jazz
Album review: Final Step – ‘Disconnections’: passionate, rhythmic and unashamedly funky
I LOVE fusion bands. I really do. You never know what to expect, and that’s because they’re a fusion of flavours. Italian musicians in particular have always delivered when it comes to jazz music, a truly energetic burst of blues, funk and rock and roll. From the multi-lingual border region of Ticino, in Switzerland, guitarist …
EP Review: Brisbane’s Lucy Francesca Dron releases ‘Leftovers’: a collection of jazzy, intimate and beautiful songs
Lucy Francesca Dron‘s new EP ‘Leftovers’ showcases her vibrant and dynamic songwriting and inherent style as well as a voice soaked in late night excess, pain and poetry. ‘Leftovers’ is pure theatricality and poise: torchlit songs that shine with passion. First track ‘What Is Next’ has almost a jazzy element and a fast complex pace, …
Album review: Portico Quartet – ‘Terrain’: a truly reflective journey
PORTICO QUARTET have always been a vibe. Since their formation, in my opinion they’re one of the few instrumental jazz-psyechedelic-electronic bands to live up to that musical blend, and furthermore, they’ve always been able to tell a story. Their latest album, Terrain, actually exceeded all my expectations in that sense, delivering a much more emotionally …
Remixed – Yelfris Valdés: For The Ones
Cuban artist, composer and trumpet player Yelfris Valdés once again joins forces with Jazz FM Resident TimGarcia’s label Música Macondo, inviting an impressive roster of producers to remix and reinterpret a selection ofthe LP’s standout tracks. His 2019 debut LP ‘For The One’s’ saw Yelfris delving deep into his Yoruba religion and its shamanic chants, …
Track: Mind Maintenance – ‘Valence’: further cognitive hygiene for mbira and guimbri calls you to the hearth
WHEN Chicago rhythm section masters Chad Taylor and Joshua Abrams get together to play, you know the results will be intelligent, off-kilter, crisp; intuitive. The pair have worked together in the engine room on so, so many great and cred records down the past coupla decades, including for the Chicago Underground Trio and all its …
Album review: Graham Costello/STRATA – ‘Second Lives’: energised modern jazz for the world today
SOMETIMES it pays to step back and remember that the kaleidoscope of UK jazz has many focal points beyond the frequently illuminated London scene. There’s the Worm Disc massive in Bristol, Ishmael Ensemble and all; the Gondwana northern powerhouse of Matthew Halsall; Brighton’s Sola Terra (home of Ebi Soda, etc.) and Mammal Hands lurking in …
Premiere: Dave Manington & Lara Eidi reveal new collaborative track, ‘Look to the horizon’
Bassist and Composer Dave Manington has teamed up with singer-songwriter Lara Eidi to produce a new track, ‘Look to the horizon’, and we’re delighted to be able to premiere it right here on Backseat Mafia today. Recorded remotely during lockdown in Athens and London, ‘Look to the Horizon’ is a wistful, psychedelic and nostalgic ballad about …
Track: GoGo Penguin celebrate the release of ‘GGP/RMX’ with a video for the lush Cornelius remix – and launch a beer
MANCHESTER instrumental trio GoGo Penguin have released an absolutely superb, eclectic remix album, GGP/RMX on Blue Note today, bringing together talents such as Squarepusher, Clark, 808 State, James Holden, Machinedrum and so many more to spiral their most recent, eponymous album out into delicious fractal directions. It really looks likely to be remixes set of …
Track: Ishmael Ensemble – ‘Morning Chorus’: Bristol collective sans frontières deliver intelligence and lushness
BRISTOL jazz explorers Ishmael Ensemble are flexing their embouchures and are ready to step on and out from their acclaimed debut set from two years back, A State of Flow, a love letter to jazz and the capital of the South West, pushing out into dub, the dancefloor, ambient and more. The new album is …
Track: Mind Maintenance – ‘The Ladder’: Chicago legends Joshua Abrams and Chad Taylor bring percussive African contemplation
IF YOU’RE at all a follower of the Chicago music scene that erupted in so many directions back at the turn of the century, then the rhythmic adepts Chad Taylor and Joshua Abrams will probably need no introduction; given how, they were so deeply woven into intelligent, seminal albums by the Chicago Underground Trio and all its various …