release date: 02.04.2021 via Dry Bridge Records
When lighting strikes, thunder follows. Such was the electrifying energy when longtime friends and colleagues Noah Preminger and Kim Cass collaborated during the second half of 2020, one of the most trying and unusual years on record. The result is THUNDA, featuring ten entirely original tracks by award-winning saxophonist Preminger and acclaimed bassist Cass.
release date: 26.03.2021 via Jazzland
sonic tapestries blending field recordings with acoustic and electric instruments, often warped into strange new shapes ★★★★ MOJO
a seductive ambient heat haze of rarefied beauty. PROG
a beautifully and slowly evolving album that takes us on a transcendental journey that feels simultaneously unfamiliar, benign and inviting…. Tortusa’s finest and most distinctive work to date
8/10, FUTURE MUSIC
The album has taken three years to create, and features contributions from some of Norway’s finest musicians, including three of his idols: Arve Henriksen, Eivind Aarset and Erland Dahlen. “Bre” is composed of ambient experimental music heavily inspired by nature, and takes the listener on an emotional journey. Tortusa paints with sounds, and the music inspires inner visualisation of the story he tells through his weaving and blending of abstract sonic material.
event: Monday, March 22 – Wednesday, March 24
New England Conservatory’s Department of Contemporary Improvisation celebrates Chair Emeritus Ran Blake with Portrait of Ran Blake: Celebrating 85 Years including interviews and concert, Monday, March 22 – Wednesday, March 24, 2021.
release date: 19.03.2021 via Capri Records
“Twenty-five years later and still Denver’s best jazz band.” –Jazz @ Altitude review of Dazzle reunion concert
More than 30 years after the release of their acclaimed debut album, Denver-based quintet the Jazz WORMS make their belated return with Squirmin’, due out March 19, 2021 via Capri Records. Well worth waiting for, the thrilling new session reconvenes all five original WORMS – pianist Andy Weyl, saxophonist Keith Oxman, drummer Paul Romaine, cornetist Ron Miles and bassist Mark Simon – on an invigorating set of all-new material that picks up where the band left off three decades earlier.
Boundary-defying composer and orchestra leader Maria Schneider has won two Grammy Awards: Best Instrumental Composition for “Sputnik,” and Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for her revelatory double album Data Lords. Inspired by conflicting relationships between the digital and natural worlds, Data Lords (July 2020, ArtistShare) features the world-class Maria Schneider Orchestra.
release date: 19.03.2021 via Libra Records
“She could be the most important creative musician of our time.” ― Michael Nastos, AllMusic
“Over the decades, Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii has demonstrated uncanny power and musicality . . . This music is infused with a wide-open spirit.” — Josef Woodard, DownBeat
Pianist-composer Satoko Fujii normally spends months on the road each year, but the COVID-19 pandemic has made touring impossible. On her new solo album, Hazuki, she lets the music travel for her.
Due out March 12, 2021 via Sunnyside Records
“Blake, whose versatility and probing ears have made him a ripe collaborator for both Julian Lage and Anthony Braxton… brings an intelligence and taste for adventure but also a solid swing and tradition-hugging mandate to his work as both player and writer.” – Josef Woodard, DownBeat
“Saxophonist Dan Blake is one of those musicians who are always on a quest to expand their musical horizons… As both a player and a composer, Blake demonstrates an intensity coupled with a very fertile and searching mind.” – Budd Kopman, All About Jazz
Due out March 12, 2021 via Sunnyside Records, Blake’s fourth album as a leader encourages activism in the fight against climate catastrophe, poverty and hunger with a spirited ensemble featuring Carmen Staaf, Leo Genovese, Dmitry Ishenko and Jeff Williams. Blake celebrates the album with a livestream release concert Friday, March 26 at Soapbox Gallery in Brooklyn at www.soapboxgallery.org.
release date: 26.02.2021 via Rune Grammofon
release date: 26.02.2021 via Rune Grammofon
Not the most optimistic title for pressing times, but the music sees Fire! tracking new paths and reaching new levels of excellence, still honoring their 12 year old vow of presenting a fresh approach to improvised music. On their 6th recording as a trio concept, The Fire! burns the scares in your ears and as always makes listening to it an unforgettable experience. On that occasion the groups striking power had been increased by two extra front men, so the Firepower of Mats Gustafsson‘s reeds had been straightened with extra horns with a trumpet, trombone and the sousaphone.
release date: 26.02.2021 via Outside In Music
” [Cowboys & Frenchmen] is smart, cohesive, and credible in a way like The Bad Plus or Mostly Other People Do The Killing, using virtuosic skills and rhythmic power to walk the line between irony and earnestness, with listenability as high a priority as group creativity.” – Howard Mandel, DownBeat
“The swirling layers this group is able to build upon is remarkable, and when one really listens deep into the music, the interaction is breathtaking.” – Geannine Reid, All About Jazz
On their forthcoming release, Our Highway the inventive quintet Cowboys & Frenchmen reflect on the nomadic life of touring musicians while widening their gazes to take in the landscapes and byways that connect America’s towns and cities.
