In the storied annals of post-bop jazz, few instruments hold as legendary a provenance as the apparatus that birthed Night of the Mark VII. When tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan touched down in Paris in March 1975, he walked into a professional awakening. At the height of his mid-decade creative resurgence, a brand-new Selmer Mark VII … Read more
Executive Overview In the contemporary landscape of improvised music, few albums manage to balance the wisdom of veteran mastery with the unpredictable electricity of youth quite like Corners, the latest release from legendary Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava. Recorded in July 2025 at Rome’s prestigious Auditorium Parco della Musica and produced by ECM Records mastermind Manfred … Read more
Executive Overview In the dynamic landscape of 1970s jazz, few moments capture the kinetic synergy of hard bop and modal exploration quite like the March 26, 1975, Paris performance of the Clifford Jordan Quartet. Led by legendary tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan alongside pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Billy Higgins, the concert has … Read more
Executive Overview In the grand pantheon of Brazilian popular music (MPB), few artists have navigated the shifting tides of musical innovation with the agility, grace, and enduring relevance of Marcos Valle. As the foundational architects of the 1960s bossa nova movement aged, stagnated, or retreated into safe commercial formulas, Valle continuously deconstructed and rebuilt his … Read more
Executive Overview In the shadowy corridors of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), where human vulnerability is met with the unyielding, synthetic pulse of life support, composer and saxophonist Jon Armstrong found himself engaged in a desperate, profound act of sonic translation. Out of the harrowing experience of his son Breen’s extreme premature birth—arriving at … Read more
In the contemporary landscape of independent music, the trajectory of an artist rarely follows a straight line. For Rollo Doherty, best known as the charismatic frontman of the mid-2010s London guitar outfit ISLAND, the journey has evolved from the booming, wide-screen indie-rock anthems of packed rooms like KOKO to the intimate, contemplative confines of a … Read more
Norwegian guitar virtuosos Knut Reiersrud and Geir Sundstøl have achieved a rare masterwork in modern acoustic and folk-fusion collaboration. By taking the 17th-century compositions of English baroque master Henry Purcell and filtering them through decades of collective experience in blues, folk, and ambient improvisation, the duo has crafted an auditory artifact that defies easy categorization. … Read more
Executive Overview The contemporary musical landscape thrives on unexpected collisions of creative pedigree, but few pairings possess the organic, deeply rooted synergy found between singer-songwriter Olly Him and producer Wyndham Earl. Released via the esteemed imprint Wah Wah 45s, their debut full-length collaborative album, Falling Backwards, stands as a masterclass in genre-fluid artistry. Merging the … Read more
Executive Overview Operating out of Rollag in the rugged Numedal valley of Norway, Motvind Records has steadily carved out a vital niche in the European avant-garde. Functioning as the sister label to the renowned Motvind festival, its catalogue moves freely between the rustic cadences of Norwegian folk music, cutting-edge contemporary compositions, and the high-wire acts … Read more
Executive Overview In the ever-evolving landscape of contemporary transatlantic jazz, few releases capture the cross-cultural synthesis quite as intriguingly as Between the Vistula and the Hudson. Issued on compact disc via the artists’ independent collective, Aesthetiko, this dynamic collaborative effort brings together British-Israeli alto saxophonist and clarinetist Gilad Atzmon with two stalwarts of the Polish … Read more
