Nytt år og nye muligheter. Men de europeiske jazzreaksjoner forsetter som før, og lytter til mye musikk. Og her er hva man har lyttet mest på den senere tiden, og som man mer enn gjerne anbefaler til andre:
Anna Filipieva, Jazz.Ru:
ALEXEY KOZLOV AND THE SECOND APPROACH TRIO «Oberiu» (ArtBeat Music)
Jan Granlie, salt-peanuts.eu:
EVENT HORIZON «Space Geode» (CHANT RECORDS)
Viktor Bensusan, jazzdergisi.com:
ARVE HENRIKSEN, EIVIND AARSET, JAN BANG, JEZ RILEY FRENCH »The Height Of The Reeds» (Rune Grammofon)
Henning Bolte, Written in Music:
MYRA MELDFORD’S SNOWY EGRET «The Other Side of Air» (Firehouse 12 Records)
Patrik Sandberg, OrkesterJournalen:
ODDJOB «Jazzoo 2» (Headspin Records)
Cim Meyer, Jazz Special:
BLOOD, SWEAT, DRUM + BASS «Concierto de Scheherazade» (BSM 04)
Lars Mossefinn, Dag og tid:
HEDVIG MOLLESTAD TRIO «Smells Funny» (Rune Grammofon)
Axel Stinshoff, Jazz thing:
THE ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO «And Associated Ensembles» (ECM)
Luca Vitali, Giornale della Musica:
ANDREW CYRILLE, WADADA LEO SMITH, BILL FRISELL «Lebroba» (ECM)
Madli-Liis Parts , Muusika:
HARRIET TUBMAN «The Terror End of Beauty» (Sunnyside Records)
Mike Flynn, Jazzwise:
RYMDEN «Reflections & Odysseys» (Jazzland)
Why did I choose:
Henning Bolte:
The Other Side of Air, a wondrous album title appealing to imagination, has been chosen BECAUSE OF the sheer, lively beauty of this music and the endless pleasure of listening it gave to me with its shifting shades, its pirouetting whirls, its wonderful juggling of playful particles, its volatile grandeur, its jumpy groove and lyrical graciousness, its completeness and lightness, its atmospheric generosity, its all over astonishing coherent and organic way to expand, turn around, twist, to break down and let reappear wonderful clear and captivating lines. It is five wonderful master musicians in great synch and full individuality: Myra Melford (p), Ron Miles (tre), Liberty Ellman (g), Tyshawn Sorey (dr) and (my special personal favourite) Stomu Takeishi (bass guitar).
Patrick Sandberg:
Behind the acclaimed bandproject Jazzoo stands the band Oddjob. The band’s music intergrates playfully and effectively with the animal world which is visualised in the richly ilustrated book that accompanies every album and through animations in concerts.
Oddjob´s imagination and their love of children result in a craftsmanship and a groove in the often intriguing och intricate compositions. Oddjob is really in their right element here.»
Viktor Bensusan:
Jazz Nomad Arve Henriksen and his Soundscapers, Jan Bang, Eivind Aarset and Terry riley French capture the natural and urban sounds, as if they are picking apples from new but familiar territories. Worth listening over and over again…
Cim Meyer:
A heartrending amalgamation of a very modern big band, a sinfonietta and eastern music.
Anna Filipieva:
For 30 years the Soviet jazz pioneer, altoist Alexey Kozlov, was thinking over a project based on the poetry by nearly-forgotten Soviet poets from the 1930s, members of OBERIU (Association for Real Art,) the last Russian avant-garde poetry group before political purges destroyed all things avant-garde for the next three decades. In 2008, Kozlov finally found partners brave enough to walk a thin rope between jazz and poetry: the Second Approach Trio with their brilliant classical/jazz/ethno/improv crossover approach. Kozlov played the alto and recited the absurdist verses by OBERIU poets, while pianist Andrei Razin, bassist Igor Ivanushkin and singer Tatiana Komova surrounded the poems with their music, alternating between ironic readings of jazz standards and humorous/macabre free improv. One is not required to understand spoken Russian to catch the spakrling vibe of this live date, released ten years after for the Second Approach Trio’s 20th birthday.
Jan Granlie:
The Danish singer, Randi Pontoppidan is having a wonderful meeting with the american bass player Greg Cohen in the duo they call Event Horizon. Pontoppidans free, classical and very special voice together with Cohens beautiful bass, was a really great surprice, and one og the most interesting recordings from 2018. Check it out! And now I’m lokking forward to listen to Pontoppidans first solo recording, «Rooms» on Chant Records, that will be out February 18.
