Tag Archives: Jazz music

Karl Strømme’s Song Dust

“Nods to West Coast jazz and Nordic cool” is an excellent description of Song Dust, Norwegian trumpeter Karl Strømme’s debut date for the Naxos label NXN Recordings. It’s also Strømme’s first trio recording, and features the somewhat unusual trio lineup … Continue reading

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Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra’s Good Time Music (Community Music, Vol. 2)

This album, the second installment in the four album set called Community Music from Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra, has its roots all over America. From Levon Helms’ Midnight Rambles in Woodstock, N.Y., to the streets and clubs of New Orleans, … Continue reading

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Yggdrasil’s Two Suites by Kristian Blak: The Four Towers and Heygar og Dreygar

Kevin Lau wrote this review. I must confess that before I heard this disc, I had no idea what I was in for. Coming from a purely classical background, I have had a fascination with jazz but little real knowledge … Continue reading

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Helge Lien Trio’s Revisited

Norwegian pianist Helge Lien’s jazz trio has undergone major changes in the past couple of years, losing bassist Frode Berg after 2017’s superb Guzuguzu and drummer Per Oddvar Johansen (after 2019’s 10). So Lien found himself improvising even more than … Continue reading

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Gary’s favorite jazz and world music of 2021

This year my listening in jazz and international music leaned even further into modern jazz and Nordic noir. The album I listened to the most was actually from 2019: I was late in discovering Bedehus & Hawaii by Norwegian guitarist … Continue reading

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David Viñolas’s 5ET

David Viñolas 5ET quintet has debuted with a solid collection of modern hard bop and post bop, drawing on originals and choice covers. Viñolas is a true international player. As a drummer he has played with musicians in jazz and … Continue reading

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Christian McBride & Inside Straight’s Live at the Village Vanguard

Christian McBride is an amazingly prolific musician, even among a modern American jazz field of very active players. A former “young lion” whose career got off to a running start in the early 1990s in New York, bassist McBride has … Continue reading

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Modern Nature’s Island of Noise

This fascinating and engaging disc is part of an impressive box set created by Modern Nature’s Jack Cooper as inspired by a re-reading of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and its relevance to our current moment. Be not afeard, the isle is … Continue reading

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DAMUG’S ODO (Ofrenda Del Origen)

The Spanish jazz trio DAMUG’s name is an acronym created from the name of pianist, composer and leader David Muñoz Guillamon. But it’s not a one-man show: the music this trio makes is a splendid example of three-way synergy as … Continue reading

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Helen Sung’s Quartet+

Houston native Helen Sung has released six previous albums as leader, and the pianist also has appeard as guest on releases by Terri Lyne Carrington, Wynton Marsalis, Clark Terry and Louie Bellson, among others. This, her seventh leader date, is … Continue reading

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