fusion
Album Review: Bill Laurance/The Untold Orchestra-‘Bloom’: Gently moving, deceptively powerful orchestral jazz from the Snarky Puppy mainstay.
It’s tricky to summarise the range and significance of pianist and composer Bill Laurance’s musical CV to date. The chance hook-up as a student in Leeds, backing a young Michael League during his sojourn from the States; the subsequent return invitation to travel to the US to play in League’s new band the then unknown …
Album Review: Parisian fusion combo Monsieur MÂLÂ deliver a self-titled debut brim-full with energy and ambition.
World Jazz/Jazz Fusion/World Fusion…you sometimes wonder if the genre game is really worth playing. Yes useful for shorthand and signposts but not to be depended on to for the full picture. Enter Parisian five-piece Monsieur MÂLÂ and their self -titled debut LP out now via Bridge The Gap. Looking way beyond any label conventions the …
Album Review: Okvsho – ‘A Place Between Us’: sophistication, groove and sonic depth – a new force in jazz fusion emerges.
Operating out of Zurich the brothers Kiss, Georg and Christoph (a.k.a Okvsho) are on some kind of a mission to shake up the music scene in their city. Unlike say Geneva that throbs to pulse of a vibrant underground art network, Zurich may lack some impetus but the producer/ instrumentalist brothers are looking to pick …
EP Review: Millsart – Morning Glory
Axis Expressionist Series A collection of vinyl and limited digital releases, curated by Millsart, an alias of Jeff Mills, of his most eclectic and transcendent compositions that derive from his Every Dog Has Its Day project as well as new unreleased works. Vernacular creations that fall off from the “other side” of the Electronic Music tree, …
Album Review : Ben Sloan – Muted Colors Live : re-igniting tracks from his debut with a fresh collective energy.
Percussionist and producer Ben Sloan’s decade plus as collaborator and contributor, drumming with the likes of Moses Sumney, Beth Orton, WHY? and The National, testifies that here we have a musician with an exceptional range, pedigree and rhythmic sixth sense. Still that’s not the whole picture. March ’23 saw him step out confidently from the …
Track/Video: Basinski’s slinky electro funk combo SPARKLE DIVISION introduce new album ‘Foxy’ with the punchy title track.
If you have seen the seminal electronic musician William Basinski live you will know that he’s far from the experimental scene stereotype, more glamour than gloom, maybe in leather or sparkling suit, gorgeously warm and witty, passionate and performative, a free spirit. That’s where SPARKLE DIVISION come in. Starting as a duo of Basinski and …
Premiere: The Rookies prove they are no beginners as they unveil a blast of über cool jazz in the steaming track ‘Dry Bones’ ahead of new album.
There’s nothing cooler than a hot blast of melodic jazz and Melbourne band The Rookies are doing us the honour of premiering their new single ‘Dry Bones’: a sizzling piece of jazzy goodness with a serious subtext. This is their first release since 2019 – a far distant land and another world away. There is …
Album Review: The Paradox – Live at Montreux Jazz Festival
With the release of The Paradox: Live at Montreux Jazz Festival, techno legend Jeff Mills and keyboard wizard Jean-Phi Dary embark on an exciting, ground-breaking musical trip that takes Techno and electronic dance music to a new level. In the past Jeff has spoken of the need to, “take a few steps back and try …
Album Review: Sam Wilkes & Jacob Mann – Perform the compositions of Sam Wilkes & Jacob Mann: weird and wonderful nu-jazz connections.
You know the crusty old adage ‘it’s a small world’, well tired as it might be it still has resonance for musicians. Take L.A. underground experimenters Sam Wilkes and Jacob Mann, they go back a long way. Meeting as students at USC music school, bass playing, multi-instrumentalist Wilkes and keyboard-centric Mann have been crossing musical …
New track/Video: Electric-jazz energisers Stellar Legions preview debut album with the cosmic grooves of ‘An Arp in Tunisia’
You might know Ghent based Sdban Records for their exquisite re-issues (think Raphael/’Stop Look and Listen’ or their ‘Utopic Cities’ jazz prog comp). Or maybe you grabbed ethio-dub fusionists Black Flower’s ‘Magma’ album in January, a record that’s destined to scorch into those best of ’22 lists. Well the Belgian label look set to make …