Europe Jazz Media Chart – Februari 2024
Ook deze maand publiceren wij weer de Europe Jazz Media Chart, een lijst van de belangrijkste jazzalbums van dit moment volgens toonaangevende Europese journalisten binnen de jazz. Journalisten die voor Europese magazines, zowel print als online, hun artikelen en recensies schrijven.
Що й святоє (Shcho i Svyatoye) – ЩУКАРИБА (ShchukaRyba) (No Time For Swing)
Kateryna Ziabliuk, Meloport (Ukraine):
Що й святоє… (Shcho i Svyatoye…) literally refers to something sacred, and that’s how the title of ShchukaRyba’s new album sounds like. The group, made up of young folk enthusiasts, is all about keeping Ukrainian folk music alive. They not only sing but also organise events to bring people together.
This album is a celebration of family gatherings, the coziness of home, and the joy of sharing music with loved ones. It features folk songs that Ukrainians traditionally sing during Christmas and other winter celebrations. But this isn’t just about old tunes—ShchukaRyba teamed up with the electronic music project Bunht and guitarist Yevhen Pugachov, known as one of Ukraine’s promising musicians of young generation, who blends jazz with other genres to create his unique sound.
The mixture of “white voice,” electronics, improvisation, and modern jazz harmony in this album is something special. ShchukaRyba successfully brings traditional folk music into the modern world, showing how these old tunes can still vibe with today’s sounds. Personally recommend to check out the video clip to the second song from the EP.
Un Ruido de Agua – Nataniel Edelman Trio (Clean Feed Records)
Bega Villalobos, In & Out JAZZ (Spain):
Un Ruido de Agua is the new work by Buenos Aires pianist Nataniel Edelman, accompanied by Michael Formanek on double bass and Michael Attias on sax, with several free collective improvisations in which Edelman and Attias freely develop all kinds of tensions between piano and sax focused on abstraction and play with a minimalist sense of composition and sound. Read more (in Spanish)…
Blue Spirits: Live – John Etheridge (DYAD Records)
Sebastian Scotney, LondonJazz News (UK):
“One of the best guitarists in the world” (Pat Metheny). “I never wanted to be a star, just a highly respected musician like John Etheridge.” (Sting). John Etheridge is an iconic figure in British jazz. He has led an organ trio with stable personnel (Pete Whittaker on organ and George Double on drums) for twenty years. It is a context where the guitarist leads, plays solistically, rocks out, but this world-class band has never made an album until this recording of a live date in Nottingham. Glorious. Read more…
Passacaglia – Adam Bałdych & Leszek Możdżer (Imaginary Music)
Paweł Brodowski, Jazz Forum (Poland):
Two of the greatest musicians on the Polish jazz scene today, pianist Leszek Możdżer and violinist Adam Bałdych, united without a warning to create this gem. Passacaglia is their first joint recording effort. Leszek plays three different pianos – one tuned in 442 Hz, one in 432 Hz, adding still another color on prepared upright. Adam plays two different fiddles, enriching his arsenal with a Renaissance violin. The virtuoso duo offer in total 15 compositions, mostly penned by themselves, throwing in three pieces from distant epochs – by Eric Satie (post-romantic), Josquin des Pres (Renaissance) and Hildegard of Bingen (mediaeval). The music we hear occupies an untrodden terraine somewhere between – or beyond – jazz, classical, contemporary, folk and pop. It is hard to describe, define, or pinpoint. Sublime, hauting, mysterious, seducing, irreristible, charming, at times calm, at times fiery.
Passacaglia is the first album from Imaginary Music, Adam Bałdych’s new label, released in partnership with ACT Music.
Cinematic Double Bass – Renaud Garcia-Fons (Cézame)
Jean-Pierre Goffin, Jazz’Halo (Belgium):
Thanks to his instrument, Renaud Garcia-Fons is both a magician and an explorer. The sounds he develops are inspired by landscapes, journeys and multiple mirages. Listen ad libitum.
Other Ways – Santa Šillere (Self-released)
Kaspars Zavileiskis, Jazzin.lv (Latvia):
Latvian singer Santa Šillere has released her debut album but has been an active musician on the Latvian jazz scene for several years. Other Ways feature almost exclusively Santa’s original music. The recording was made together with music academy mates from Katowice – flexible musicians who catch the nuances of the singer’s intended sound. The album is full-blooded already in the opening section, when Santa is singing one of the two songs included in the disc in her native language – Rotājas debesis (The Sky Decorates), in which, in addition to Polish guitarist Jakub Mizeracki, pianist Franciszek Raczkowski, double bassist Pawel Zwierzyński-Pióro and drummer Stefan Raczkowski, Toms Rudzinskis, one of the brightest Latvian saxophonists, also participates. The album preserves an airy jazz feeling with a physically felt presence of freshness, sticking to the old tradition with one hand, as in the strongly swinging song Two Smiles, and groping for new forms of expression with the other. The surprise is the arrangement of Bach’s music combined with the lyrics by the legendary Latvian poetess Aspazija in the song Ziedonī (In Bloom).
Baob_ – Treen (Self released)
Matthieu Jouan, Citizenjazz.com (France):
This project represents a beautiful fusion of the tropisms of the Copenhagen, Oslo and Cologne jazz scenes.
The ethereal trio (a brand new one) is made up of the fiery, busy, Oslo-based Danish saxophonist Amalie Dahl, Lithuanian pianist Gintė Preisaitė, whose improvisations pepper the Copenhagen scene, and Cologne-based German drummer Jan Philipp, who was also at the mixing console for the recording. The music is that of a confluence of additional currents, forming an impetuous continuous flow that takes you far away.
Circle Steps – Atle Nymo (ARC Recordings)
Jan Granlie, Salt-peanuts* (Pan-Scandinavian):
Circle Steps tells a story about seeing something from several sides, movement – up and down, moving but staying in the same place. The material most often revolves around simple melodic motifs that give room for development through joint music making. The band has its origins in saxophonist and clarinetist Atle Nymo’s desire to play in a melodic, open context in the trio format, and after listening through the release a few times, I think he and his fellow musicians have succeeded well in the attempt. It is meditative, beautiful and brilliant musicianship from three musicians who fully understand each other. It has become a lovely and thoughtful record from two veterans, the saxophonist and clarinetist Atle Nymo and the bassist Mats Eilertsen, and a younger musician from the almost frightening diversity of Norwegian jazz, the drummer Michaela Antalová. An excellent band for a dark autumn evening when the rain is lashing outside and the best thing to do is to sit back calmly with a good glass of wine.
Testament – FIRE! (Rune Grammofon)
Patrik Sandberg, Jazz Orkesterjournalen (Sweden):
Musically, Testament can be seen as an extension of the album Defeat. For the first time on record – stripped down to the bare-bones essentials; with no flutes, no electronics, no guests and no extras – only including the coremembers of Fire! (Mats Gustafsson, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin). An album that are shifting between expressive heavy energy and lyrical beauty and intimacy.
Pas de Deux – Fritz Hauser & Pedro Carneiro (Clean Feed)
Nuno Catarino, Jazz.pt (Portugal):
One of Clean Feed’s most surprising proposals is the meeting between Fritz Hauser (percussion) and Pedro Carneiro (marimba). “Pas de Deux” is a challenging album, with the Hauser/Carneiro duo developing a meticulous percussive clockwork of detail. In the austerity of its limited instrumental spectrum, we have here an atypical sound object that requires investment and concentration on the part of the listener, but which will be duly rewarding. Read more (in Portuguese)…
Spotting Gateways – Bram de Looze (Dox Records)
Dick Hovenga, Written in Music (Netherlands):
The Flemish jazz scene remains a super inspiring one. Headstrong top talent has been bouncing off the rooftops there for years. Over the years, pianist Bram de Looze has developed from that scene as one of the leading European keyboardists with original and adventurous playing. His new album Spotting Gateways is a fascinating development in that. Nothing more than a grand piano is all de Looze needs to completely enchant with powerful playing and peerlessly strong and beautiful compositions. Departing from classical structures, de Looze dives with virtuoso playing into full jazz adventure through his sharply toned compositions. At times beautifully melodic then again transverse and challenging, always intriguing. Read more (in Dutch)…
Czułość (Tenderness) – Follow Dices (Selfpublished)
Krzysztof Komorek, Donos kulturalny (Poland):
It took five years with for listeners to wait for the Follow Dices’ second album. The break was rewarded with extremely interesting and varied music. “Tenderness” is listened to with great pleasure. The group interestingly exposes the individual skills of the artists. But the album also provides satisfaction in the visual layer. t is worth mentioning the well-thought-out editorial side of the release, which perfectly corresponds with the musical content.
Voor de volledige lijst en meer links: Europe Jazz Media Chart – Februari 2024
