisation and working together to create something beautiful. My favorite track is Syrefattiga, Erin is using some of the techniques from her solo album. Again there’s lots of breathwork giving a vocal quality in her responses to Kelsey’s bowing. On the final track, Electric Blue, the musicians cut loose, both musicians playing at maximum intensity, with Erin on soprano sax. The whole album is a great example of how profound music can be made with minimum instrumentation when it’s being made by musicians such as Kelsey Mines and Erin Rogers. Kelsey told me in an email: “I just relocated to Brooklyn about a month ago from Seattle so I'm looking forward to playing with her more now that I live in the city.” I’m sure everyone who hears this album will be looking forward to it as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzhTumodwXo&list=RDbzhTumodwXo&start_radio=1  Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Stef Gijssels) on March 8, 2026 at 5:02 am

 By Stef Gijssels In 2017, Joëlle Léandre reacted to a French jazz award by complaining that none of the winners were women. Her response on our blog is still the most read article (73,000 times), and the one with the most comments (65). On our blog, we do not have a clear policy on diversity or inclusion. We just go with the quality of the music performed, and by the personal choices of our reviewers. So far, this has led to a very balanced result, possibly because of the great diversity of artists in the free jazz/free improv space, which is almost by definition based on inclusion, on integrating different voices and perspectives, on challenging the existing traditions and breaking through boundaries, sonic ones first, but societal ones by implication.  It is then no surprise that this is reflected in our blog posts and our own 'awards', if you can call our "Album Of The Year" that.  It has been won by women : Anna Högberg in 2025, Økse in 2024 with Savannah Harris and Mette Rasmussen in the band. And we've had female artists every year in our top-3 lists, recently with amongst others Sylvie Courvoisier and Myra Melford.  Today is International Women’s Day, and we’d like to celebrate the occasion as well. To narrow things down, we’ve selected a few trios featuring women saxophonists we’re excited to highlight. The takeaway is simple: there is an incredible amount of high-quality, innovative music being created by female artists. Many other saxophonists (and other musicians) could be added to our overview, such as Ingrid Laubrock, Anna Webber, Caroline Kraabel, Matana Roberts, Alexandra Grimal, Amalie Dahl, Ada Rave, Rachel Musson, Mia Dyberg, Sakina Abdou, Yoko Miura, ... We cannot review all of them, but we can only encourage them to keep adding innovation and musical beauty to our world.  Joëlle Léandre, Lotte Anker, Kresten Osgood Trio - Worlds (Fundacja Słuchaj, 2024)  Let's start by this excellent trio album of Joëlle Léandre on bass and voice, Lotte Anker on saxophones, and Kresten Osgood on drums. The album presents three long improvisations, called "World One", "World Two", and "World Three". As you can expect from such a band, they bring a grand mixture of sensitive intensity, raw inventiveness and seamless interaction. Especially the second track is exceptional, with Léandre's dark arco and Anker's fragile high-pitched alto tones giving a wonderful contrast of gravitas and sadness, of weight and light, always subtly accompanied by a very versatile Osgood. The music is gripping, astonishing and moving.  Halfway through the second piece, Anker claims a brief solo space. The sensitivity of her playing is remarkable, as it always is—a genuine delight. Léandre answers with her familiar dramatic outbursts of shouting, singing, and vocalising: raw, almost brutal. Osgood intensifies the friction, sharpening the edges of the sound. Soft silk brushes against hard stone. The dynamics are fierce—collisions bloom into harmonies, rhythms disappear and return in new forms, roaring passages thin into whistles while quiet tremors swell into pounding blows. The music feels inspired: completely open-ended, yet the space before them brims with shared invention. Listen and download from Bandcamp.  Camila Nebbia, Andrew Lisle & Caius Williams - Keen [Most Senses] (Otoroku, 2025) Originally, this trio was expected to be with Kit Downes on piano, yet he could not attend, so bassist Caius Williams stepped in for this excellent sax trio, with Camilla Nebbia on saxes and Andrew Lisle on drums.  Nebbia is ferocious, solid, inventive, leading, with a presence that is very strong. Their playing is very dense, leaving little room for silence or empty space, with a high intensity and pulse. Things move forward with a rare sense of urgency, as if there is a lot to say with too little time to do it. This is a fantastic piece of raw musical energy.  It's not a surprise that the Argentinian tenorist is very prolific and much in demand for collaborations. "Exhaust" (Relative Pitch, 2025), her collaboration with Kit Downes and Andrew Lisle was a true winner, and long-listed for our album of the year last year. There was her album "Presencia" (Ears&Eyes, 2025) with James Banner and Max Andrzejewski, "A Reflection Distorts Over Water" (Relative Pitch, 2025) with Marilyn Crispell and Lesley Mok, "Live at Blow Out" (Sound Holes Live Editions, 2025) with Michael Formanek and Vinnie Sperrazza, and "Hypnomaniac" with Gonçalo Almeida and Sylvain Darrifourq. I also happily refer readers to Paul Acquaro's review of the Deutscher Jazz Preis, which covers another four albums by nominee Nebbia from 2024. She did not win the award for sax, yet it went to Ingrid Laubrock, a choice that we also applaud. And so no reason for Joëlle Léandre to write an open letter with regard to the German awards.  Gabbro - Groundspeed (Dropa Disc, 2026) "Groundspeed" is the fourth album by Belgian band Gabbro, after "Gabbro" (2017),  "Granular" (2019), "The Moon Appears When The Water Is Still" (2023), with Hanne De Backer on baritone and soprano sax, and bass clarinet, Casper Van De Velde on drums and Raphael Vanoli on electric guitar. As with their previous albums, they are inspired by travelling, now not on foot, but by car, driving from Brussels to Italy, visiting fictitious villages along the way, collating sound samples from each place and integrating them into an impression of the real experience. It seems a convoluted process for improvised music, yet the end result has a fascinating combination of freedom and design.  The music is gentle, slow-paced, welcoming and inviting the listeners in into their own sonic universe. De Backer's warm tone is reminiscent at times of cool jazz saxophonists, yet she adds a lyricism and freshness of the open air and space around her. With "Verna", the sixth track, the pace picks up with a more uptempo and more voluminous approach, with a key role for Van De Velde's drumming. This is maintained in "Passa di Fuoco" on which the bass clarinet sings over a foundation of rapid-fire sampled drumming. The album ends again with the deep and warm tones of the sax over an uncanny background of shrill seesaw sounds.  Unusual music by a band with character and a very coherent musical vision.  Listen and download from  Bandcamp. Maria Valencia, Matt Moran, Brandon Lopez - Tarabita Espiral (Relative Pitch, 2025)  We already met Colombian sax player Maria Valencia with Mats Gustafsson's "The Thing" and with her own album "Compendio de Alfonías Abisales" (2023). Now we find her in a trio with Brandon Lopez on bass and Matt Moran on vibes. The music was recorded live at the IBeam in Brooklyn in May 2024.  This fully improvised set feels open-ended, fresh, and lightly textured. Valencia is just as eloquent in the slower passages as in the quicker bursts of energetic interplay, moving effortlessly between timbral exploration and more boppish lines. Moran’s unusual vibraphone sounds—often more chime-like than percussive—combined with Lopez’s hypnotic bowing and subtle plucking, create a unique canvas for Valencia’s inventive phrasing. Some passages are really surprising because of their novelty 'compositional' vision, resulting in a very unique overall sound.  Valencia is a musician to follow.  Listen and download from Bandcamp.  Silke Eberhard, Jan Roder, Kay Lübke - Being-A-Ning (Intakt, 2025) German altoist Silke Eberhard is easier categorised as modern contemporary jazz, yet her playing and her music are so great that we want to share this too. On this album, she is in a trio with Jan Roder on bass, and Kay Lübke on drums.  Her compositions are complex and rhythmically driven, giving the trio plenty of room to display their virtuosity. Even the most demanding passages are handled with an easy, natural flair, as if this music were second nature to them. The result is a highly entertaining album, full of jaw-dropping moments of technical brilliance, playful structural shifts that raise a smile, and improvised sections executed with remarkable control. Listen and download from Bandcamp. To be honest, I had a few more albums on my list here, but I will keep them for later. It's getting late here. The paradox of this blog post is that it demonstrates that female artists in free jazz and free improv do not need special promotional attention, but then we do it anyway. Yet in society there's still a long way to go.  Keep listening! Keep playing!  Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Paul Acquaro) on March 8, 2026 at 5:01 am

By Paul Acquaro  Inspired by International Women's Day, my mind jumped to a recording from Argentinian saxophonist Ade Rave and Portuguese drummer Sofia Borges that deserves some attention - it's both intense without being aggressive and powerful without resorting to sheer volume. Borges' drumming provides pulse and animation while Rave's woodwinds are focused and provocative, whether being expressed exploratorily or through melodic ideas.   The album begins with Borges' drumming and is soon joined by Rave playing what sounds like perhaps the sax without the mouthpiece - or somehow otherwise prepared. She toys with tones while Borges provides generous support around the tightly wound balls of sound. This type of intensity continues on the second track, but this time the focus is different. The sax is more abstract, the soprano sax feels slightly strangled, musical lines being extruded with some force. Borges provides a percussive accompaniment that fits with uncanny precision. Other tracks, like 'Nomadic Route' is a more traditional free jazz piece with a mostly tonal, non-repeating tenor sax melody playing with (and off) the accompaniment of the drum kit.  The Unseen Pact is a packed musical delight, for a first meeting, both players are highly in-tune. The Unseen Pact by Sofia Borges & Ada Rave Subscrib […]

by [email protected] (Paul Acquaro) on March 8, 2026 at 5:00 am

Jean Louis' trio (Aymeric Avice, trumpet, Francesco Pastacaldi, bass and Joachim Florent, drums) was formed in 2006 and remained active until 2019, with four albums released: Jean Louis (2008), Morse (2010), Uranus (2013) and Live à Limoges (2018). Avice is one of France's premier trumpeters, a founding member of mini big band Radiation 10 (with Julien Desprez and current members of the Avice Quintet - pianist Bruno Ruder and saxophonist Hugues Mayot, among others), played in legendary prog-rock band Magma and many other groups either as a leader or member, and has a new trio album available on Rogue Art this month : Deep in the Earth, High in the Sky with Luke Stewart and Chad Taylor.In 2017 Jean Louis appeared on The Seine Sessions tv show, performing over 20 mn of collective compositions.  Subscrib […]