Eternal Rhythm is a masterpiece on several levels. It was one of the earliest major examples of the idea that it was possible for any and all musical cultures to exist simultaneously, a philosophy that rejected any innate musical hierarchy and had no trouble placing the earthiest blues alongside the most delicate gamelan. It was also a summit meeting between representatives of the American and European jazz avant-garde, black and white, dismissing as meaningless both the cautious attitude of American jazz musicians toward Europeans edging onto their turf and the tentative stance of Europeans playing a music that was not "theirs." More importantly, Eternal Rhythm exists as an utterly spectacular, movingly beautiful musical performance, one of the rare occasions where the listener has a visceral sense of borders falling and vast expanses of territory being revealed for the first time…

The three-disc anthology The Real…Miles Davis: The Ultimate Miles Davis Collection brings together tracks the legendary trumpeter recorded for Columbia during the '50s and '60s. These are some of Davis' best-known and most influential recordings when he was at the height of his pre-fusion, modern jazz career. Included are such cuts as "So What," "I Thought About You," "Stella by Starlight," "Milestones," and more.

Roaring out of the gates is the 15th full-length album by no wave/punk jazz/brutal prog iconoclasts The Flying Luttenbachers, led by founding member and main composer Weasel Walter. There's a few special twists this time, friends. The last two albums, "Shattered Dimension" and "Imminent Death", both epic double-length affairs released in 2019, focused on open ended, improvisational approaches more so than heavily structured ones. "Negative Infinity" is a sort of return-to-form in a regard, featuring 6 tightly scripted doses of what they call "Brutal Prog" - the tag Weasel coined in the early 2000s to describe an elite breed of intense, complex bands who emphasised harshness and intensity over the typical prog-rock flutes and fairies positivity. This is prog for THE APOCALYPSE, not your uncle.

This is the third consecutive "Euro-Jazz" CD compilation produced by Jazz & Tzaz Magazine (Greece), featuring a large proportion of the groups and musicians that will participate in this year’s concerts of the 4th European Jazz Festival in Athens. Creative music and musicians from all over Europe give an integral scope of a special kind and variety, and a special feeling of contemporary jazz in Europe. This year’s festival is enriched by the participation of the new European Union members from Central and Eastern Europe. Jazz & Τζαζ Magazine would like to thank all European Embassies and Cultural Institutes (plus the Municipality of Athens) for their kind and helpful collaboration in making this CD, as well as all the musicians and record labels involved.

The Velvet Lounge was a door that Fred Anderson opened continuously for decades, an access point through which the human soul could enter and explore the organization and chaos of the cosmos. Through this door the spirits outside also came into our little system. When the exchanges happened, it made a sound of joy, like el: those of us who weren't there are lucky that recording devices were. It's a generation removed and still we can feel their presence from the record.

Braxton released a number of solo alto saxophone albums in the wake of his extraordinary For Alto recorded in 1968, all of which are both fascinating documents in their own right as well as glimpses into the mechanisms which underlie his music. This live set from Wesleyan University in 1992 is no exception. One evolutionary difference here is that around this time Braxton began incorporating into his solo concerts a strategy he had developed during the '80s for his quartet: collage procedures. This means that, while initially playing one composition, he allowed himself the option of interpolating others as he saw fit, making for an even wider array of "sound spaces" available for exploration. Indeed, the range he covers is amazing…

This album, "The Window", is about light. Travelling light as a trio but also illuminations. From the teachers and players he has known Lacy-forges his own light. His tunes are like little jewels tiggering reflections, or refractions, while they spin in your hand. They stick to your thoughts and light the way home, like that window at the end of the path.
Experience is also what gives such a deep equilibrium to the playing of this trio. Oliver Johnson and Jean-Jacques Avenel have a long tenure with Lacy’s music as regular members of his sextet. This is their first album as a trio, and the sureness of their intuition can't be faked. They are used to playing as six, so the trio is a crystalized form of the regular band.
A breadth of vision, a certain spaciousness, characterizes Lacy’s music…

If jazz is a body, then Edward Vesala is its ligament of fascination. Flexing and creaking with the passage of emotion into life and life into silence, the drummer’s disarming soundscapes never fail to intrigue, to say something potent and new. In spite of its tongue-in-cheek title, Ode To The Death Of Jazz is, strangely, one of his more uplifting exercises in sonic production.
The title of “Sylvan Swizzle” sets the bar in both tone and sentiment, opening in a smooth and winding road of flute, woodwinds, percussion, and harp. Textural possibilities bear the fruit of the ensemble’s explorations in somatic sound: an exercise in pathos, to be sure, if only through the eyes of something not human. The space here is dark yet flecked with iridescence, sporting yet bogged down by infirmity, vivacious yet weak in the eyes…

The Claudia Quintet - For (2007) {Cuneiform Records ‎Rune 247}
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© 2007 Cuneiform Records ‎| Rune 247
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / New Chamber Music / Modern Creative

Percussionist John Hollenbeck's Claudia Quintet belongs to a sub-genre all by itself : it combines elements of jazz, prog rock and chamber music. The band is already on its fourth album ("four"?), and always with the same line-up : Chris Speed on clarinet and sax, Matt Moran on vibes, Ted Reichman on accordion, Drew Gress on bass and Hollenbeck himself on drums. The compositions are like lightly flowing rivers, with repetitive undertones, complex interacting melodies and often changing rhythms. The overall musical effect is more important than the musician's soloing. There are solos of course, but they don't carry the weight of the performance.

Franz Koglmann & Lee Konitz - We Thought About Duke (1994) {Hat Hut hatOLOGY 543 rel 2002}
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© 1994, 2002 Hat Hut | hatOLOGY 543
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modern Creative / Trumpet / Saxophone

Duke Ellington tributes, much like Cole Porter, George Gershwin, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis tributes, were a dime a dozen in the '80s and '90s. All too often, these Ellington tributes were unimaginative and predictable, sticking to the standards while ignoring the many lesser-known gems that were written by Ellington or his partner Billy Strayhorn. But predictability isn't a problem on We Thought About Duke, a cerebral post-bop date that trumpeter/flugelhornist Franz Koglmann co-led with alto sax master Lee Konitz.