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An occasional blog about populist politics and popular music, not necessarily at the same time. LinksLocal Links Social Media My Other Websites Music Politics Others Networking Music DatabaseArtist Search: Website SearchGoogle: Recent Reading
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Music Week [0 - 9]Saturday, February 28, 2026 Music Week
Music: Current count 45603 [45565] rated (+38), 11 [27] unrated (-16). I'm writing this introduction on March 2, but it seems fair to backdate this one. Not that I'm not happy to be done with February, but the shortfall of days messed up my schedule (or would have, if I had followed a normal schedule in February). Besides, the cutoff is honest. All of these reviews were logged by Feb. 28, and I haven't written any more since. Saturday was disrupted by having someone come over to trim the giant elm tree in the backyard. Then I picked up some kind of stomach bug, and I spent most of Sunday in bed. I'm feeling somewhat better today, but remain in a bad mood, and I don't expect that to alleviate any time soon. I published a rather massive Loose Tabs on Friday, where I obviously didn't pay enough attention to the likelihood that Trump would be so befuddled as to launch a war against Iran. I did a minor update last night, where I noted that Franklin Roosevelt's designation of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor as "a day in infamy" applies equally well to Trump's attack on Iran and to Bush's 2003 attack on Iraq. I also wrote:
I wasn't able to follow the news as the attack unfolded, and thus far I've barely skimmed a couple of reports. As far as I've been able to glean, Trump wants to continue bombing for several more weeks. As such, he's wasting the opportunity caused by killing Khamenei: a pause would allow cooler heads to regroup, while keeping up the attack will only increase Iran's resolve to fight back — as they are doing, but thus far to limited effect. I wouldn't dismiss the possibility that Iran could make their attackers feel real (if not commensurate) pain, but what worries me more at the moment is the extraordinary exhilaration and hubris Trump and Netanyahu are feeling in flexing their power to destroy and wreak havoc, especially given how unpopular their warmaking is. I doubt either of them will meet the justice they deserve. I just fear that they're on a path that will only get worse until someone finally stops them (as if anyone could or would). In old age, I often reflect back on maxims I learned when I was a child. One of the most enduring is: power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Sure, Trump was pretty corrupt long before he had the absolute power to kill thousands or millions of people. I don't know how people couldn't have seen through Trump, but for all of my lifetime, we've been brought up to adore and trust American power, despite constant reminders that we cannot and should not. I finally cracked into the 2026 promo queue last week (or two), so that's much of what you'll find below. I have more that I haven't unpacked yet. Main thing that's slowed me down is that my office space has descended into a horrible mess. I'll try to straighten that out next week. Meanwhile, my main source for new non-jazz picks this week is RiotRiot. I also looked up some Neil Sedaka after his death — I've been playing The Brill Building Box, where Stairway to Heaven is a favorite (here's a live take, in a medley) — and I also sampled a couple of this year's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees that I had nothing rated by (still missing for me are Inxs and Iron Maiden). I'm not invited to vote, and almost certainly never will be, but Chuck Eddy is, so I followed his link as a checklist, then I compiled a table of the 17 nominees' graded albums: only 4 had A/A- graded albums (Joy Division/New Order, Pink, Shakira, Wu-Tang Clan), so I would have been very hard-pressed to meet their minimum of 7 votes: I wouldn't begrudge Vandross, and admit that lots of (almost exclusively British?) people like Oasis to a HOF degree, and I'm somewhat into the post-New Edition solo/trio albums. But it feels to me like in their rush to induct everyone they've started scraping the bottom of the barrel — although I'm pretty sure that if I did a bit of research I could find many much better individuals and/or bands they've overlooked (e.g., Pere Ubu, Pet Shop Boys, Kid Creole & the Coconuts, Pavement). New records reviewed this week: Michael Aadal: Aggressive Hymns, Energetic Ballads (2025 [2026], Losen): Norwegian guitarist, tenth album since 2009, cover lists last name only, quartet with André Kassen (tenor/baritone sax), Audun Ramo (acoustic/electric bass), Gunnar Sæter (drums), all original pieces, most pretty strong. B+(***) [cd] Joshua Achiron: Climbing (2026, Calligram): Young guitarist, from Chicago, first album, playing original pieces (plus one Ellington), backed by veteran who elevate his game: Geof Bradfield (tenor sax), Clark Sommers (bass), and Dana Hall (drums). B+(**) [cd] Naseem Alatrash: Bright Colors on a Dark Canvas (2025 [2026], Levantine Music): Cellist, Arabic heritage, teaches in Boston, is a member of Turtle Island Quartet, has credits with Danilo Perez and Simon Shaheen. Seven original compositions, 32:03, backed by piano, bass, string quartet, and drums. Zips right along. B+(***) [cd] [02-27] Eddie Allen's Push: Rhythm People (2023 [2026], Origin): Trumpet player, originally from Milwaukee, based in New York, credits back to 1987 (Lester Bowie, Mongo Santamaria), albums from 1993, one called Push from 2014. Sextet here, plus "special guest" Steve Turre (trombone). B+(**) [cd] Courtney Marie Andrews: Valentine (2026, Loose Future): Country singer-songwriter, ninth album since 2008. B+(*) [sp] Kris Davis and the Lutoslawski Quartet: The Solastalgia Suite (2024 [2026], Pyroclastic): Pianist, originally from Canada, put together a series of impressive albums in the 2000s, then moved to the forefront when she set up a label that is much more than just herself. Now she's making moves, this one with a scratchy Polish string quartet that doesn't allow you the option of not listening. A bit too "classical" for my taste, but those not similarly prejudiced are likely to be impressed. B+(***) [cd] Hilary Duff: Luck . . . or Something (2026, Atlantic): Pop singer-songwriter, sixth album since 2002 (when she was 15), only second album since 2007 (when she was 20), started as a Disney "teen idol," has a fairly long (if not all that distinguished) list of acting credits, and has written a trilogy of "young adult" novels. B+(**) [sp] Gaudi: Jazz Gone Dub (2025, Dubmission): Italian producer Daniele Cenacchi, plays keyboards, has been dabbling in jazz, electronica, and especially dub since the late 1980s, moving to London in 1995. B+(**) [sp] Gogol Bordello: We Mean It, Man! (2026, Gogol): New York-based punk band, principally Eugene Hütz, the one constant since 1999, draws heavily on his Ukrainian background. Strong album. B+(***) [sp] Andy Haas: In Praise of Insomnia (2025 [2026], Resonant Music): Saxophonist, career goes back to the 1980s, including the notable group Radio I-Ching. Solo exercises, credit "saxophone, circular breath, nano pulsar"). This format is inevitably limited, but revelatory if you pay close attention. Helps that it is varied but short: 12 tracks, 29:24. B+(**) [cd] Hemlocke Springs: The Apple Tree Under the Sea (2026, AWAL): Pop singer-songwriter Isimeme Udu, has degrees in biology and medical informatics, released a well-regarded EP in 2023, first album (10 songs, 33:22). B+(***) [sp] Joyce Manor: I Used to Go to This Bar (2026, Epitaph, EP): Punk band from California, Barry Johnson the singer-songwriter, Chase Knobbe on guitar, Matt Ebert on bass, various drummers since 2011, seventh album, but at 7 songs, 19:03 I'm inclined to treat it as an EP. B+(*) [sp] Gil Livni: All In (2024-25 [2026], OA2): Guitarist from Israel, seems to be his second album, a quartet with Amit Friedman (sax), Yonatan Riklis (organ), and Yonatan Rosen (drums), so soul jazz? Three covers (including a Lennon-McCartney), seven originals, pretty lively. B+(**) [cd] Chris Madsen/Dana Hall/Clark Sommers: Threefold (2025 [2026], Calligram): Tenor/soprano saxophonist, name listed last but type suggests crediting him first. If so (he produced and wrote 4/8 songs, the others by bassist Sommers), this may be his first, although he has side credits back to 2000. This is very solid. B+(***) [cd] [03-06] Luke Marantz/Simon Jermyn: Echoes (2025 [2026], Chill Tone): Presented as duets (although a drummer is also credited), Marantz plays piano/keyboards, Jermyn electric guitar and bass. Marantz has a fair number of side credits since 2011. Jermyn, from Ireland but based in New York, had a debut album in 2010 (solo electric bass). B+(**) [cd] Bruno Mars: The Romantic (2026, Atlantic): Pop genius Peter Gene Hernandez, broke through with Doo-Wops and Hooligans in 2010, and since then has shown occasional flashes of brilliance without putting together another compelling album. But this is only his fourth, with a 10-year gap since 2016's lame 24K Magic. This isn't lame, but the overproduction is pretty severe. B+(*) [sp] Megan Moroney: Cloud 9 (2026, Columbia Nashville): Country singer-songwriter from Georgia, third album. B+(***) [sp] Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon: As of Now (2026, Lex): Rapper Jamonte Lyde, from Charlotte but he's been around, Discogs lists 15 albums since 2019 but this is his big step forward. A- [sp] Kate Olson: So It Goes (2025 [2026], OA2): Soprano saxophonist, from Seattle, has a previous (2009) album of "improvised duets" I wouldn't hold against calling this a debut, and side work with Wayne Horvitz, who appears as a guest here (3 tracks). Mostly quartet with Conner Eisenmenger (trombone), Tim Carey (electric bass/guitar), and Evan Woodle (drums), with extra double bass (Geoff Harper) on three tracks. B+(***) [cd] The Paranoid Style: Known Associates (2026, Bar/None): Singer-songwriter Elizabeth Nelson, with husband Timothy Bracy, fifth album, pens historico-politico-philosophical tracts set to conventional, guitar-heavy but far from sludgy rock and roll. As someone who is slow to grasp lyrics, I tend to be less than impressed at first, then start to notice phrases and appreciate the clarity of the music. Main thing I've noted so far is that these songs are all hooked to their titles, which are somewhat more oblique than usual ("Tearing the Ticket," "A Barrier to Entry," "Shark Eyes," "Elegant Bachelors," the title song). A- [sp] Pony: Clearly Cursed (2026, Take This to Heart): Toronto indie-pop group, Sam Bielanski the singer-songwriter, third album, with Matty Morand now the exclusive guitarist. Ten songs, 30:45. B+(**) [sp] Brad Schrader: Late Nights With Brad Schrader (2025, self-released): Standards singer, been plying his trade for 25 years, nothing under Discogs, this seems to be his first. Seven standards (23:50, including the all-but-obligatory Jobim), backed nicely by piano (music director Jerry Vezza), bass, drums, and sax. B [cd] Noé Sécula/Jorge Rossy: A Sphere Between Other Obsessions (2023 [2026], Fresh Sound New Talent): French pianist, second album, mostly duo with vibraphone (7/10 cuts), mostly playing Monk tunes. B+(*) [bc] Dave Stryker: Blue Fire: The Van Gelder Session (2025 [2026], Strikezone): Guitarist, from Nebraska, called his first album First Strike (1988), co-led a long-running group with saxophonist Steve Slagle, has lately been in the habit of releasing something new every January. This year's offering is a back-to-roots session with organ (Jon Gold) and drums (McClenty Hunter). B+(**) [cd] Mattias Svensson: Embrace (2022 [2026], Origin): Swedish bassist, studied in New York but returned to Sweden, has a couple previous albums under his own name, plus several dozen side-credits (especially with Jan Lundgren and Viktoria Tolstoy). Wrote all the pieces here, performed with Bill Mays (piano) and Morten Lund (drums). Nice outing. B+(**) [cd] Craig Taborn: Dream Archives (2024 [2026], ECM): Pianist, first came to my attention in James Carter's 1990s quartet, has a wide-ranging solo career with several dozen albums and many more side-credits, ultimately leading to a MacArthur grant in 2024. Trio with Tomeka Reid (cello) and Ches Smith (drums). Talented group, but doesn't really take off (unlike, say, 2025's Trio of Bloom). B+(*) [sp] Vance Thompson: Lost and Found (2024 [2026], Moondo): Trumpet player, founder/director of the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, lost his ability to play due to focal dystonia, but has returned to music here, playing the vibraphone in a quintet with piano, guitar, bass, and drums. B+(*) [cd] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: John Vanore & Abstract Truth: Easter Island Suite (1989-2024 [2026], Acoustical Concepts): Trumpet player, several albums since 1991, started composing this suite in the 1980s and recorded the first movement in 1989, returning to the studio for the middle sections in 2012, then the final movement in 2024. The groups evolved, but all are deep in brass. B+(*) [cd] Old music: Phil Collins: Face Value (1981, Virgin): First solo album by the former Genesis drummer, started a string of eight gold/platinum albums (up to 2010), none I've heard so far, which is unusual for someone being given serious consideration for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (but not the only 2026 nominee I have nothing in the database for: also INXS, Iron Maiden, and New Edition). Seems like an agreeable pop album, but the only whole song that caught my attention was the Beatles cover ("Tomorrow Never Knows"), and the only other bits I was impressed by were drum breaks. B [sp] The Damned: Damned Damned Damned (1977, Stiff): English punk rock group, first album, Dave Vanian the singer, backed by guitar (Brian James), bass (Captain Sensible), and drums (Rat Scabies), produced by Nick Lowe. I recall the group getting a lot of hype at the time, but little respect. Sounds pretty good at first, a little short of material toward the final rave up. B+(**) [yt] New Edition: New Edition (1984, MCA): Another RRHOF nominee I totally missed, released 7 studio albums 1983-2004, selling over 20 million copies. Boy group, conceived as successor to the Jackson 5, updated with some rap to coin the term "new jack swing," the five members on this second album went on to solo acts for Bobby Brown and Ralph Tresvant as well as the trio known as Bell Biv Devoe. (Later member was/is Johnny Gill.) B+(**) [sp] The OKeh Rhythm & Blues Story: 1949-1957 (1949-57 [1993], Epic/Legacy, 3CD): Label founded 1918 by Otto Karl Erich Heinemann (1876-1965), recorded early "race" records including Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Sevens. The label was sold to Columbia in 1926, sold off in 1934 and bought back by CBS in 1938, which periodically shut it down and revived it. This was their prime R&B period, with plenty of hot jump blues, but nothing I recognize from standard compilations (like Rhino's fabulous The R&B Box), and a shortage of star power (the "big" names here are Big Maybelle, Chuck Willis, Hadda Brooks, and Screamin' Jay Hawkins). B+(***) [sp] Rosé: Rosie (2024, The Black Label/Atlantic): Born in New Zealand, raised in Australia, moved to South Korea (where her parents had emigrated from) and joined the bestselling girl group Blackpink, released a solo "single album" in 2021 (6:15, expanded on CD to 12:30), then this studio album, which belatedly came to my attention thanks to the Bruno Mars feature "APT." That single sound pretty good, but it's hardly helped by an overload of ballads, even if they're not bad. B+(*) [sp] Neil Sedaka: Sings His Greatest Hits (1958-62 [1963], RCA): Brill Building songwriter, an original member of the Tokens (which had a 1961 hit with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"), recorded a half-dozen top-ten singles 1959-62, which loom large here. Seems like he should have a memorable period compilation. This comes close. B+(***) [yt] Neil Sedaka: Neil Sedaka and the Tokens (1956-57 [1963], Guest Star): Short compilation (10 songs, 21:54), unclear exactly when recorded (Google says that Sedaka left to go solo in 1958), but 6 songs are credited to Sedaka alone, 2 with the Tokens, and 2 (twisters) to Joe Martin and His Orchestra. B [sp] Neil Sedaka: Sedaka's Back (1972-73 [1974], Rocket): Elton John's label compiled this from three UK-only LPs, including songs that were hits for others, and one that became his first since 1962, and set him up for years to come. B+(*) [sp] Unpacking: I have stuff but haven't logged it yet. Ask a question, or send a comment. Saturday, February 21, 2026 Music Week
February archive (in progress). Music: Current count 45565 [45523] rated (+42), 27 [29] unrated (-2). The usual plan is to publish Music Week on Mondays (often late). It shouldn't matter how many records I have reviewed. Most weeks I come up with about 30 albums. Last time I came up short with 5. I had been hobbled by a cold, and was way down in mid-winter dumps. A week later (Monday, Feb. 16) I felt even less like publishing, but had started to write up some albums. My main boost was from Robert Christgau's February 2026 Consumer Guide, which came out on the 11th. I also, for the first time this year, started to play new albums from my demo queue. I was running thin on 2025 albums, and it was just easier to go with what I had sitting around. By mid-week, I was starting to feel like I had enough to go with. I did the cut over Friday morning, but didn't start writing this introduction until today. The reason for the delay is that I wanted to answer a couple of questions. One was about my relationship to Christgau, and how we differ in taste. The other was about all my bitching since . . . well, there's no clear cut starting date (unless you want to blame the world, in which case 2024-11-08 is an obvious candidate, and 2023-09-07 another). But as an engineer, I know that catastrophic ruptures are always preceded by stress fractures, and I've been attuned to those particular ones for a long time now. My disappointment and dismay isn't just because they happened, but because they had seemed so totally foreordained, and because the people we trusted to solve our problems have been so clueless for so long. I don't have much in the way of future plans. I do have enough Loose Tabs for a post, so that will be next, Music Week will be pushed back until I have that squared away. I haven't found any time to work on Notes on Everyday Life letters. I have several ideas, but just haven't been able to concentrate. I organized some book outline materials for a dinner a week or two ago, but haven't followed up on that. The best I can say is that I keep reading, thinking. After several lean weeks, a lot of good records this time around. Thomas Anderson, Grant Peeples, and Tommy Womack were my initial finds from the Christgau Consumer Guide, and I wound up looking into Peeples' back catalog. The extra day gave me a chance to reevaluate Zach Bryan and Nandipha808, so I nudged them over the line as well. Phil Overeem suggested Mark Lomax II and Ren, as well as several others. I've done a bit of extra work on the EOY Aggregate, which pointed me at a couple more albums (most notably Gasper Nali). Tomeka Reid came from my demo queue (also in Overeem). I noticed that Spotify has most of the old Yazoo blues compilations, so I started looking for a few I had noted but missed. Not clear how much effort I'm going to put into finding new stuff going forward, but I do expect to continue reviewing whatever comes my way. (By the way, I have a couple recent shipments not yet logged in "Unpacking.") Still, old habits are hard to break, so my guess is that future Music Weeks will be more like this one than than the last one. But they probably won't sync up to Mondays for a while. And I'm way behind on bookkeeping work, which will continue to lag. New records reviewed this week: Idris Ackamoor Ankhestra/Rhodessa Jones/Danny Glover: Artistic Being (2024 [2025], Strut): Originally Bruce Baker, from Chicago, plays alto sax, several albums since 1973, mostly with an Afrocentric group he called the Pyramids. He leads a 14-piece group here, joined by spoken word poets — Jones recorded with him in 1985, Glover is the famous actor. B+(*) [sp] Thomas Anderson: Letters From the Hermit Kingdom (2026, Out There): Singer-songwriter from Oklahoma, debut 1988, Spotify says he gets 61 plays monthly, which is dishearteningly low for a guy with a dozen-plus albums worth your attention. This is another one, done a bit lighter than usual. A- [sp] Eric Bibb: One Mississippi (2026, Repute): Blues singer-songwriter, started in the 1970s, has been a reliable producer of easy-going, engaging albums since 1997. B+(**) [sp] Zach Bryan: With Heaven on Top (2026, Belting Bronco/Warner): Country singer-songwriter, sixth album since 2019, bestsellers since his 2022 breakthrough, runs 25 songs, 78:16. Clearly a prodigious talent. I'm not sure he's worth the trouble, but also not sure he isn't (and note that I've underrated his records before). [PS: Gave this another play, and bumped this up a bit. One line that struck me was "but what if I don't want children, to grow up like their father."] A- [sp] Buck 65: Do Not Bend (2026, Handsmade): Rapper/beatmaker Richard Terfly, from Nova Scotia, seems to be in Toronto these days, called his 1988-96 juvenilia compilation Weirdo Magnet, has released many albums since, with a 2014-22 break, but he's been superb ever since. Short one (14 tracks, 26:43), snappy but not all that exceptional. Noted: "I don't like this universe, let's move on to another one." B+(***) [bc] Cat Clyde: Live at Rare Bird Farm: A Benefit Album for Western North Carolina (2024 [2025], Socan Canada): Folkie singer-songwriter from Canada, half-dozen albums since 2017, had an attachment to Appalachia, explored here following her tour of hurricane wreckage. B+(**) [bc] Michael Dease With the MSU Jazz Trombones: Spartan Strong (2024 [2026], Origin): Trombonist, has twenty-some albums since 2007, teaches at Michigan State, rounded up a couple dozen students here, backed by piano-bass-drums, with guest spots for Benny Benack III (vocals) and Sharel Cassity (alto sax), one track each. Rather fun, but can wear thin. B+(**) [cd] Dry Cleaning: Secret Love (2025, 4AD): English group, Florence Shaw spoken lyrics over a vaguely post-punk hum and strum, attractive as far as it goes. B+(***) [sp] EsDeeKid: Rebel (2025, Lizzy/XV): UK rapper, first album, wears a mask but compositions are credited to Harley Riecansky. Sharp, goes fast through eleven songs, 20:50. B+(*) [sp] Michael Hampton: Into the Public Domain (2025, Sound Mind): Funkadelic guitarist, sometimes appeared as "Kidd Funkadelic," secure slot in Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but limited discography under his own name, with a 1998 album in Japan and a collection of P-Funk Guitar Riffs for DJ's. Instrumental album, some nifty guitar pyrotechnics. B+(**) [sp] Haley Heynderickx/Max García Conover: What of Our Nature (2025, Fat Possum): Folkie singer-songwriters from Portland, each with a couple of previous solo albums, second album together, reading and thinking about Woody Guthrie here, partly to up their political game. One line I noted, about "brilliant minds to to college, just to study marketing." More here worth quoting, and probably more I missed. (Like: "The terrorists look like my mother, and do most of the same kind of stuff.") B+(***) [sp] Jackzebra: Hunched Jack Mixtape (2025, Surf Gang): Chinese plugg rapper, Zhang Zhengkai, from Chengdu, has a couple previous albums. B [sp] Liquid Mike: Hell Is an Airport (2025, AWAL): Indie rock group from Marquette, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, principally singer-songwriter Mike Maple, sixth album since 2021. Fourteen songs, 27:20. B+(*) [sp] Mark Lomax II & the Urban Art Ensemble: The Unity Suite (2025 [2026], CFG Multimedia): Drummer, based in Columbus, Ohio, has a remarkable run of album since 1999, not least thanks to powerhouse tenor saxophonist Edwin Bayard, but has been little noticed — I initially noticed his 2010 album The State of Black America, which may have been the only album of his to get any promotion at all. Here he expands beyond his usual trio (with Dean Hullett on bass) and quartet (add William Menefield on piano) to include trumpet (Kenyatta Beasley) and alto sax (Rob Dixon). Sometimes sounds (perhaps a bit too much) like the second coming of Saint John Coltrane. A- [os] Michael Moody: The Ecstasy of Love (2025 [2026], self-released): Standards singer, based in New York, has a couple of previous albums, this one fairly minimalist with just guitar (Paul Bollenback) and bass (Neil "Sugar Caine"). Starts not bad, but pretty useless. Ends with "Old Rugged Cross," a mistake B- [cd] [03-20] Gasper Nali: Chule Chule Iwe (2025, Spare Dog): From Malawi, has a couple previous albums, plays a babatoni ("a 3 meter, one-stringed home-made bass guitar - with an empty bottle and a stick"), although there's more to the band, and vocals. One reviewer I've seen calls it unique, but for me it's reminiscent of the classic township jive that spread in exile to Zimbabwe and Zambia — I'm thinking especially of Mzwakhe Mbuli. A- [sp] Nandipha808: No Vocal Album (2025, Stena Academy): South African amapiano album, 20 songs, 130 minutes. Nice array of beats, with minimal chants. Hype suggested this would blow me away, but reality is pretty subtle, something that just sneaks up on you. Looks like he has a lot of recent back catalog to consider. A- [sp] Grant Peeples: Code to Live By (2025, Ping): Singer-songwriter from Florida, dozen or so albums since 2008, I've only heard a couple of them, but he's overdue for a Wikipedia page, and maybe some catalog research. Christgau dubbed this "the most explicitly leftist album I've come across in far too long" based largely on his spoken word screed "The Ledger." I demurred a bit over the Putin reference, but adding "kleptocrat" and the state "operating like a Mafia syndicate" to "the stink of tyranny" was too much to argue with. Besides, he already hooked me with the sharpest song I've heard lately on the "Sunshine State." And he adds some nice sax behind his second spoken word rant, where among much more he notes that "if you feed a poor man, a Fascist is going to call you a Marxist." A- [sp] Kojey Radical: Don't Look Down (2025, Warner/Asylum/Bellyempty): London-born British rapper, parents from Ghana, original name Kwadwo Abu Genfi Amponsah, fourth album since 2014. B+(**) [sp] The Tomeka Reid Quartet: Dance! Skip! Hop! (2025 [2026], Out of Your Head): Cellist, grew up around DC, made her name in Chicago, connected with AACM, worked extensively with Nicole Mitchell and Mike Reed, also with Anthony Braxton and his students, released several impressive albums as leader, ultimately winning a MacArthur in 2022. Quartet here with Jason Roebke (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), and Mary Halvorson (guitar): the latter's power runs first got my attention, but the more intricate segments hold up equally well. A- [cd] Ren: Vincent's Tale (2026, Freckled Angels/Rebel Creator Services): Welsh singer-songwriter, often raps, last name Gill, his struggle with Lyme Disease led to his remarkable 2023 album Sick Boi. This short album (11 songs, 25:38) is only slightly less remarkable, with two interleaved tales, words that hit hard, beats too. ("Democracy isn't choosing between herpes and chlamydia.") A- [bc] Ben Rosenblum Nebula Project: The Longest Way Round (2025 [2026], One Trick Dog): Pianist, also plays accordion, nothing much on Discogs although I have two previous Nebula Project albums in my database. Fancy postbop, the accordion picking up folk signals and whipping them into a frenzy. B+(***) [cd] [02-27] Sault: Chapter 1 (2026, Forever Living Originals): London-based funk collective, many confusingly titled (or "untitled") albums since 2019, this their 13th. When they first impressed me, they seemed like the second coming of Chic. That comparison seemed to have passed, but this rekindles it somewhat. B+(**) [bc] Slut Intent: Slutworld (2026, self-released, EP): Minneapolis hardcore group, Katy Kelly the singer, one of several lyricists, backed by two guitars, bass, and drums. Nine hard hitting songs, 18:11. B+(*) [bc] Time Cow: Scaring 1100 Chickens to Death (2025, Kullijhan): Jamaican dancehall producer Jordan Chung, could count as his first album, although there are EPs, mixtapes, possibly other aliases. B+(*) [sp] Eri Yamamoto/Matthew Shipp: Horizon (2025, Mahakala Music): Piano duets, the former moved from Japan to New York in 1995, working extensively with William Parker. She wrote the songs here, so Shipp, who started in the 1980s, again often working with Parker, is just here to help out. B+(**) [bc] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Dub Syndicate: Obscured by Version (1989-96 [2025], On-U Sound): British dub producer Adrian Sherwood, formed this group in 1982 with Style Scott (d. 2014). A collection of remixes from what they reckon was the band's "classic period." This does seem perfect for their limited take. B+(***) [sp] Doug MacDonald Trio: Live in Beverly Hills (2012 [2026], DMAC Music): Jazz guitarist, albums go back to 1981, pulled this trio with Lou Shoch (bass, plus a vocal) and Billy Paul (drums) off the shelf. Two original pieces, plus standards from Luis Bonfa to Louis Jordan to Jerome Kern. B+(**) [cd] Paul Ricci: The Path (1996-2021 [2026], Origin): Guitarist, has some side credits back to 1995, mostly Brazilian. This seems to be his first album, drawing on sessions from 1996-97, completed in 2021, so he has a long list of scattered musicians to credit. Notable vocal by Abdoulaye Diabate. B+(**) [cd] Old music: Bo Carter: Banana in Your Fruit Basket: Red Hot Blues, 1931-1936 (1931-36 [1991], Yazoo): Mississippi bluesman Armenter Chatmon (1894-1964), first recorded 1928 (he did the original "Corrine, Corrina"), recorded 110 sides. Yazoo's third LP compilation, appearing in 1979 following Greatest Hits (1968) and Twist It Babe (1972), many double entendres. B+(**) [sp] Bo Carter: Twist It Babe 1931-1940 (1931-40 [1992], Yazoo): Fourteen more songs, released in 1973 after Greatest Hits in 1969 (which I still haven't heard). B+(**) [sp] Nanook: Ilutsinniit Apuussilluta (2022, Atlantic Music): Group from Greenland, fifth album, first ever recorded in Nuuk, with "wellknown produer Theodor Kapnas from The Faroe Islands." Sounds somewhat prog, or maybe just MOR, except in a language I can't begin to fathom, but has some appeal. B+(*) [sp] Grant Peeples: It's Later Than You Think (2008, self-released): Folkie singer-songwriter, first album, starts with the touching, fiddle-enhanced "Pitiful Little Town," includes a couple of "talking blues," one a political rant alled "Patriot Act . . . for Dave Hickey" that is even more timely today. Also, that song that so impressed me on the new album, "Sunshine State," turns out to have originated here. A- [sp] Grant Peeples: Pawnshop (2009, GatorBone): Second album, builds slowly, saving "Jesus Was a Revolutionary" for the end ("and he pissed off the rich with things that he said"). B+(***) [sp] Grant Peeples: Okra and Ecclesiastes (2011, GatorBone): Third album, good title, which pops up in a song called "My People Come From the Dirt." B+(**) [sp] Grant Peeples: Prior Convictions (2012, GatorBone):
Fourth album, produced by Gurf Morlix, features a duet with Ruthie
Foster on a Dylan song, followed by a new version of "Patriot Act
(For Dave Hickey)." "Digital Edition" (on Spotify) drops one song,
" Grant Peeples and the Peeples Republik: Punishing the Myth (2014, GatorBone): Produced by Gurf Morlix, with enough of a regular band for a co-credit, featuring duets with Sara Mac on two tracks. Good as they are, also consider their Live at Mockingbird. B+(***) [sp] Sarah Mac and Grant Peeples: Live at Mockingbird (2013, self-released): Duets, her given name McElhaney, seems to be her only album (she also has two guest spots on Peeples' 2014 album), mostly his songs with a couple covers but the opener, "I'm Not Scared," seems to be hers: "I'm not scared of anything but falling in love and wasting away" which changes to "but dying and being lonely." Ends with a bitter song about his craft: "all you want to do is make a name for yourself, sucking up to owners and promoters, could it be any god if it's something you sell?" A- [bc] Grant Peeples: A Congress of Treasons (2016, Gatorbone): Another album, more spoken word, more duets, more stuff that largely escaped my grasp. B+(*) [sp] The Roots of Rap: Classic Recordings from the 1920's and 30's (1926-36 [1996], Yazoo): Not really, but easy enough to assemble a collection of little noticed r&b records that are more talked than sung, some flirting with the notion of jive. B+(***) [sp] Charlie Spand: Dreaming the Blues: The Best of Charlie Spand (1929-31 [2002], Yazoo): Barrelhouse pianist, blues singer-songwriter, recorded 22 songs 1929-31, 8 more in 1940. This collects all the songs from the earlier sets. (He repeated some titles in 1940, so it is possible that some slipped in, but seems unlikely.) B+(**) [sp] St. Louis Town 1927-1932 (1927-32 [1991], Yazoo): Fourteen tracks from obscure eight St. Louis bluesmen: one each from Jim Jackson, Henry Spaulding, Joe Stone, and Henry Townsend; two from Hi Henry Brown, Teddy Darby, and Jelly Jaw Short; and four from Charley Jordan. (Townsend had a notable second act in the 1960s, as did J.D. Short; Jackson I think of as a Memphis guy, but he got in here with a twist on "St. Louis Blues"; Jordan was the most prolific, with three volumes on Document, and two 2-CD comps.) B+(**) [sp] Grade (or other) changes: Tommy Womack: Live a Little (2025, Schoolkids): Singer-songwriter from Kentucky, long based on Nashville, ninth album since 1998, good ones, some exceptional. Just needed an extra play. [was: B+(***)] A- [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, February 9, 2026 Music Week
February archive (in progress). Music: Current count 45523 [45518] rated (+5), 29 [27] unrated (+2). It was tempting to simply declare "No Music Week" this week, but just as easy to show you what I have. It's virtually nothing, which is about the only point I have to make. I've had a very rough January. While the weather has gotten markedly better the last couple days, I'm still struggling. I've been hobbled by a cold, which is showing no signs of clearing up. But on top of all the other disappointments, I've felt like doing nothing, constructive or otherwise. I've been logging incoming music, but I've only been playing old music, moving beyond the well-worn travel cases to pick out oldies I haven't heard in years. I could see doing that for years to come. I'm not seeing much reason for doing anything else. I still plan to listen to, and write about, everything that actually comes in, but I'm in no hurry. I do feel bad about never properly wrapping up the 20th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll. I had every intention of adding a dozen or more comments to the published essays. I also knew that I had a fair amount of website work to do, especially at top level. I update the website piecemeal, which makes it harder to keep everything in sync. I have, for instance, made some local changes in the annual sections that haven't been propagated. I was still shocked to look at it today and find the top almost totally devoid of mention of the 2025 poll. I made some quick repairs today, and updated. I also killed off the forwarders for "25votes" and "25comments": the idea behind them was to be able to shut them down as they get spammed. I've been getting troubling reports about the latter, it what is pretty clearly some kind of scam. I have no concrete plans about the poll moving forward. While most of the participants this year were pleased to see it still active, and many were quite flattering in their thanks for my work, I have serious doubts about my ability to keep it going. Still, at present the big problem is my almost total lack of energy or enthusiasm, which applies to pretty much every other aspect of my life. I finished January with only one Substack post. I have 90 subscribers, which is +9 since 2025-11-13. I have 134 followers on Bluesky. Sure, my bad for not posting more often. (And maybe for not using their apps? I've never gotten the point — aside from the obvious one that they want to own your phone.) The only plan I do have this week is to re-open the "weird" book file. I've been reading books on the growing madness on the right, most recently Paul Heideman's Rogue Elephant and John Ganz's When the Clock Broke, and I've ordered Laura K Field's Furious Minds and Paul Starr's American Contradiction. Field's book is about the so-called "MAGA intellectuals," who are trying to derive a coherent political philosophy out of the movement's mass of irritable mental gestures. Starr is offering a broader history which goes back to the 1950s, which aligns it perfectly with my memories. I've read much more along these lines. The one book I was most impressed by was Kurt Andersen's Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America. In the introduction to the latter book (2020), Andersen wrote:
While this broad outline has long been obvious — back in the 1980s, I liked to tell people that the only boom industry in America was fraud, but I don't recall ever trying to explain how it came about, why it was so seductive, and how defenseless ordinary people had become to its pervasive rot. Recognizing the evil geniuses is only one part of the battle. The other part is understanding how the Democrats had detached themselves from the left and its principles, and how the left had disconnected from the majority of the people. I hope to make some small contribution to better understanding the democratic fumbles. I could add some suggestions on how to fix it, but doesn't everyone claim that? It's not even midnight, and I'm too tired to write any more. So I might as well let it be. Writing about music is so much a part of my routine I doubt I'll stop anytime soon. I suppose I should note that lacking any new A- records this week, I picked up covers of two better compilations I reviewed way back: Kokomo Arnold: Original Kokomo Blues 1934-1938 ([1998], EPM/Blues Collection); and Shave 'Em Dry: The Best of Lucille Bogan (1933-35 [2004], Columbia/Legacy). PS: I watched the Super Bowl, for the first time in probably 30 years. (Laura usually tunes in for the hyped half-time shows, but never learned to follow the game. I watched the first dozen Super Bowls, and was an AFL fan back when that made a difference, but it's been decades since I had any interest in the sport, the business, or the spectacle.) The game itself was easy enough to follow. Both offenses seemed inept compared by my memories, but I learned early on (thanks to Alex Karras) to focus on the line play, and both sides put on tremendous pass rush pressure. The secondaries also seemed exceptional, with New England's Christian Gonzalez singled out for praise, but that was largely because Seattle's quarterback was the more accurate passer. New England's Drake Maye struggled all game long. Nothing here is likely to bring me back to watch more, but I felt like doing nothing for the day, and the game was good for that. But I'm left with the sense that football is sinking into pure gladiatorialism. Aside from the game, the big points were the half-time show, and the commercials. I have nothing to say about Bad Bunny, but I'll look into the political reaction and see if I can make any sense of that. For what little it's worth, I've heard six of his albums, enjoying them enough for various shades of B+, but nothing higher. I don't doubt that he's earned his stardom, but much of it (and not just the language) sails right past me. I didn't get the symbolism or iconography. As for the commercials, I found them rather disturbing, but there was so much happening so fast that I never got a handle on it. Again, a subject for further research. If I understand the AI pitches correctly, they say we'll be able to get all of our work done instantly, spending the rest of our (still employed?) time at the beach. I doubt it's going to work out like that. New records reviewed this week: Al Green: To Love Somebody (2026, Fat Possum, EP): Classic, near-perfect string of hit albums from 1971 (Gets Next to You) through 1978 (The Belle Album), gospel with some exceptions from then up to 2008. Four covers (16:40): title from Bee Gees, closer from R.E.M., two Lou Reed in the middle ("Perfect Day" the single, with Raye). B+(**) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: None. Old music: Lucille Bogan/Walter Roland: (1927-1935) (1927-35 [1992], Yazoo): Classic female blues singer (1897-1948), original name Lucille Anderson, married a Bogan in 1914, later divorced him, also released songs as Bessie Jackson, the name that appears on the earliest Yazoo LP of this material (1969). Vocals divided here, with Roland playing piano or guitar, but sometimes others. Bogan's best-known songs are missing. B+(**) [sp] CeDell Davis: Feel Like Doin' Something Wrong (1993 [1994], Fat Possum): Blues guitarist-singer-songwriter (1926-2017), from Arkansas, developed a distinctive variation on slide guitar after polio, active since 1953, but it wasn't until 1993 when this first album was released (on Demon in UK; picked up by Fat Possum in US B+(***) [sp] CeDell Davis: The Best of CeDell Davis (1994, Fat Possum): Actually a new session, backed by Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit, but they may have guessed that a newly discovered bluesman well into his 60s could sell a back story. B+(**) [sp] Casey Bill Weldon/Kokomo Arnold: Bottleneck Guitar Trendsetters of the 1930's (1927-38 [1992], Yazoo): Seven tracks by each, although either could have filled a compilation: Blues Collection has a CD by each, Classic Blues as 2-CD sets, and Document has 3-4 CDs of completism, nearly all from 1934-38. They're pretty easy to tell apart, with Weldon the more genteel songster, Arnold with a darker disposition. Both have disputed birth dates (per Wikipedia), and both quit in 1938. I'm not sure that the balance particularly works (although originally intended for separate LP sides), but both could merit further research. B+(***) [sp] Ask a question, or send a comment. Friday, January 31, 2025 Music Week
January archive (in progress). Music: Current count 45518 [45484] rated (+34), 27 [23] unrated (+4). I lost my mind last night. The closest I can come to a rational explanation is that a fairly ordinary cold disrupted my schedule, and I lost all sense of time. I went to bed early, perhaps just looking for warmth, and fell asleep. I slept poorly. Laura, for whom sleeping is always difficult, expressed concern, which I had trouble processing. I woke up once, expecting it to be morning, and found the world outside unaccountably dark gray. A couple hours later, the clock registered 2:30, which I decided was enough sleep. I came downstairs, found it dark outside, noticed that I missed last night's pills. I had some breakfast, and only later I noticed that the computer clock was registering 3AM. I worked on some stuff until 6AM, then figured I might as well try bed again. I slept until noon, fitfully, but I logged over nine hours. This time when I awoke it was bright and sunny, and had warmed from 16 to 32F (and later to 40). Yesterday I started writing up a Substack post, mindful that if I didn't send another one out by the end of January my monthly stats would be wretched. I got about one paragraph into it, something about the inexorability of time, although the main subject was to be home cooking. I failed, and now in terms of monthly stats, no rush. I've signed up for a half-dozen Substacks recently, which is starting to give me a fair sampling of strategies. Michael Steinman is putting out a short piece on most days. Chuck Eddy may be even more prolific, but all I receive in the mail is a weekly index of things only his paid subscribers can read. Allen Lowe has been more erratic lately: maybe he figures he's done enough baiting and time has come to switch. Dan Weiss is the only one who has comped me a paid subscription, so I'm seeing everything there, and enjoying most of it. (I rarely bother with the interviews, but Peter Stampfel is exceptional.) I've been ambivalent about when I would post another Music Week. I wasn't ready to write off January even though it was soon enough done with me. But in my dilapidated state, I figured this is exactly the sort of brainless busy work I could handle. The hard work, which is the reviews, are already done, and while the week is short they're still of respectable quantity. No A-list albums, which is unusual but not unheard of. (I rechecked a couple albums later, and promoted one.) Besides, it clears the deck for a fresh start in February. Every year, I expect to recalibrate and possibly change direction. Usually, I'm thinking about focusing more on non-music writing. Before I took ill, I spent a week trying to catch up with the news, writing up 34,000 words in Loose Tabs. I found that easy and satisfying to write, although I have little evidence that anyone else got anything out of it. But feeling as I do, I don't much care. As far as I'm concerned, it could all grind to a halt. New records reviewed this week: Justin Bieber: Swag (2025, Def Jam): Canadian pop singer-songwriter, much-hyped debut sold millions in 2010 (when he was 16), sales have trailed off but this 7th album still went platinum, US chart peak at 2 (his first to miss the top spot). He has never gotten critical respect: I've only heard one previous album, and didn't bother with this until it appeared as the only album in the Grammy Album of the Year list I hadn't heard. Played it once. Didn't notice much, but seems like a fairly typical piece of contemporary high-budget popcraft. B [sp] Justin Bieber: Swag II (2025, Def Jam): Counted as his eighth studio album, for 23 new songs, but CD and digital also packaged with the 21-track Swag. Adds nothing much. B- [sp] Caitlin Cannon: Love Addict (2025, self-released): Country singer-songwriter, second album. Rather torchy. B+(*) [sp] Cardiacs: LSD (2025, The Alphabet Business Concern): English prog rock band, formed as Cardiac Arrest in 1977 by brothers Tim and Jim Smith, produced a demo in 1977 and a cassette in 1981, five albums 1988-99, released some new material in 2007, but disbanded after songwriter Tim Smith suffered a stroke in 2008. He eventually recovered enough to work on a new album, LSD, before he died in 2020. This is supposedly that, built around 2007 recordings with Tim Smith credited with guitar and keyboards on all tracks, vocals on five, bass on "some tracks." Fast, fanciful, "psychedelic" if you must, lost (80:11), not quite awful but certainly exhausting. C+ [sp] The Castellows: A Little Goes a Long Way (2024, Warner Music Nashvile, EP): Country sisters act, last name Balkcom, Lily the lead singer (guitar, bass, harmonica), with backing vocals from Eleanor (guitar, piano) and Powell (banjo). First EP after a couple singles: 7 songs, 22:14, several memorable. B+(***) [sp] The Castellows: Homecoming (2025, Warner Music Nashville, EP): Second EP, 7 more songs, less memorable, but they're still pretty appealing. B+(**) [sp] Brittany Davis/Evan Flory-Barnes/D'Vonne Lewis: Black Thunder (2025, Loosegroove): Singer, plays keyboards, second album, an improv thing backed by bass and drums. B+(***) [sp] For Living Lovers: Natural Name (2024 [2025], Sunnyside): Duo of Brandon Ross (guitar) and Stomu Takeishi (bass guitar), both playing acoustic, second album together. B+(*) [sp] For Those I Love: Carving the Stone (2025, September): Irish spoken word artist David Balfe, second album, holds up musically so well I find myself letting the words slip past. B+(***) [sp] Fust: Big Ugly (2025, Dear Life): Alt-country band from Durham, North Carolina, third album, lots of fiddle. B+(*) [sp] Vinny Golia/Ken Filiano/Michael TA Thompson: Catastasis (2025, Nine Winds): "Multi-reed virtuoso" ("piccolo, C-flute, Bb clarinte, sopranino, soprano, alto and tenor saxophones"), many albums since 1977, backed by bass and drums, with three set-sized pieces (115:38). B+(**) [bc] Vinny Golia Quintet: Can You Outrun Them? (2024, Nine Winds): Plays four saxophones and alto flute. Opens with strong trumpet from Kris Tiner, and the pianist (Cathlene Pineda) is impressive throughout. Also with bass (Miller Wrenn) and drums (Clint Dodson). B+(***) [bc] The Vinny Golia Quintet: Out for Blood (2025, Nine Winds): Golia plays four saxophones, panpipes and shakuhachi. Different quintet, although these are names more likely to have previous quintet albums: Michael Vlatkovich (trombone), Wayne Peet (piano), Ken Filiano (bass), and Alex Cline (drums). B+(*) [bc] Buddy Guy: Ain't Done With the Blues 2025, Silvertone/RCA): Old-timer, left Louisiana for Chicago in the 1960s, quickly established himself as a guitar virtuoso, especially when accompanying Junior Wells (1934-98). He's recorded plenty on his own, and is still going strong at 90. B+(***) [sp] Kat Hasty: Time of Your Life (2025, Jackie Java/Thirty Tigers): Country singer-songwriter, from West Texas, first album, after some singles (and a compilation). B+(**) [sp] Hvalfugl: Bag Vore Øjne Strømmer Drømme Sagte Forbi (2025, self-released): Danish trio, "Scandinavian folk meets tranquil Nordic jazz," fourth album since 2018, with keyboards (Jonathan Fjord Bredholt), guitar (Jeppe Lavsen), and bass (Anders Juel Bomholt), plus many guests, extra long (25 songs, 81 minutes). B+(*) [sp] Keefe Jackson/Jakob Heinemann/Adam Shead: Stinger (2023 [2025], Irritable Mystic): Tenor sax/bass clarinet, bass, and drums, from two live sets in Chicago. B+(**) [bc] K. Curtis Lyle/Alex Cunningham: Quantum Nursery Rhymes of the Divine Horseman (2025, Storm Cellar): Spoken word artist, a founder of the Watts Writers Workshop, recorded an album in 1971, appeared on a couple more, but didn't return as leader until 2024, and now has two more albums. This has two long pieces (15:19 + 40:21), backed by violin, for better or worse. B+(**) [bc] Miffle: Goodbye, World (self-released): Tape loops and sound collage, out of Warsaw, first album. B+(*) [sp] Kelly Moran: Don't Trust Mirrors (2025, Warp): Originally a pianist, seven albums since 2010, last three on this electronica-oriented label, but genre is unclear: Discogs offers "electronic, classical" and "experimental, modern classical," while Wikipedia throws in jazz, dream pop, and black metal. Piano sounds prepared at first, mixes with electronics, wanders around fourth world territory, winds up in ambient (a bit of a letdown). B+(***) [sp] Mehmet Polat Quartet: Roots in Motion (2025, Aftab): Turkish "ud" player (think of an oud with two extra bass strings), based in Amsterdam, several albums since 2014, this a quartet with piano (Franz von Chossy), bass (Daniel van Huffelen), and drums (Martin Hafizi). B+(**) [bc] Cleo Reed: Cuntry (2025, self-released): Singer-songwriter, based in New York, studied at Berklee, second album, hard to speak of any genre. B+(*) [sp] Jane Remover: Revengeseekerz (2025, DeadAir): Chicago hyperpop producer, latest (since 2021) of a series of aliases going back to Leroy in 2011. A lot of intense clanking, although that's not always such a bad thing. B+(*) [sp] Rio Da Yung OG: F.L.I.N.T. (Feeling Like I'm Not Through) (2025, MINE Enertainment/Empire): Detroit rapper, hit the ground running with five albums in 2019, second this year, missed a couple years in between (prison?). Aging fast. B+(***) [sp] Sharp Pins: Balloon Balloon Balloon (2025, K/Perennial): Chicago lo-fi power pop group led by Kai Slater, who also records as Lifeguard, somewhat reminiscent of Big Star. Third album. Second was Radio DDR, which AOTY lists as a 2024 release, but Discogs has in 2025. I've made a mess of these two records in my EOY Aggregate, not that it makes much practical difference. B+(*) [sp] Shrunken Elvis: Shrunken Elvis (2025, Western Vinyl): Nashville-based instrumental trio, first album, consists of Sean Thompson (guitars), Rich Ruth (guitar/synth/bass), and Spencer Collum (pedal steel guitar). B+(**) [sp] They Are Gutting a Body of Water: Lotto (Julia's War/ATO): Shoegaze band from Philadelphia, started as a solo project by Douglas Dulgarian, fourth studio album since 2018. Short (10 songs, 27:49), which seems about right. B+(*) [sp] Colter Wall: Memories and Empties (2025, La Honda): Canadian country singer-songwriter, fifth album since 2017, has an easy-going western air. B+(**) [sp] Jennifer Walton: Daughters (2025, Local Action): British singer-songwriter, first album after a couple of EPs. Doesn't really connect. B [sp] The Westerlies: Paradise (2025, Westerlies): New York-based brass quartet, first record (2013) a collaboration with keyboardist-composer Wayne Horvitz, fourth album since on their own (plus a couple more collaborations), retains founders Riley Mulherkar (trumpet) and Andy Clausen (trombone), picked up Chloe Rowlands (trumpet, 2019) and Addison Maye-Saxon (trombone, here). B+(**) [bc] Lola Young: I'm Only F**king Myself (2025, Island/Day One): British singer-songwriter, third album after My Mind Wanders and Sometimes Leaves Completely and This Wasn't Meant for You Anyway, suggesting a SFFR, although my grasp of her lyrics here is so sketchy I have no idea what's tongue and what's cheek. B+(**) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: The Bill Evans Trio: Moon Beams (1962 [2025], Craft): First piano trio release after Scott LaFaro's death, with Chuck Israels taking over on bass, along with Paul Motian on drums. Originals to open and close (including his first "Very Early"), along with six standards. [earlier edition was: B+] B+(***) [sp] Lee Morgan: Here's Lee Morgan (1960 [2025], Craft): Hard bop trumpet player (1938-72), played with Art Blakey 1958-65, but led about 30 albums from 1956 on, most on Blue Note. This was a rare exception, one of two on Vee-Jay, later expanded with extra takes to make a 70:54 CD, but here cut back to its original 6 songs, 37:47. Quintet with Clifford Jordan (tenor sax), Wynton Kelly (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), and Blakey (drums). B+(**) [sp] Lee Morgan: The Procrastinator (1967 [2025], Blue Note): Six tracks 40:29, from a sextet session with Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Bobby Hutcherson (vibes), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Billy Higgins (drums) that was released in Japan under this title in 1978 (a US edition from 1978 combined this on 2-LP with another set, but the 1995 CD, as well as this latest vinyl release, just contains the one set). B+(*) [sp] Those Poor Bastards: Songs of Desperation [20th Anniversary Edition] (2005 [2025], Tribulation): Country gothic band, from Madison, Wisconsin, first album, 13 total through 2024 (plus 7 EPs), mostly with titles like Satan Is Watching, Behold the Abyss, Inhuman Nature, and Old Time Suffering. B+(*) [sp] Tony Williams: Civilization (1986 [2025], Blue Note): Drummer (1945-97), joined Miles Davis when he was 17, by which time he had already worked with Sam Rivers and Jackie McLean. Like Shorter and Hancock, he went on to lead a major fusion band in the 1970s, but he also anchored the Great Jazz Trio (with Hank Jones and Ron Carter), and picked up many notable side credits. Rather flashy postbop, not that interesting although Mulgrew Miller is impressive on piano. With Wallace Roney (trumpet), Billy Pierce (tenor/soprano sax), and Charnett Moffett (bass). B+(*) [sp] Old music: None. Grade (or other) changes: Danny Brown: Stardust (2025, Warp): Detroit rapper, sixth album since 2010. Hyperrap: too fast to follow, too glitzy to dismiss. [was: B+(***)] A- [sp] Rechecked with no grade change: Ale Hop & Titi Bakorta: Mapambazuko (2025, Nyege Nyege Tapes): Berlin-based Peruvian electronica with Congolese guitar. B+(***) [sp] Rosalía: Lux (2025, Columbia): Coming off an album I did like, winning polls, still sounds like opera to me. B+(*) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Wednesday, January 28, 2026 Music Week
January archive (in progress). Music: Current count 45484 [45431] rated (+53), 23 [14] unrated (+9). Last Music Week came out 14 days ago, on January 12. That was the day that the 20th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll appeared, with fewer notes than I had expected. I was disappointed that I hadn't done a better job of pulling it all together, but I was also worn down, and glad to put it aside. I expected to add some more — if nothing else, in response to whatever flack the poll kicked up — but I had precious little time, or perhaps desire, to carry on. Besides, I hadn't done one of my Loose Tabs compilations since November 24. I had stashed some 4200 words away for another column, but I had collected very little since December 1, and, well, "stuff happens." So I decided I'd take the week and fill that draft file out a bit. I have a system which serializes blog posts, so once I committed to a Loose Tabs, Music Week would have to wait. And so it did. I finally posted Loose Tabs on January 24. By then it came up to 459 links, 31382 words. That's a lot of "stuff" that happened. I've since added a bit more, with red change bars indicating the adds. I just barely alluded to the ICE murder of Alex Pretti on Saturday. I also mentioned Trump's Davos debacle, but missed several aspects of it. I had little trouble finding and commenting on important pieces the last two weeks, but today I find myself all but paralyzed. Music Week should be easy, given that the reviews are already written, and the introduction hardly matters. I can say that aside from the Poll and Loose Tabs and notes on the music below, I've had to deal with three fairly big things:
The cold isn't ending any time soon, but we may manage to get out to the grocery store tomorrow. The one thing I still seem to be good at is cooking. I made a pan of brownies and two batches of cookies (oatmeal-raisin, chocolate chip) for the visiting cousins. Then when the deep freeze settled in, for us I went for comfort food, making my mother's chicken & dumplings one night, and meatloaf another. Records below are all from 2025. Probably the first batch since the poll picked up in November that's mostly non-jazz. I've done a very poor job of tending to my EOY aggregate this year, so I'm often short of things to listen to — not short of albums (which far exceed anyone's capacity) but short of names I recognize as promising. And then I'm short of time to properly digest the things I do hear. It's not a very satisfactory way of working, guaranteed to come up short both on quantity and quality. I wrote most of this, but didn't quite get it up on Monday. Since then I've been torn, even considering the possibility of holding the whole thing back until the end of the month (as I'm not ready to open a February archive, despite next Monday falling on February 2. Actually, I'm not up to much of anything. It's possible I'll update this later when I decide to close out the month. Or I could push whatever's left over back into February. I'm reluctant to announce any plans for the coming year, as the prospects all look too glum, and I'm not sure I'm up to any of them. New records reviewed this week: Algernon Cadwallader: Trying Not to Have a Thought (2025, Saddle Creek): Emo band from Pennsylvania, band's namesake was first mayor of their home town, released two studio albums 2008-11, first album since they regrouped in 2023. B+(**) [sp] ALT BLK ERA: Rave Immortal (2025, Earache): British electropop duo, sisters Nyrobi and Chaya Beckett-Messam, first album after a 2023 EP. Starts in dance pop territory, but midway starts rocking out, especially on "Come Fight Me for It" and "Rabbit Run." A- [sp] Leon Anderson: Live at Snug Harbor (2023 [2025], Outside In Music): Drummer, from Louisiana, teaches at Florida State, has some side credits back to 1998 but first album, a hard bop quintet with John Michael Bradford (trumpet), Ricardo Pascal (sax), Oscar Rossignoli (piano), and Rodney Jordan (bass). Nothing here that Art Blakey couldn't have done 60 years ago, but a pretty lively example of that era, with an enthusiastic crowd, is impossible to resist. B+(**) [sp] Sonya Belaya: Dacha (2025, Ropeadope): First-generation Russian-American pianist/singer, based in Brooklyn, first album, after side credits with Lesley Mok and David Leon. A song cycle, presumably in Russian, "rooted in themes of loss, cultural memory, and resilience, drawing from Soviet feminist poetry, bard traditions, and Eastern European folk songs." Most of that is lost on me, but the music is haunting. B+(**) [bc] Blawan: SickElixir (2025, XL): British DJ Jamie Roberts, based in Berlin, second album, after lots of EPs going back to 2011. Terms like "post-dubstep" and "industrial techno" crop up. B+(*) [sp] The Bug: Implosion (2025, Pressure): British dubstep producer Kevin Martin, early projects included GOD (1991-94), Techno Animal (1991-2001), and Ice (1993-99), has 10+ albums and many singles as the Bug since 1997. Fairly minimal. B+(*) [sp] Laura De Jongh: Fundus (2025, Klankhaven, EP): Belgian harpist, solo, 7 tracks, 24:55, "rooted in the strict, classical formation," "seeks a balance between the natural acoustics of her instrument and the amplified, distorted sound." B+(*) [sp] Olivia Dean: The Art of Loving (2025, Capitol/Polydor): British pop/r&b singer-songwriter, second album. B+(*) [sp] Deftones: Private Music (2025, Reprise): Alt-metal (or shoegaze?) band from Sacramento, 10th studio album since 1995, first seven albums sold well enough to collect some kind of metal, last three have charted about as well (2-5-5 in US, 5-5-2 in UK, similar elsewhere). Seemed tolerable to start, but albums like this turn into endurance tests. By the time I got to the last cut, for lack of anything more interesting to say, I added up the Spotify track plays and came up with 168 million, which is 168 million more than the next album I queued up (just using the millions; add the thousands together and the latter barely topped 1 million, but Deftones would probably pick up at least that much). B- [sp] DJ K: Radio Libertadora! (2025, Nyege Nyege Tapes): Brazilian funk producer Kaique Vieira, second album on Uganda's farthest reaching label. "In his bruxaria universe, the beats are hard, vocals are screamed and bass is explosive, creating an overwhelming, apocalyptic sound." I'd say hyperkinetic, possibly too much, but I'm sure that's the point. B+(**) [sp] DJ Love/DJ Danz/DJ Ericnem: Budots World: 3-Hit Combo! (2025, Eastern Margins): Budots is a electronic dance music style ("slacker" in Bisaya), originating in the Philippines (Davao City). None of these three have Discogs entries I can find (DJ Love also seems to go as Sherwin Tuna, but no joy there either). They split the songs 5/4/4. A- [sp] Florence + the Machine: Everybody Scream (2025, Polydor/Republic): British singer-songwriter Florence Welch, sixth group album since 2009, two more long-term members of the band (Isabella Summers, Robert Ackroyd) but her principal co-writers are "additional musicians" Mark Bowen and Aaron Dessner. This sees pretty solid. B+(*) [sp] Alex G: Headlights (2025, RCA): Singer-songwriter Alex Giannascoli, from Pennsylvania, tenth album since 2011, slightly skewed approach to songs reminds some people of Pavement, a comparison that would carry more weight if he had any songs I liked. B- [sp] Alison Goldfrapp: Flux (2025, A.G.): British electropop singer, previously the namesake for the duo Goldfrapp (7 albums 2000-17), second solo album. B+(**) [sp] Saya Gray: Saya (2025, Dirty Hit): Canadian pop singer-songwriter, second album with a couple of EPs. B+(*) [sp] Gwenno: Utopia (2025, Heavenly): Singer-songwriter from Wales, father is Cornish poet Tim Saunders, grew up fluent in Cornish and Welsh, sings in both but slips in some English in this, her fourth album. B+(*) [sp] Heartworms: Glutton for Punishment (2025, Speedy Wunderground): British singer-songwriter Josephine (Jojo) Orme, father Afghan-Pakistani, mother Chinese-Danish, first album after a 2023 EP. Pretty good. B+(***) [sp] Heems: A Hundred Alibis (2025, Veena, EP): Das Racist rapper, solo albums since 2012 (initially as Himanshu). Six songs, 19:32. Mostly sung, draws on some Indian music, but doesn't really work. B- [sp] The High Society New Orleans Jazz Band: Live at Birdland (2025, Turtle Bay): Seven piece trad jazz band, led by Simon Wettenhall (trumpet) and Conal Fowkes (piano), "New Orleans" is inspiration, but this was recorded in New York City, which seems to be home — the band is known for playing with Woody Allen. B+(**) [sp] Nyron Higor: Nyron Higor (2025, Far Out, EP): Brazilian multi-instrumentalist (keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, percussion), sings some, first album, short (10 tracks, 23:51). B+(*) [sp] Steve Hirsh: Root Causes (2023 [2025], Mahakala Music): Drummer, from New York City, based in northern Minnesota, started recording on this label in 2021, with Joel Futterman, Chad Fowler, and George Cartwright. Trio here with Eri Yamamoto (piano) and William Parker (bass). B+(***) [sp] Hotline TNT: Raspberry Moon (2025, Third Man): New York indie/shoegaze band, fronted by singer-songwriter Will Anderson, third album. B [bc] Hannah Jadagu: Describe (2025, Sub Pop): Singer-songwriter born in Texas, parents from Zimbabwe, moved to New York in 2020, released an EP in 2021, an album in 2023, and now this second album. B+(*) [sp] Vladimir Kostadinovic: Iris (2024 [2025], Criss Cross Jazz): Drummer, originally from Serbia, based in Austria, debut album 2011, recorded this in New York, with Ben Wendel (tenor sax; also Chris Potter on two tracks), Alex Sipiagin (trumpet), Joe Locke (vibes), Geoffrey Keezer (piano), and Matt Brewer (bass). Nice romp for Locke. B+(**) [sp] The Last Dinner Party: From the Pyre (2025, Island): British art rock/baroque pop group, second album, lead singer Abigail Morris, songs jointly credited. B- [sp] Leikeli47: Lei Keli Ft. 47/For Promotional Use Only (2025, Acrylic/Hardcover): Rapper, started with mixtapes (2010-15), fourth album since 2017, title seems tentative (as does length: 11 songs, 29:56). B+(***) [sp] MC BF & DJ Yuzak: Bebeto E Romário (2025, Mandelão, EP): Brazilian electrofunk duo, 13 songs, 24:30. B+(**) [sp] Monaleo: Who Did the Body (2025, Stomp Down/Columbia): Houston rapper Leondra Gay, second album, sharp in spots. B+(**) [sp] Christy Moore: A Terrible Beauty (2024, Claddagh): Irish folksinger-songwriter (b. 1945), couple dozen solo studio albums since 1969, plus live albums and group work with Planxty (1972-83). I noted a number of his albums in my database, but my interest in Anglo-Celtic folk music — from my vantage the distinctions are insignificant — this is the first I've managed to check out. Not my thing, but this pulls me in. B+(***) [sp] Navy Blue: The Sword & the Soaring (2025, Freedom Sounds): Underground rapper Sage Elsesser, from Brooklyn, ninth album since 2020. I was somewhat taken aback when I saw this genrefied as "Christian hip-hop." It doesn't hip or hop much, but does keep returning to themes of faith with heavenly airs. B+(***) [sp] Nazar: Demilitarize (2025, Hyperdub): Angolan producer Alcides Simoes, second album (after Guerrilla), coined the term "rough kiduro," "translating the normally upbeat style to expose the uglier side of what he saw in Angola." B+(*) [sp] NMIXX: Blue Valentine (2025, JYP Entertainment): K-pop girl group, singles in 2022, three albums (with variants) since 2023. Huge Spotify plays, with the title track topping 36 million. B+(**) [sp] Robert Plant: Saving Grace (2025, Nonesuch): Former singer for mega arena rock band Led Zeppelin (1969-80), not sure why I've had so little interest in his solo career, with a half-dozen gold records 1982-93, as well as considerable success with his 1998 Jimmy Page duo and his collaborations with bluegrass singer-violinist Alison Krauss (2007, 2021). He formed this acoustic folk band in 2019 with singer Suzi Dian (credited on front cover), covering mostly blues and folk songs. B+(*) [sp] Noah Preminger: Dark Days (2024 [2025], Criss Cross Jazz): Tenor saxophonist, was our Debut winner in 2008, has a solid mainstream career with 20+ albums since. Quartet with Ely Perlman (guitar), Kim Cass (bass), and Terreon Gully (drums), mostly playing originals (one by Perlman), with two covers (Don Cherry, Nando Michelin). B+(***) [sp] Juana Rozas: Tanya (2025, Sony Music Argentina): Argentinian singer-songwriter, second album, "a clubby tribute to the chameleonic sounds of the Latin rave underground." B+(**) [sp] Saint Etienne: International (2025, Heavenly): British electropop band, 13th album since 1991, Sarah Cracknell the singer, also keyboardists Pete Wiggs and Bob Stanley — the latter also fairly well known as a music journalist. This is fairly delightful, but nothing quite compelled me to upgrade. B+(***) [sp] Ternion Q Expanded: Marbles (2025, Bju'ecords): Danish bassist, long part of Brooklyn Jazz Underground, released a Ternion Quartet album in 2017, with Silke Eberhard (alto sax), Geoffroy De Masure (trombones), and Roland Schneider (drums); returns here as a septet, adding Percy Pursglove (trumpet), Julius Gawlik (clarinets/tenor sax), and Morris Kiphuis (french horn). B+(**) [sp] Jesse Welles: Hells Welles (2024, self-released): Folk singer-songwriter from Ozark, Arkansas, initially recorded as Jeh Sea Wells, with eight albums 2012-18, five more as Welles, then eight more starting with this one in 2024, under his almost real name (actually Wells). Starts with "War Isn't Murder," then "Payola" and "Cancer" ("so if you aren't expecting peace, why expect a cure?"). Double LP, 21 songs, just guitar and voice, and conscience. B+(***) [sp] Jesse Welles: Patchwork (2024, self-released): A dozen more songs, opening with a nod toward Dylan. B+(**) [sp] Jesse Welles: Pilgrim (2025, self-released): Second album of the year, after The Middle, making four in twelve months, with more to come. The songs keep coming, with the short "Philannthropist" perhaps the most pointed. B+(**) [sp] Jesse Welles: Devil's Den (2025, self-released): Eleven more songs, something of a band, starts with "The Great Caucasian God." B+(*) [sp] Jesse Welles: With the Devil (2025, self-released): Alternate version of the 11 songs on Devil's Den. Band seems looser, the extra space opening up for a more graceful singer, and perhaps easier focus on the words. B+(**) [sp] Jesse Welles: Under the Powerlines (April '24-September '24) (2024 [2025], self-released): I don't quite understand what this is, let alone the rationalization, but this rolls up 63 songs (195 minutes), presumably live, starts solo reprising songs from Hells Welles, only I'm picking up more lyrics this time around. Opens with "War Isn't Murder": "The dead don't feel honor; They don't feel that brave; They don't feel avenged; They're lucky if they got graves; Try not to think about the dead, and have a nice day." Then "Cancer": "Cancer is as lucrative a business as war; So if you ain't expecting peace, then why expect a cure?" Then "Fentanyl": "Makes Johnson Johnson oxys look like little beers; Send dough tot he enforcement, they build another jail; Give money to a hammer, they're gonna buy a nail." Later: "I like to complain; You like to complain; We can all complain together." Covers Dylan and Prine, and does a fair impression of both. Also covers Jagger & Richard. A- [sp] Jesse Welles: Under the Powerlines (October '24-December '24) (2024 [2025], self-released): 25 songs (67 minutes). B+(***) [sp] Wolf Alice: The Clearing (2025, Columbia/RCA): British alt-rock band, originally a duo of singer Ellie Rowsell and guitarist Joff Oddie, added bass and drums, fourth album since 2015. B+(*) [sp] Tommy Womack: Live a Little (2025, Schoolkids): Singer-songwriter from Kentucky, long based on Nashville, ninth album since 1998, most of them good-to-better. B+(***) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Herb Geller Quartet: Barcelona Session (1990, Fresh Sound): Alto saxophonist, one of the key players in the West Coast Cool Jazz scene of the 1950s, moved to Germany in 1962, playing and arranging for big bands in Berlin (RIAS) and Hamburg (NDR), resuming his own albums around 1990. This is the rest of the session that produced Birdland Stomp, with piano (Kenny Drew), bass (Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen) and drums (Mark Taylor), with two guest spots each for young trumpet players Roy Hargrove and Gerard Presencer. B+(***) [sp] Dizzy Gillespie/Sonny Stitt/Sonny Rollins: Sonny Side Up (1957 [2025], Verve): Pretty much the cutting contest you'd expect, backed by a rhythm section of Ray Bryant (piano), Tom Bryant (bass), and Charlie Persip (drums). B+(***) [sp] Billy Harper: Trying to Make Heaven My Home (1979 [2025], MPS): Tenor saxophonist, from Houston, debut 1973, his 1975 album Black Saint keynoted an Italian label that was one of the following decade's most important. Quintet with trumpet (Everett Hollins), piano (Armen Donelian), bass (Wayne Dockery), and drums (Malcolm Pinson). He's a tower of strength here, as he usually is. B+(***) [sp] Hüsker Dü: 1985: The Miracle Year (1985 [2025], Numero Group): Hardcore trio from Minnesota, six studio albums 1983-87, notable live albums to start and end, exceptional power and occasional pop hooks, had such a reputation at the time that I followed them, despite never really getting with the program. Label has been trawling through their live tapes recently, with this 4-LP (or 2-CD) box a big deal. Opens with a Jan. 30, 1985 set, following New Day Rising, that was reduced to an EP earlier this year, then jumps around many other shows. I recognize a bunch of songs, but doubt any are improved live. A couple covers do help. But the length wears thin. B+(*) [sp] Agustin Pereyra Lucena: Puertos De Alternativa (1988 [2025], Far Out): Argentinian guitarist (1948-2019), albums from 1970 on, this with a mix of solo, duo, and small group tracks. B+(*) [sp] Edison Machado: Edison Machado & Boa Nova (1978 [2025], Far Out): Brazilian drummer (1934-90), regarded as a samba pioneer, only a few albums as leader and in Bossa Três. Previously unreleased sextet session. B+(*) [sp] The Lost Secret Dave Wells' Trombone City Band: Live at Carmelo's (1983 [2025], Fresh Sound): Trombonist (1931-2003), not much under his name but he started with Harry James in 1952, played in varios ubig bands (Woody Herman, Marty Paich, Russell Garcia, Jimmy Hamilton, Billy May, Pat Longo, Henry Mancini, Don Ellis), while spinning off groups like Trombones Unlimited and side-credits like Bobby Darin and Frank Zappa. Previously unreleased tape, group with six trombones, piano, guitar, bass, and drums, with 9 tracks stretching out to 80 minutes. B+(*) [sp] Old music: Cliff Jordan: Cliff Jordan [Blue Note 1565] (1957, Blue Note): Tenor saxophonist (1931-93), second album (after Blowin' in From Chicago, with John Gilmore), cover shows his name in red, six more names in black, and the label and number in red again. The others: Lee Morgan (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (trombone), John Jenkins (alto sax), Ray Bryant (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums). B+(***) [sp] Clifford Jordan: Starting Time (1961, Jazzland): Tenor saxophonist, as cover notes with Kenny Dorham (trumpet), Cedar Walton (piano), Wilbur Ware (bass), and Albert Heath (drums). Three Jordan originals, two each from Dorham and Walton, plus an Ellington cover. B+(**) [yt] Clifford Jordan Quartet: Bearcat (1961-62 [1990], Jazzland/OJC): Tenor saxophonist, plays five originals, two overs (including "How Deep Is the Ocean?"), backed by Cedar Walton (piano), Teddy Smith (bass), and J.C. Moses (drums). B+(**) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Sunday, January 12, 2025 Music Week
January archive (in progress). Music: Current count 45431 [45382] rated (+49), 14 [9] unrated (+5). I published a year-ending Music Week on December 31, or at least that's how I timestamped it. My only coincidentally a New Years resolution was to not publish another until the 20th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll was published. The task of wrapping it up was potentially endless, and I had to focus to get it done. My initial plan was to aim for Monday, January 5, but I was nowhere near ready. That should have been the first Music Week of 2026, but I had virtually no records to report, and couldn't bother even filing a placeholder. I plugged on, eventually aiming for the week of January 12. I circulated drafts of essays on the website, and eventually caught the attention of ArtsFuse editor William Marx. He figured they were good enough to go, and so around noon today I relented, and he published them. I sent him lots of corrections during the day, and he kept up with them. Finally, I updated the website, removing the block that kept people from seeing the results and ballots. I added a table of contents, which I should be able to just cut-and-paste here:
I had planned on beefing up the articles with extra notes from voters and other readers, and indeed published a few. Even before the weekend, I resolved not to hold the essays back until I was satisfied with the comments. Marx agreed that we could add them after publication, and that's my current plan. Ergo, I added this paragraph:
The email address is a temporary one I can kill off once it's served its purpose. Anything that gets to me will work just as well. I wrote some more about what I'm looking for here. I also made this point in an email I sent out widely:
I throw these pleas out regularly — I made one on Substack over the weekend, called Editing Help Wanted — and very rarely get anything back. I suppose on some level it helps me just to articulate such needs. If I've learned anything from this poll cycle, it's that time marches on inexorably, regardless of our desires or intentions. And that at some point that becomes very depressing. Anyhow, while the moment of needing editing help has passed — not that my essays couldn't use more editing, but having been published that's not so much my problem any more. I'm rushing this out tonight so you can get the notice of the poll while it's news. And also so I don't have to work on this, or any other, post for a week or so. This week is not really going to be mine anyway. A construction crew is showing up tomorrow morning to tear the roof off the sucker, and slap a new one on. It's a big job, not so much because the house is huge as because it was designed to make roofing work as inconvenient as possible: most of the roof is two stories up, but there are smaller bits around the sides and there's something like a skirt between the first and second floors. There's also a carport/patio, which has its own unique obstacles. This could very well take the rest of the week, and I'll still have a railing to put up, and work in the attic to do. But the roofing job has been hanging over us for several months now, so it will be a huge relief to get it done. As is getting the poll done. Not sure what comes next, but I hope it's more interesting and less wearing than 2025 has been. I should refrain from saying much more about the future. And just feel fortunate to have gotten this far. Lots of records below. Almost all jazz. First part of the period I tried listening to previously reviewed records, so reviewed next to nothing. Then I switched gears and started picking off records I had missed (and the poll has revealed much more I haven't gotten to yet). New records reviewed this week: Sophie Agnel: Learning (2023-24 [2025], Otoroku): French pianist, placed three records in the poll this year, started with a solo album in 2000, come up with another here. An especially striking panorama of sound. B+(***) [bc] Brigitte Beraha's Lucid Dreamers: Teasing Reflections (2024 [2025], Let Me Out): British jazz singer-songwriter, albums since 2002, third group album, with Alcyona Mick (piano/synth), George Crowley (tenor sax/bass clarinet/electronics), and Tim Giles (drums/electronics). As is often the case with originals, I'm slow on the uptake here, but I am impressed by the jazz feel. B+(***) [sp] Blue Moods: Force & Grace (2024 [2025], Posi-Tone): Mainstream label house band project, third album, each focuses on a composer, this one on Freddie Hubbard, after the first two addressed Charles Mingus and Duke Pearson. With Diego Rivera (tenor/soprano sax), Art Hirahara or Jon Davis (piano), Boris Kozlov (bass), and Vinnie Sperrazza (drums). B+(**) [sp] Silvia Bolognesi & Eric Mingus: Is That Jazz? Celebrating Gil Scott-Heron Live (2024 [2025], Fonterossa): Italian bassist, has a fairly wide range of projects since 2005. Music by Brian Jackson and Scott-Heron, with Mingus handling the words, punching hard and adding a few of his own. B+(***) [bc] Silvia Bolognesi: Jungle Duke (2024 [2025], Caligola): Italian bassist, leads a group where Chicago saxophonist Nick Mazzarella is listed as "featuring" through an Ellington program, mostly early pieces from what's sometimes called the "Bubber Miley era," although "Dreaming Suite" incorporates a couple later works ("Ko-Ko," "Such Sweet Thunder"). B+(**) [sp] Jakob Bro/Wadada Leo Smith/Marilyn Crispell/Andrew Cyrille: The Montclair Session (2022 [2025], Loveland Music): Danish guitarist, 20+ albums since 2003, including 8 on ECM, has been developing relationships with some top players, including this all-star trio on trumpet, piano, and drums. B+(*) [sp] Jakob Bro/Wadada Leo Smith/Marcus Gilmore: Murasaki (2025, Loveland Music): Guitar/trumpet/drums trio, takes a while for the trumpet to develop, impressive when it does. B+(**) [bc] Jakob Bro & Midori Takada: Until I Met You (2024 [2025], Loveland Music): Danish guitarist, playing acoustic, with percussion, piano, and marimba. Takada, from Japan, has been around the world, starting in classical with a solo debut in Berlin, moved on to Africa and Indonesia, with a 1983 album "considered an essential recording of minimalist music in chime with the peak period ambient and fourth world musics explored by Jon Hassell, Don Cherry and Brian Eno." B+(**) [sp] Jakob Bro Large Ensemble: New Morning (2023 [2025], Loveland Music): Eleven-piece group, up from his Nonet in 2007 (added electric bass and keyboards; Bill McHenry took over tenor sax from George Garzone). B+(*) [sp] Jakob Bro & Joe Lovano with Larry Grenadier, Thomas Morgan, AC, Jorge Rossy & Joey Baron: Live at the Village Vanguard (2023 [2025], Loveland Music): Bro (guitar) and Lovano (tenor sax) recorded a Paul Motian tribute together in 2021. Lovano had played in Motian's trio, along with guitarist Bill Frisell. The tribute album slotted Bro for Frisell, doubled up on drums, and added two double basses plus one bass guitar (AC, aka Anders Christensen). So this is the same band live, reprising/revising most of their originals, working in a couple more Motian pieces. B+(***) [bc] John Butcher/Phil Durrant/Mark Wastell: Around the Square, Above the Hill (2024, Confront): British avant-saxophonist, prolific since 1989, here with mandolin/electronics and drums, all three having intersected many times over the years. B+(*) [bc] Caelan Cardello: Chapter One (2025, Jazz Bird): Pianist, from New Jersey, first album only if you over look Rufus Reid Presents Caelan Cardello, trio plus tenor sax (Chris Lewis) on three tracks. B+(**) [sp] Dena DeRose: Mellow Tones (2024 [2025], HighNote): Jazz singer, plays piano, debut 1998, cover says "with special guest Ed Neumeister," but the trombonist only plays on the first and last tracks, leaving seven trio tracks with bass (Martin Wind) and drums (Matt Wilson). The trombone is, indeed, a plus, but she's always in command. B+(**) [sp] Erez Dessel: Pro Fake No Reject (2024 [2025], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Young pianist, first album, solo. B+(*) [bc] Nick Dunston: Reverse Broadcast (2022 [2025], Carrier): Bassist, has several albums, notable side credits with Mary Halvorson, Tyshawn Sorey, Ches Smith, and Anna Webber. One 40:34 piece, with "processed radios" ahead of bass on his credits list, and cover credits for Wet Ink Ensemble, Katherine Young, Charmaine Lee, Nina Guo, Lester St. Louis,and Weston Olencki. Some interesting moments, but not a concept I enjoy. B [bc] Nick Dunston: Colla Voce: Praylewd (2025, Out of Your Head): "These long-form electronic pieces, crafted from album samples, serve as a non-linear introduction or follow-up to COLLA VOCE, reflecting cyclical themes of time, life, and death." B [bc] El Infierno Musical: II (2025, Klanggalerie): Austrian saxophonist Christof Kurzmann is listed as composer here, reprising a group originally assembled for a 2011 tribute to Argentinian poet Alejandra Pizarnik. Only Ken Vandermark remains from the 2011 group, joined by Dave Rempis on sax and flute, so Kurzmann's credit is reduced by computer and vocals. Group is rounded out with two cellists (Katinka Kleijn, Lia Kohl) and drums (Lily Finnegan). The saxes are well behaved, the drums wide-ranging, and the spoken word interesting. B+(**) [bc] Kurt Elling/Christian Sands: Wildflowers Vol. 3 (2025, Big Shoulders): Jazz singer, since his 1995 Blue Note debut probably the most famous and most widely admired male in the arena, but while recognizing his technical mastery, I've never liked his records (and this is number 20 for me). Not that the distinction matters much, but as he's gotten older (58 now), his voice seems to have deepened and slowed down, which makes him seem less pretentious, but not really better. This is his third short album (5 tracks, 28:03) backed by piano: Christian Sands here, after Sullivan Fortner and Joey Calderazzo. B- [sp] Extraordinary Popular Delusions: The Last Quintet (2023 [2025], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Late, probably the last record recorded by Chicago saxophonist Mars Williams, struck by cancer and dead within three months. Quintet adds a second saxophonist, Edward Wilkerson Jr., plus Jim Baker (piano), Brian Sandstrom (bass), and Steve Hunt (drums), with everyone supplementing their primary credits, including digeridoo (Wilkerson), toys (Williams), and "miscellaneous paraphernalia" (Hunt). Group name goes back to a 2010 quartet (minus Wilkerson, who may have been added for backup, and may have been the lead early, but Williams certainly got his licks in later). Song titles may have come from Kim Stanley Robinson, but the Mars featured here was in the room. A- [bc] Fred Hersch/Rondi Charleston: Suspended in Time: A Song Cycle (2025, Resilience Music Alliance): Full cover credit is "Music by Fred Hersch/Lyrics by Rondi Charleston." She sings, he plays piano, backed by string quartet and two bassists. B+(*) [sp] Art Hirahara: Peace Unknown (2021 [2025], Posi-Tone): Pianist, from San Francisco, based in New York, has 20+ albums since 2000, playing (along with Boris Kozlov on bass and Rudy Royston on drums) on nearly everything his label has released since 2020. Here he lines up their headliners: Diego Rivera (tenor sax), Alex Sipiagin (trumpet), Patrick Cornelius (alto sax), and Michael Dease (trombone), with Markus Howell (alto sax) on two tracks. They can sound like a big band, which isn't necessarily a plus. B+(*) [sp] Johnny Iguana: At Delmark: Chicago-Style Solo Piano (2025, Delmark): Real name Brian Berkowitz, from Philadelphia, moved to New York, then to Chicago in 1994, where he's mostly played in blues bands, and has a previous album called Chicago Spectacular: A Grand and Upright Celebration of Chicago Blues Piano. Opens flexing his fingers on "Bass Key Boogie," then throws you his first change up: "Heart of Gold." Then come five originals, slipping in "You Never Can Tell" and ending with Jay McShann. B+(**) [sp] Chris Ingham Quintet: Walter/Donald (2025, Downhome): British pianist-singer, has written many reviews and several books (Billie Holiday, Beatles, Frank Sinara), nothing I can find to suggest he's related to Keith Ingham, has previous project records on Hoagy Carmichael and Dudley Moore. This one reprises 11 Steely Dan songs, and is dubbed "A Becker/Fagen Songbook Volume 1." With Harry Greene (sax/guitar), Paul Higgs (trumpet), bass, and drums. B+(*) [bc] Italian Surf Academy + Denver Butson: Ennio Morricone Is Dissolving (2024 [2025], 41st Parallel): Italian guitarist Marco Cappelli, from Naples, with Damon Banks (bass) and Dave Miller (drums), fourth album since 2012; Cappelli's various projects include an Acoustic Trio, a Derek Bailey Tribute Band, an Extreme Guitar Project, work with Adam Rudolph and Evan Parker. Butson is a Brooklyn-based poet, who recites the title poem, with the group's music weaving bits of Morricone soundtrack into the guitar jam, in one remarkable 28:54 piece. A- [bc] Martin Küchen/Mathias Landæus: Müæm (2023 [2024], SFÄR): Swedish duo, saxophone (tenor/sopranino) riffing over beats from analog synths and a drum machine, with various effects, minimal preparation, and no overdubs. (Landæus usually plays piano, but not here.) B+(***) [bc] Mathias Landæus/Nina de Heney/Kresten Osgood: Dissolving Patterns (2023 [2025], SFÄR): Swedish pianist, 24 albums since 1996, trio with bass and drums. B+(**) [bc] Hanna Paulsberg Concept & Elin Rosseland: Himmel Over Hav (2023 [2025], Grappa): Norwegian tenor saxophonist, fifth group album since 2012, Rosseland a Norwegian singer who started in the 1980s. B+(*) [bc] Hery Paz: Fisuras (2024 [2025], Porta-Jazz/Carimbo): Cuban saxophonist, based in New York, several albums since 2004, starts with tenor but credit reads "woodwinds, claves & voice), backed by Joao Carlos Pinto (keyboard/electronics), Demian Cabaud (bass/flute/bombo legüero), and Pedro Melo Alves (percussion), recorded live with Maria Monica ("all live visual sorcery"). Very strong in spots. B+(**) [bc] Marcelo dos Reis/Flora: Our Time (2025, JACC): Portuguese guitarist, more than a dozen albums since 2012, group name refers to one from 2023, same trio here: Miguel Falcão (bass) and Luis Filipe Silva (drums). B+(***) [bc] Juan Romeros Manuella Orkester: Lua Armonia (2025, Supertraditional): Argentinian-Swedish percussionist, better known as Juan Romero, based in Stockholm, 30+ years of side credits, including Fire! Orchestra and Cosmic Ear recently. Group with sax (Julia Strzalek), trumpet (Goran Kajfes), keyboards, bass, and drums, cuts a subtle groove. B+(**) [sp] Akira Sakata/Giotis Damianidis/Giovanni Di Domenico/Aleksandr Škorić/Paal Nilssen-Love/Petros Damianidis/Tatsuhisa Yamamoto: Hyperentasis: Live in Thessaloniki (2023-25 [2025], Defkaz): Two albums (91:23), the second recorded on the Japanese alto saxophonist's 80th birthday, both with the Damiandis brothers (guitar and bass), piano (Di Domenico), and drums (Škorić on the first, the others on the second). B+(***) [bc] Boz Scaggs: Detour (2025, Concord): Singer-songwriter, recorded a 1965 album, appeared in Steve Miller Band (1968), went solo in 1969 and gold in 1974 but the hits faded after 1980. Tried a standards album in 2003 (But Beautiful) and has several now — I liked 2015's A Fool to Care. Doesn't seem to have the voice for these songs, but acquits himself fairly well anyway. B+(**) [sp] Noura Mint Seymali: Yenbett (2025, Glitterbeat): Singer, plays ardine (some kind of harp), from Mauritania, comes from a long line of Moorish griot, of which her step-mother Dimi Mint Abba is extra famous. B+(***) [bc] Vinnie Sperrazza/Jacob Sacks/Masa Kamaguchi: Play Elmo Hope (2024 [2025], Fresh Sound): Drums, piano, bass, part of a series of nine albums, starting with Play Cy Coleman in 2013, with the trio going back to 2010. B+(**) [sp] Kandace Springs: Lady in Satin (2025, SRP): I've never liked Billie Holiday's 1958 album, and have no desire to ever hear it again: I hated the string arrangements, and the singer, whose recent Verve recordings were often still remarkable, sounded like death warmed over. But the album does have admirers, so I was tempted to overreact to this project, but some respect is due. Springs isn't Holiday, but is an impressive singer, and Orquestra Clássica de Espinho is fine as such things go. B+(*) [sp] Ben Stapp: Uzmic Ro'Samg (Live Solo Tuba) (2025, 577): Tuba player, came to my attention with a 2008 trio album, shows up on occasional records (Steve Swell, Joe Morris, William Parker). Solo records are always tough, especially for monophonic horns, which tend to sound naked without the warm harmonics of a bass, and to lag without the prodding of a drummer, and the heavier instruments are especially slow and hard to maneuver. Still, this is intriguing and entertaining, no matter how you tune in or out. Includes some sousaphone, pedals, and effects. B+(**) [dl] David Virelles: Igbó Alákorin (The Singer's Grove) III [Theatrical Cut] (2025, El Tivoli Productions): Cuban pianist, moved to Canada in 2001, first album there 2007, later on to New York with records on Pi and ECM. First two volumes of this title were combined on a single CD in 2018, an exploration of old Cuban themes and techniques developed with orchestra and vocals. This is more rudimentary, or perhaps primitive, with solo piano and UDO Super 6 synthesizer, some recorded direct to wax cylinders, introducing a playback sound reminiscent of vintage sound recordings. Or maybe some of this really is old ("a series of rare danzones by Antonio Maria Romeu from the 1910s"). There is also a (Director's Cut) version with lots of extra material. B+(***) [bc] Gabriel Zucker: Confession (2023 [2025], Boomslang): Pianist, composer, based in New York, has two previous albums on ESP-Disk, also credited with synths, electronics, and voice here. Group includes guitar-bass-drums plus string quartet, but there are also a dozen more guest spots, and I doubt that accounts for all of the voices. He has a remarkable c.v., including his Rhodes scholarship and work "on homeless services and healthcare access at the Department of Veterans Affairs." I've seen him described as a "maximalist," which runs counter to my own instincts, perhaps why I shrugged off his 2018 album with the conclusion, "dramatic, I guess." First play of this didn't fare any better, but second play revealed a profusion of details each interesting alone. As for the whole, it's way over my head. B+(**) [cd] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: 3 Concerts Per A A.T.: In Der Kestner Gesellschaft Hannover (1998 [2025], Corbett vs. Dempsey): A collection from a concert series dedicated to Catalan painter Antonio Tàpies, organized by Günter Christmann, whose trio fills the center section, following pieces by Yoshukazu Iwamoto, Evan Parker, and Fred Van hove, and followed by other pieces to Udo Grim, Trevor Wishart, and Pi-Hsien Chen. B+(*) [bc] Rashied Ali Quintet Featuring Frank Lowe: Sidewalks in Motion (2001 [2025], Survival): Drummer (1933-2009), originally Robert Patterson, most famous for playing on John Coltrane's most avant-garde works (1965-67), played with Lowe (tenor sax) on a notable 1973 duo, Discogs lists 9 Quintet albums 1967-2007 but only regular is Joris Teepe (bass, after 2000). Also here: Jumaane Smith (trumpet), and Andrew Bemke (piano). B+(***) [sp] Derek Bailey/John Stevens: The Duke of Wellington (1989 [2025], Confront): Guitar (1930-2005) and drums (1940-94) duo, both important in the British avant-garde (Stevens was a founder of Spontaneous Music Ensemble). Like much of Bailey's work, this can be difficult. But I am quite taken with the drums. B+(*) [bc] Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers: Strasbourg 82 (1982 [2025], Gearbox): Legendary drummer, took over the Jazz Messengers from Horace Silver in 1956, and through 1965 developed a reputation for introducing brilliant new talent. After that the rosters are less notable, at least until the 1977-82, when Bobby Watson, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Donald Harrison, and Terence Blanchard passed through. This particular date with Blanchard (trumpet), Harrison (alto sax), Billy Pierce (tenor sax), Johnny O'Neal (piano), and Charles Fambrough (bass) reminds you what hard bop sounded like in the early 1960s. B+(***) [sp] The Bottle Tapes (1996-2005 [2025], Corbett vs. Dempsey, 6CD): Chicago had a storied avant-jazz scene back in the 1960s, when AACM was founded, but got a second jolt in the 1990s when Ken Vandermark moved in from Boston and started organizing his groups, many drawing on top European free jazz players. From 1996 he and John Corbett organized weekly sets at the Empty Bottle, where a steady stream of Europeans could gig with locals, while being treated like jazz royalty. This collects 41 tracks from their tapes, including a couple pieces that run quite long — Peter Brötzmann for 41:16; Alexander Schlippenbach with Evan Parker, Paul Lytton, and Conrad Bauer for 55:01 — some short, most in the 10-23 minute range. Solo pieces include pianists Misha Mengelberg and Irène Schweizer, clarinetists François Houle and André Jaume, and drummer Milford Graves. Remarkable stuff, especially the hard-hitting saxes. There must be tons more where this came from. A- [dl] Kenny Burrell With Art Blakey: On View at the Five Spot Café: The Complete Masters (1959 [2025], Blue Note): Guitarist, started recording in 1956, many albums up to 2016, live album originally appeared in 1960 with five tracks, with piano (Bobby Timmons or Roland Hanna), bass (Ben Tucker), drums (Blakey), and some fine tenor sax (Tina Brooks), which later reissues have diluted (7 tracks here, out of 14). B+(**) [sp] Jacques Coursil: Black Suite (1969 [2025], BYG): French trumpet player (1938-2020), parents from Martinique, had a very interesting life, where he entered traveled around Maruitania and Senegal from 1958 (befriending Leopold Senghor), moved back to Paris, then to New York in 1965 (where he played with Sun Ra, Sunny Murray, and Frank Wright). Back in Paris he recorded this haunting suite with Arthur Jones (alto sax), Anthony Braxton (contrabass clarinet), Burton Greene (piano), Bob Guérin (bass), and Claude Delcloo (drums). He dropped out of music, taught for 30 years, then picked it up again. B+(***) [sp] Miles Davis: The Musings of Miles (1955 [2025], Craft): Quartet with Red Garland (piano), Oscar Pettiford (bass), and Philly Joe Jones (drums), his first 12-inch LP (6 songs, 35:46) after several 10-inch albums. Somehow escaped my attention, unless it got swept up in the many compilations of his Prestige sessions. Two originals, three standards, "A Night in Tunisia." Nothing really stands out, other than hints of potential. [PS: I do have the 8-CD Chronicle: The Complete Prestige Recordings, long ago deemed a B+. That box includes the 4 much better LPs this group plus John Coltrane recorded in 1956 to work off their contract and move on to Columbia.] B+(**) [sp] Yusef Lateef: Golden Flower: Live in Sweden (1967-72 [2025], Elemental Music): Tenor saxophonist (1920-2013), was named Bill Evans before he converted to Islam and changed his name, around 1950. First records in 1957, became increasingly interested in African and Oriental music, playing a lot of flute, including many exotic variants. Two sets, the first with Lars Sjösten (piano), Palle Danielsson (bass), and Albert "Tootie" Heath (drums); the second with Kenny Barron (piano), Bob Cunningham (bass), and Heath again. I love the high-powered sax romps. Flute not so much. B+(***) [sp] Spiritual Jazz 18: Behind the Iron Curtain: Esoteric, Modal, and Progressive Jazz From Central and Eastern Europe (1962-1988) (1962-88 [2025], Jazzman): Well into an anthology series that started in 2008, with Spiritual Jazz: Esoteric, Modal and Deep Jazz From the Underground 1968-77, which collected 12 tracks from artists only a few I had barely heard of (Lloyd Miller, Mor Thiam, Salah Ragab, Ronnie Boykins). I expected this bunch to be even more obscure, but Krzysztof Komeda, Tomasz Stanko, Zbigniew Namyslowski, Ernst-Ludwig Petrovsky, and ringer Bernt Rosengren are pretty major figures. I've never quite understood what "spiritual jazz" means, other than "sounds like Coltrane," which is a pretty surefire prescription. B+(***) [sp] Old music: Jacques Coursil Unit: Way Ahead (1969, BYG): Recorded a month after Black Suite, minus Anthony Braxton, so a quartet with alto sax (Arthur Jones), bass (Bob Guérin), and drums (Claude Delcloo). Some fine trumpet. B+(**) [yt] Italian Surf Academy: Barbarella Reloaded (2017, Mode Avant): Italian guitarist Marco Cappelli's avant surf rock fusion group, second album, inspired by the movie or possibly the comic book, with JD Foster on toy keyboards, Luca Lo Bianco on bass guitar, and Francesco Cusa on drums. [No recording date on this album, but probably recorded earlier.] B+(*) [sp] Italian Surf Academy: Fake Worlds (2016 [2022], 41st Parallel): Guitarist Marco Cappelli's avant-surf-fusion trio, with Damon Banks (bass) and Dave Miller (drums), described as later than Barbarella Reloaded although the latter wasn't released until after this was recorded. Front cover bills this with three categories: Spaghetti Western, Tex Mex, Exotica (with the doc connecting Ennio Morricone to Martin Denny). B+(**) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Wednesday, December 31, 2025 Music Week
Music: Current count 45382 [45342] rated (+40), 9 [3] unrated (+6). This was originally published as a placeholder. It has since been updated with all records up through December 31. I'm holding out for the last day of 2025 to wrap up my December archive. Even that won't give me a full week after last week's delayed-until-Thursday Music Week. But while most months transition on the last Monday, I've long liked to give December a tidy calendar completion. My only worry this time is that I won't find time tomorrow to do what I couldn't possible do today. Still, let's save the date.The main reason I wanted to post this early is to give you an update on the 20th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll. I wound up counting 167 ballots. This is net down 10 from 2024. The actual number of 2024 voters who didn't vote in 2025 was minus 30, but we picked up 12 new voters, and 8 previous voters who had missed 2024. My impression is that the drop was mostly attributable to too many people having too much crap going on in their lives. Every year I vow to work harder and smarter to get more votes out. In some ways I thought I did this year, but the numbers didn't add up. Still, we got good results, from a terrific group of critics, who've once again been a pleasure to work with. We've voted for 569 new jazz albums and 206 rara avis — a good third of those are albums I hadn't heard. (I've been frantically trying to catch up since I started getting ballots back, but steadily losing ground. I have them marked somewhere, but not easy to count. I can confirm that that among 2025 releases, so far I've heard 1351 albums (of which 838 are jazz, somewhat loosely defined.) My own Best Jazz Albums of 2025 list has grown to 89 ranked A-list (new, +6 late-2024 adds; the old music section is up to 28 + 2). The album counts are probably a bit more than my usual year, yet I've never felt further behind. Still, I would be much further behind without the poll. The next step for me is to prepare the essays to accompany the poll results when Arts Fuse publishes them in a few days. (I'm aiming for Jan. 5, which is scary soon, but also promises the end of one difficult period, and the start of a hopefully better one.) The big difference this year is that Francis Davis is no longer with us. I have no illusions of being able to fill his shoes. And I'm notoriously bad at pressure deadlines, so I've come up with a scheme to finesse the essays: I'm going to write the frameworks, which will explain what the poll does and what each table is, and then hang some comments on the end. I've asked for help especially with the comments. I've gotten some, and will hustle up some more. And in a pinch, I figure I have quite a bit of old writing I can recycle. So instead of losing myself in deep thought about the structure of an essay, I can just slap on some scattered notes. At least that's the theory. To make it work, I need to solicit comments, and that's the purpose of this partial Music Week. I've written this pitch several times already, so I'm just going to pick one draft up and edit it a bit:
I also want to encourage people to write about the poll on their own media. Let me know if I can help facilitate that. One thing I've had no time to do during poll time has been to write anything for my Notes on Everyday Life newsletter. I got up Christmas morning, and wrote a fairly long entry into my online notebook, reminiscing about Christmases from my childhood up to the present day. About midway through it occurred to me that I had something that might be worth publishing, so I started tuning it up a bit. A couple days later, I posted it as Christmas 1950-2025 (archived copy here). I had last week's dinner pic, but I couldn't find anything from back in the day, so I appealed to my brother's family — they had taken most of the old family photos when they moved to Washington. My nephew found an old slide of me in front of an unlit Christmas tree, next to the parachute drop, which was the ultimate project from the Erector Set, one of my best remembered Christmas presents. No date given, but I was probably 9 at the time (1959), plus or minus a year but probably not two. The metal box it came in is to the lower left, and our b&w tv is in the corner. I think that was our second tv, probably bought around 1957, to be replaced with a color model around 1962-63 (in a wider, dark brown cabinet). The windows faced west, to the front of the house, so blinds and curtains were necessary to block out the afternoon sun. The room had two easy chairs for my parents, facing the tv, and a couch along the north wall. When we ate dinner, I sat in the one spot in the dining room that offered a clear view of the tv, which would be tuned into Huntley-Brinkley at our 5:30 dinner time. I tried to wrap this up after midnight, but couldn't cope, and left it for morning. Dec. 31 brought an expansion of this week's A-list from the three NoBusiness albums to seven widely varied but still all jazz records. One thing to ponder at this point is that only one of the seven received any poll votes (Joe Alterman, one vote by Sanford Josephson). The NoBusiness package and the Rick Roe were late arrivals. (The other two NoBusiness releases, Oliver Lake and Bobby Naughton, did receive Rara Avis votes. Arkady Gotesman would have made my ballot had I heard it in time.) While I got very little essay writing done yesterday, I did finally manage to start reading past Francis Davis essays (as well as a couple of min), which is giving me a lot to think about. I noticed, for instance, that Davis rarely flinched from political issues, even in years when their impact was much less overwhelming than at present. Also that many of his pieces were pretty short (whereas some of mine were extravagantly long). I've gotten very little back on the comment front, which will probably turn out to be a bust (but is still an interesting concept). I expect to do better today, and better still tomorrow. At some point the dam will burst, and I'll have more words than I know what to do with. For instance, I should be able to do something with this letter I found (from 2022, by Francis, in response to a proposal to move the poll, from a voter who has since parted ways):
One question this raises in my mind is: is there any consensus any more? is consensus even possible? and even if it is, would that be a good thing? Of course, I'm not going to try to answer those questions. Just to raise them may be all we can do. Needless to say, I'm way behind on my indexing. I used to laugh it off when people would comment about all my "hard work," but this is the year when it's finally gotten hard. I'm looking forward to working on something else. Or just cleaning up the residual mess, which is substantial. New records reviewed this week: Marshall Allen: The Omniverse Oriki (2023 [2025], High Two): Alto saxophonist, turned 100 last year, around the time that New Dawn was being touted as his "debut" album: a lie, or at least a ridiculous rationalization that proved so attractive that I wound up rejecting a dozen poll votes for him in the Debut category. The idea that one can always start afresh is as seductive as ever, but to promote it you have to overlook 70+ years of real, substantial accomplishment. True he spent most of his career just playing in Sun Ra's Arkestra, but after its namesake passed in 1993, Allen not only took over but put his name on the revitalized ghost band (at least 6 albums since 1999). Moreover, he's increasingly played with other ad hoc groups: Discogs has him on the slugline of 28 more albums, and has him playing on 400. Allen also got votes (including one Debut) for his Ghost Horizons album, but this one, where Allen's trio meets up with Kevin Diehl's bata drums and a Lucumi chorus led by Joseph Toledo escaped attention. It is a little darker and drabber than their early work as Sonic Liberation Front, but we're all getting older (even Allen), and the expanding universe is still getting emptier. A- [bc] Joe Alterman Feat. Houston Person: Brisket for Breakfast (2023 [2025], self-released): Pianist, from Atlanta, blurb cites praise from Ahmad Jamal, Les McCann,and Ramsey Lewis, and he has a McCann tribute among his nine albums since 2009. He seems to be a fine mainstream pianist, with a bass/drums trio playing standards, but my interest is the saxophonist, approaching 90 when this was cut. It's a delight, not least when the pianist breaks loose. A- [sp] Ashé Mystics: Fizzy Bubble Hummm (2025, High Two): Another new Kevin Diehl group, "Ashé" a Yoruba word previously used in a Sonic Liberation Front title (Ashé a Go-Go, from 2005). Trio with Joshua Marquez and Julius Masri, both described as "multi-instrumentalist," the former more focused on guitar the latter drums. B+(***) [bc] Olie Brice: All It Was (2024 [2025], West Hill): British bassist, based in London, has led a bunch of album since 2015, with many more side credits. Quartet with Rachel Musson (tenor sax), Alexander Hawkins (piano), and Will Glaser (drums). B+(***) [bc] Cortex & Hedvig Mollestad: Did We Really? (2025, Sauajazz): Norwegian group led by Thomas Johansson (trumpet) — with sax, bass, and drums — "(17)" at Discogs, which credits then with 9 albums since 2011, including this one with the guitarist. B+(**) [bc] Lao Dan/Vasco Trilla: New Species (2024 [2025], NoBusiness): Chinese musician, trained in traditional flutes, regarded as a master with a number of albums since 2018, picked up tenor sax and branched into free jazz, although credits line here includes "diy flute, dizi (Chinese flute). Duo with Spanish drummer recorded in Shenzhen, bridges their worlds effectively. A- [cd] Lao Dan: To Hit a Pressure Point (2024 [2025], Relative Pitch): Solo tenor saxophone on 7 (of 9) tracks, with suona ("a loud, high-pitched Chinese double-reed woodwind") on one, and "effects" on the other — the last track, which finally achieves a level of intensity unexpected in solo work. B+(**) [sp] Dieuf-Dieul De Thiès: Dieuf-Dieul De Thiès (2024, Buda Musique): Mbalax group from Senegal, two albums of their early work from 1981 were compiled by Teranga Beat and released 2013-15. The group split up in 1983, but regrouped in 2015, touring Europe in 2017. This is billed as their first studio album, but unclear when it was recorded. (One credit is that it was recorded by Christian Hierro, whose technical credits only go back to 2004.) B+(***) [sp] Editrix: The Big E (2024 [2025], Joyful Noise): Fringe jazz guitarist Wendy Eisenberg (guitar), sings in this post-punk trio with bass (Steve Cameron) and drums (Josh Daniel), third album since 2021. B+(*) [bc] Effie: Pullup to Busan 4 More Hyper Summer It's Gonna Be a Fuckin Movie (2025, Sound Republica, EP): Korea rapper, 2nd EP, 6 songs, 13:23, topped a New York Times EOY list, call it "hyperpop" if you like, all glitchy and senseless. B [sp] Peter Evans, Mike Pride: A Window, Basically (2022-25 [2025], Relative Pitch): Avant trumpet and drums duo. This is often terrific. B+(***) [bc] Feeo: Goodness (2025, AD 93): British electronic composer Theodora Laird, first album after some singles, sings, which provides most of the focus here, posing as secular gospel, ethereal and insubstantial. B [sp] Frode Gjerstad/Alexander von Schlippenbach/Dag Magnus Narvesen: Seven Tracks (2024 [2025], Relative Pitch): Norwegian alto sax/clarinet player, Discogs lists 174 performance credits since 1983, notably his groups Detail and Circulasione Totale Orchestra, plus many collaborations ranging from Han Bennink to Ken Vandermark. Trio with the legendary pianist and a drummer who has previous duo albums with each. B+(***) [bc] ICP Orchestra: Happy Birthday → Naar Zee Z.O.Z. (2025, ICP): The gang's all here, on the occasion of what would have been founder-pianist Misha Mengelberg's 90th birthday, with Guus Janssen filling at the piano, and possibly only drummer Han Bennink still here from the Instant Composer Pool's 1967 Tentet debut.. B+(**) [bc] Instant Arts Quartet: Lingua Franca (2023 [2025], High Two): Philadelphia-based percussionist Kevin Diehl, best known for leading Sonic Liberation Front, with bass (Pete Dennis) and two horns: Terry Lawson (tenor sax) and Matt Lavelle (trumpet, alto/bass clarinet), with some switches to bamboo flute, gong, and bells. The horns spin freely, relentless conflict and communication, as no one's writing harmony lines here. A- [bc] Fabia Mantwill Orchestra: In.Sight (2025, GroupUP Music): German saxophonist, sings some, second album, orchestra is loaded with strings, has half a big band's load of horns, adds harp and mallets, uses guitar but no piano, has guest spots for kora, accordion, and lap steel. B+(**) [bc] Dave McMurray: I Love Life Even When I'm Hurting (2025, Blue Note): Saxophonist from Detroit, discography starts around 1980 with Griot Galaxy and Was (Not Was), has involved a lot of prominent studio work (B.B. King, Bob Dylan, Gladys Knight, Rolling Stones, B-52s, Iggy Pop, Bootsy Collins, John Sinclair, Mitch Ryder, Brian Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Geri Allen, Kid Rock), with occasional records as a leader (3 1999-2003 albums on Hip Bop, Blue Note since 2018). I like the grit in his saxophone here. I'm less impressed with his vocalists (Herschel Boone, Kem). B+(*) [sp] Otherworld Ensemble: Soul Bird (2025, Edgetone): Septet, principally Heikki Koskinen (e-trumpet, piano, tenor recorder, ocarina, birch bark horn, bird calls) and Rent Romus (alto & soprano saxes c-flute, bird calls), with all but Vinny Golia adding to the bird calls chorus. B+(**) [cd] Zeena Parkins: Lament for the Maker (2024 [2025], Relative Pitch): Harpist, from Detroit, straddles avant-classical and avant-jazz, several dozen albums since 1987, also electronics here, performing four pieces (12:43 to 17:18), one she composed, others by Laetitia Sonami, John Bischoff, and James Fei. B+(*) [sp] Anaïs Reno: Lady of the Lavender Mist (2025, Club44): Standards singer, born in Switzerland, moved to New York when she was 2, second studio album after a fine set of Ellington & Strayhorn songs in 2021. She wrote a lyric here, again for an Ellington tune. Featuring Peter Bernstein (guitar), with bass (David Wong) and drums (Joe Farnsworth). B+(**) [sp] Crystabel Efemena Riley: Live at Ormside (2025, Infant Tree): British drummer, noticed her in the duo @xcrswx (with Seymour Wright) and the group X-Ray Hex-Tet, first name credit is this 17:52 drum solo. B+(*) [bc] Diego Rivera: West Circle (2023 [2025], Posi-Tone): Mainstream tenor saxophonist, born in Ann Arbor, long taught in East Lansing, has close to a dozen albums since 2013, also plays soprano on two tracks here. Wrote 7 (of 10) songs, with one by his pianist (Art Hirahara), two covers one from Herbie Hancock. With label regulars Boris Kozlov (bass) and Rudy Royston (drums). Strong form, as usual. B+(**) [sp] Herb Robertson/Christopher Dell/Christian Ramond/Klaus Kugel: Blue Transient (2024 [2025], Nemu, 2CD): Trumpet, vibes, bass, and drums. Trumpet player got his start with Tim Berne in 1983, also played a lot with Mark Helias and Gerry Hemingway, died in December 2024, so not much after this. The others are German, 8-14 years younger, but they've made the rounds, with Dell having the highest profile. B+(***) [cd] Rick Roe: Wake Up Call: The Music of Gregg Hill (2025, Cold Plunge): Tenth album I've heard since 2017 of Hill's compositions, all by Hill's former Michigan State students (Roe, Michael Dease, Randy Napoleon, Rodney Whitaker, and the younger, lesser-known Techno Cats). I always figured these were vanity projects, notable mostly because no other composer with no real performance credits has done so much promotion. But this postbop with an extra shot of swing is a consistent delight, especially the tenor sax of Marcus Elliot, but also some slick piano, with Robert Hurst on bass and Nate Winn on drums. A- [cd] Joris Roelofs/Guus Janssen/Han Bennink: Rite of Spring (2025, ICP): French-born, Amsterdam-based saxophonist, plays bass clarinet here, has played with Vienna Art Orchestra and ICP Septet, joins the latter's pianist and drummer for a delightful set of standards (mostly Monk), with one original, two from Janssen, and one from ICP founder Misha Mengelberg. B+(***) [bc] Sophie Tassignon: A Slender Thread (2025, Nemu): Belgian singer-songwriter, sometimes writes lyrics to others' music, sometimes writes music to other lyrics, sometimes just arranges, sings, dubs in electronics. Interesting, but leans too classical for my ears, and not just because the lead composer is someone named Bach. B+(*) [cd] Ziv Taubenfeld/Helena Espvall/João Sousa: You, Full of Sources and Night (2024 [2025], NoBusiness): Bass clarinet, cello, drums trio, the former an Israeli based in Lisbon with a half dozen albums since 2016. The combination works especially well. A- [cd] Thalin, Cravinos, VCR Slim, Pirlo & Iloveyouangelo: Maria Esmeralda (2024, Sujoground): Brazilian rappers, at least the first three, as individual piece credits tend to follow the headline order. There is a whole scene here I'm basically clueless to. I can't follow, and had to turn this up to get any clarity, but sonically someone suggested DJ Shadow, and this feels like it may be even heavier. B+(***) [sp] Luís Vicente: Live in Coimbra (2020 [2025], Combustão Lenta): Portuguese trumpet player, has a lot of work since 2012, solo here, which is always a sketchy proposition. B+(*) [bc] Luis Vicente/John Dikeman/William Parker/Hamid Drake: No Kings! (2022 [2025], JACC): Trumpet, tenor sax, bass, and drums, one 68:02 live improv from Bimhuis, the title (I suspect) slapped on post facto. B+(***) [bc] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Han Bennink & Misha Mengelberg: ICP010 (1971 [2025], ICP): Dutch avant-garde drummer and pianist, played together as early as 1961, sharing a credit on Eric Dolphy's Last Date (1964), co-founders (with Willem Breuker) of Instant Composers Pool in 1967, this the label's 10th release (1972), titled Instant Composers Pool at the time. B+(*) [bc] Michel Doneda & Frederic Blondy: Points of Convergence (2014 [2025], Relative Pitch): French soprano saxophonist, also plays sopranino here, many albums start in 1985, this a duo with piano. Long album (8 tracks, 106:28), takes a while to kick in — 6th track, when the piano starts punching hard. B+(**) [bc] Bill Evans: Haunted Heart: The Legendary Riverside Studio Recordings (1959-61 [2025], Craft): The pianist's 1956-63 The Complete Riverside Recordings ran 12-CD, but this narrowly focuses on the two studio albums he made with his most famous trio, with Paul Motian (drums) and Scott LaFaro (bass), which came to an abrupt end when LaFaro was killed in a car crash, just a month after the live sets they are most famous for (Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby, which eventually grew into their own 3-CD box). CD reissues of the two albums added extra takes, and this adds still more, reaching 43 tracks, running 212 minutes. That's a lot more than seems necessary. B+(***) [sp] Arkady Gotesman: Music for an Imaginary Ballet (2000-25 [2025], NoBusiness): Lithuanian drummer, b. 1959, credits since 1990, some as Arkadijus Gotesmanas, including early work with Vyacheslav Ganelin and Charles Gayle. This "summation of a thirty-year journey" impressed first with its earliest recording, a duo with saxophonist Liudas Mockunas, then skips around, including 2025 live sets with Jan Makismovic's trio and a duo with Martin Küchen, bits with Ganelin and Gayle, Ned Rothenberg and Nate Wooley, a drums duo with Mark Sanders, and more, held together by his own relentlessly creative percussion. A- [cd] Oliver Lake: Live From Studio Rivbea 1975 & 1976 [Rivbea Live! Series, Volume 4] (1975-76 [2025], NoBusiness): Alto saxophonist, from St. Louis, early in a long and distinguished career, two sets (17:06 and 55:52) with Michael Gregory Jackson (guitar) and Fred Hopkins (bass), different drummers (Phillip Wilson and Jerome Cooper), plus trumpet (Baikida Carroll) on one long second set cut. B+(***) [cd] Bobby Naughton Trio: Housatonic Rumble: Live at Charlie's Tap (1985 [2025], NoBusiness): Vibraphonist (1944-2022), from Boston, several obscure albums, side-credits with Leo Smith and Roscoe Mitchell. Engaging trio with Joe Fonda (bass) and Randy Kaye (drums). [cd] Archie Shepp and the Full Moon Ensemble: Live in Antibes (1970 [2025], BYG): Tenor saxophonist, a major avant-garde figure starting out from 1963 (New York Contemporary Five), mostly on Impulse, but had several albums released in the French Actuell series 1969-70, with this live set originally appearing in two volumes. With Clifford Thornton (trumpet/piano), Allen Shorter (flugelhorn), Joseph Déjean (gitar), and Claude Delcloo (drums). Quite a bit of piano here, by Shepp as well as Thornton. B+(**) [yt] Alan Silva and His Celestrial Communication Orchestra: Luna Surface (1969 [2025], BYG): Best known as a bassist, born in Bermuda, grew up in New York, played with Sun Ra in 1964, also Cecil Taylor, Sunny Murray, and Albert Ayler before this (first or second album), plays violin here, as does Leroy Jenkins. Large group, from a session which produced a bunch of albums under various leaders. Notable here that there were two bassists, Beb Guérin and Malachi Favors, and that the sax section included Anthony Braxton and Archie Shepp. Intense, tough going, but short (28:20). B+(**) [sp] Old music: Chuck Redd: All This and Heaven Too (2002, Arbors): Vibraphonist, also known as a drummer, has several albums and more credits since 1996, mostly on or adjacent to this retro-swing label, often working with Charlie Byrd and Ken Peplowski. A name I barely recognized when he made news recently for canceling a "Trump-Kennedy Center" Christmas Eve performance, so I thought a refresher would be in order. (I also see that the Cookers canceled their New Years Eve gig at TKC.) Mostly trio here with Gene Bertoncini (guitar) and George Mraz (bass), playing old standards and early bebop (Charlie Parker, Thad Jones). Rather sedate, although it picks up a bit when Peplowski (tenor sax/clarinet) guests. B+(*) [sp] Joris Roelofs/Han Bennink: Icarus (2018 [2023], ICP): Duo, the former playing bass and Bb clarinet, the latter mostly drums, but also credited with "balk, C clarinet, piano." B+(**) [bc] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Thursday, December 25, 2025 Music Week
December archive (in progress). Music: Current count 45342 [45282] rated (+60), 3 [1] unrated (+2). Music Week has been delayed this week because I've been working on the 20th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll. Deadline for voting was Sunday, the date of our own annual Hannukah dinner, so I wound up the day with a mailbox full of late ballots, which took me a couple more days to get through. I cooked again on Christmas Eve. It was a smaller affair, but still consumed a lot of time. I was disappointed in the turnout, so I grubbed a few last-minute ballots, to finish with 167. That's down 10 from 2024, but still a pretty solid showing, especially given that the most obvious difference this year is the degree of wear and tear that practically everyone is feeling under increasingly trying circumstances. Next up will be adding footnotes and adjustments to the website, so we can be clear about records that cross categories and years. Also some proofreading. But the big part will be interpreting the data in the form of essays and comments. I'm hoping the essays will be fairly minimal: just the facts, because I'm not there's that much more we can really conclude. But I'm open to all sorts of people offering comments on jazz and the world c. 2025. The most important thing about the poll is that it brings together many different takes on the year. I doubt it would help for me to try to distill them all into my own personal viewpoint. Still, I doubt that there is any practical way to get anywhere near all the viewpoints one would like to be able to share. That requires a level of engagement with the world that I simply don't have the skills or temperament to do. So I see myself as just some kind of caretaker for a bigger project that will never be able to really reveal itself. It's been really frustrating, but it's also been a really nice change of pace to be able to deal with so many fine critics on such a personal level. Expect the next Music Week on December 31. While I normally aim for Mondays, I like to end December cleanly on the last day of the year. That was my original target date for handing the poll package over to ArtsFuse to publish. Given how the weekend breaks, and how everything this year has taken longer than one hoped, I think the more realistic date is January 5. Next year we'll start thinking about resolutions for doing things differently. New records reviewed this week: @xcrswx: Moodboard (2025, Feedback Moves): British duo of Crystabel Elemena Riley (human/drum-skin) and Seymour Wright (sax), the latter especially notable for his work in Ahmed but he's done a fair amount since 2001. Focus on percussion here. B+(***) [bc] David Amram: Honors Guthrie and Ochs: Old Souls (2025, Guthrie Legacy): A familiar name, but one I haven't thought of in ages, and can't quite place, even with the help of references which show he was born in 1930, and worked with Aaron Copland, Dizzy Gillespie, Jack Kerouac, Pete Seeger, Patti Smith, and many more. His discography includes soundtracks, string quartets and symphony orchestras, odes to Lord Buckley and Langston Hughes. Here he and his quintet offer jazz arrangements of six folk songs for a leisurely and delightful 29:15. A- [sp] Ancient Infinity Orchestra: It's Always About Love (2025, Gondwana): Fifteen-piece "spiritual jazz ensemble" with reeds and strings but no brass, led by composer Ozzy Moysey. Second album. B+(*) [sp] Believe: Spirits of the Dead Are Watching (2023 [2025], Relative Pitch): Debut group album, from "four of Australia's most experienced and dedicated improvisers," names I am at best only marginally acquainted with, on alto sax (Peter Farrar), piano (Novak Manojlovic), bass (Clayton Thomas), and drums (Laurence Pike). Even tempered, constantly engaging, a fine album among scores of other more/less equally fine albums. B+(***) [sp] The Brunt [Gerrit Hatcher/Dave Rempis/Kent Kessler/Bill Harris]: Near Mint Minus (2023 [2024], Aerophonic): Chicago free jazz group, two tenor saxophonists (Rempis also plays alto/baritone), backed by bass and drums. Hatcher has several records back to 2017. B+(***) [bc] Albert Cirera & Tres Tambors: Orangina (2025, UnderPool): Catallan saxophonist (tenor/soprano), has produced a substantial body of work since 2007, has two previous Tres Tambors albums (2012 & 2017), and a previous title song that goes back at least to 2013. Leads a quartet, but only one drummer (Oscar Doménech), with Marco Mezquida (piano/rhodes) and Marko Lohikari (bass). B+(**) [bc] DJ Travella: Twende Dance Classics (2025, Nyege Nyege Tapes, EP): Tanzanian beatmaker Hamadi Hassani, released an album in 2020 called Dr. Mixondo, returns here with four fast ones ("hyper-melodic floor fillers", short at 8:45. B+(***) [sp] Pierre Dørge/Kirk Knuffke: Songs for Mbizo: Johnny Lives Forever (2024 [2025], SteepleChase): Danish guitarist, albums since 1979, notably with his swing-oriented New Jungle Orchestra. South African bassist Johnny Dyani (1947-86) landed in Denmark, and made a big impression on Dørge, who responded with his 1987 tribute album, Johnny Lives. This one features the cornet player, backed by bass (Thommy Andersson) and drums (Martin Andersen). B+(***) [sp] Pierre Dørge New Jungle Orchestra: Jazzhus Montmartre Live (2023 [2025], SteepleChase): Danish guitarist, named his large band in 1982, affectionately recalling Duke Ellington's "jungle band" and possibly Django Reinhardt's "hot club," and he's sustained it for 40+ years. Discogs lists this as their 27th album. Currently a nine-piece group, mostly playing the leader's originals. B+(**) [sp] Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Let the Spirit Out: Live at "Mu" London (2024 [2025], Spiritmuse): Group started with Three Men From Chicago in 1981, the constant for 40+ years has been the percussionist, group size has varied but Corey Wilkes (trumpet) and Alex Harding (baritone sax) have been members since 2007 and 2019, joined here by Ishmael Ali (cello). Live set, includes such standards as "Summertime" and "Caravan." B+(**) [sp] Phillip Golub/Lesley Mok: Dream Brigade (2023 [2025], Infrequent Seams): Piano and drums duo, both started c. 2020 and are making a name for themselves, but already they want to sell the album title as group name. B+(**) [sp] Gregory Groover Jr.: Old Knew (2025, Criss Cross): Tenor saxophonist, real name as far as I can tell (middle name George), father was pastor at an A.M.E. church in Boston, got a degree from Berklee, second album, 10 originals plus one piece by Jason Moran, hot shot band: Joel Ross (vibes), Paul Cornish (piano), Harish Raghavan (bass), and Kendrick Scott (drums). B+(***) [sp] Scott Hamilton: Looking Back (2024 [2025], Stunt): Retro-swing tenor saxophonist, impressive debut in 1977, a steady player especially of standards ever since. Quartet here with Jan Lundgren (piano), Hans Backenroth (bass), and Kristian Leth (drums), ten tracks referencing sax giants and other musicians Hamilton has played with, occasioned by his 70th birthday. Curious lack of info on the record (like release date and song credits), despite a fair number of reviews. B+(**) [sp] Jim Hobbs/Timo Shanko: The Depression Tapes (2024 [2025], Relative Pitch): Alto sax and bass duo, were both founders of the Fully Celebrated Orchestra in 1989 but this is their first duo album. B+(**) [sp] Julia Hülsmann Quartet: Under the Surface (2024 [2025], ECM): German pianist, steady stream of albums since 2000, fifth Quartet album since 2013: Marc Muellbauer (bass), Martin Abrahamsen (drums, new here), started with a trumpet player, but switched to tenor sax (Uli Kempendorff) in 2019. This one adds Hildegunn Øiseth (trumpet, goat horn) on five tracks. B+(***) [sp] Simon Jermyn/Otis Sandsjö/Petter Eldh/Lukas Akintaya: Obsany (2023 [2025], Elastic): Irish bassist, fifth album since 2007, based in Berlin after 11 years in New York, quartet there with sax, electric bass, and drums, adding Michaël Attias (sax) on three tracks. Nice record, tails off a bit. B+(**) [sp] Steve Johns: Mythology (2024 [2025], SteepleChase): Drummer, has a 2002 album, a few more since. Leads a postbop group with guitar (John Hart), piano (Greg Murphy), vibes (Monte Croft), and bass (Joris Teepe), playing four of his own originals, three from Teepe, one from Hart, and two standards (sung by Croft, who also plays some harmonica). Discogs credits him with four albums 1989-93, and a 16 year credits gap before he picks up again in 2020, but he's the player you notice most here. B+(*) [sp] Laura Jurd: Rites & Revelations (2024 [2025], New Soil): British trumpet player, debut 2012, probably best known for her group Dinosaur (3 albums 2016-20). Quintet with folk musos Martin Green (accordion) and Ultan O'Brien (violin/viola), along with Ruth Goller (electric bass) and Corrie Dick (drums). The folk music is vital, and the jazz just builds on it, like Miles on funk. A- [sp] Kokayi: Live at Big Ears: The Standard Knoxville, TN (2025, Why!Not): Bandcamp page threw me with "no, not the Washington, D.C.-born iconoclast who helped establish the city as a hip-hop landmark," but Discogs has the same artist (Carl Walker) I had previously filed under rap working with Steve Coleman in 1995 and Ambrose Akinmusire in 2025, so while playing this I moved him from rap to jazz vocals. I can hear the Bobby McFerrin and Jon Lucien the liner notes cite, but also echoes of Swamp Dogg and Coltrane. B+(***) [sp] Sarathy Korwar: There Is Beauty, There Already (2025, Otherland): US-born, India-raised, London-based percussionist, has a handful of albums since 2016, thoughtfully tying his whole world together. This is an enchanting, otherworldly groove album, with a bit of vocal aura and a few words. A- [sp] Mon Laferte: Femme Fatale (2025, Sony Music Latin): Singer-songwriter from Chile, based in Mexico, 10th album since 2003. Sounds like something I might like much more if I could understand the lyrics and focus better on the music. B+(**) [sp] Stian Larsen/Colin Webster/Ruth Goller/Andrew Lisle: Temple of Muses (2022 [2025], Relative Pitch): Norwegian guitarist, has several free improv albums, here with sax, bass, and drums. Liked the edginess at first, but seemed to tail off toward the end. B+(*) [sp] Tony Miceli: Nico's Dream (2024 [2025], SteepleChase): Vibraphonist, side-credits at least as far back as 1991 but counts as his first album. With guitar (Paul Bollenback), bass, and drums. Zips right along. B+(**) [sp] Wolfgang Muthspiel/Scott Colley/Brian Blade: Tokyo (2024 [2025], ECM): Austrian guitarist, has close to 30 albums since 1989, some fusion-oriented, some more introspective. His 2006 duets with Blade are a high point, and their work with the bassist goes back at least to 2000. B+(**) [sp] Max Nagl Quintett: Phasolny (2025, Rude Noises): Austrian alto saxophonist, albums since 1988, quintet with trumpet (Martin Eberle), trombone (Phil Yaeger), piano, and bass, but no drums, which gives it a chamber jazz effect, albeit with rather brassy. B+(**) [sp] Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity: Great Intentions (2024 [2025], Action Jazz): Norwegian drummer, credits pick up around 2007, notably Cortex (2011-20). Lately he's focused on two groups: Acoustic Unity (this is their 5th album since 2015), and Supersonic Orchestra (2 albums since 2020). Core group is a trio with André Roligheten (sax), Petter Eldh (bass), fortified here with two more "featured" saxophonists (Kjetil Møster and Signe Emmeluth) as well as Jonas Alaska (vocals/guitar). This has its moments, but they don't all line up. B+(***) [sp] Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra: The Original Influencers: Dizzy, Chano & Chico [Live at Town Hall] (2023 [2025], Tiger Turn): Pianist and bandleader, has largely cornered the market for Afro-Cuban jazz in New York, the far from missing link between his famous father — the Chico in the "original influencers" list, along with Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo mdash; and his soon-to-be famous sons Adam and Zack (trumpet and drums here). First half is a party with a lot of vocals. Second takes "Manteca" and turns it into a suite. Both are fun, but neither is wholly successful. B+(**) [sp] Ivo Perelman/Nate Wooley/Matt Moran/Mark Helias/Tom Rainey: A Modicum of the Blues (2024 [2025], Fundacja Słuchaj): Brazilian tenor saxophonist, released 6-12 albums annually, I've heard over 100, many quite good, but it's gotten hard to keep up. Most are fairly minimal duos or trios, which gives him ample opportunity to blow. Quintets like this are rare, with trumpet, vibes, bass, and drums. Only the last track realizes the group's potential. B+(***) [dl] Ivo Perelman/Nate Wooley: Polarity 4 (2025, Burning Ambulance): Tenor sax and trumpet duo, the fourth entry in a series of albums by the duo going back to 2020. B+(*) [bc] Ivo Perelman/John Butcher: Duologues 4 (2025, Ibeji): Tenor sax duo (with some soprano?), adds to an ongoing Perelman series, on top of many previous duos. My download calls this London Silhouettes, but while the email links to this series, I cannot find further evidence of the title. I couldn't bring myself to deal with Perelman's massive Reed Rapture in Brooklyn, figuring the twelve duo discs would turn into an endurance contest and wash out into some kind of meaningless B+. But even with the inevitable limits of all-saxophone groups, this is remarkably steady and engaging work. A- [dl] Rich Perry: Dream (2024 [2025], SteepleChase): One of a dozen or more fairly major mainstream tenor saxophonists to emerge in the 1990s — Beautiful Love (1995) is a good example. Still very much in that vein here, backed by piano (Gary Versace), bass (Jay Anderson), and drums (John Riley), playing three originals plus covers from Parker (2), Shorter, Silver, and Ellington. B+(***) [sp] Emma Rawicz: Inkyra (2024 [2025], ACT Music): Tenor/soprano saxophonist, several albums since 2022, rather overwhelming postbop group with Gareth Lockrand (flutes), David Preston (guitar), Scottie Thompson (keyboards), Kevin Glasgow (electric bass), and Jamie Murray (drums). B [sp] Dave Rempis/Nico Chkifi: Aula (2023 [2025], Aerophonic): Alto/tenor sax, a very strong players since he broke in with Vandermark 5, in a duo with the Belgian drummer, recorded in Liege. Seems rather par for the course. B+(**) [bc] Dave Rempis/Russ Johnson/Jakob Heinemann/Jeremy Cunningham: Embers and Ash (2024 [2025], Aerophonic): Saxophonist (soprano/alto/tenor here), quartet with trumpet, bass, and drums, live set from the Hungry Brain in Chicago. This freewheeling two horn, no piano/guitar improv is often thrilling, especially with such strong and thoughtful players. A- [bc] Dino Saluzzi: El Viejo Caminante (2023 [2025], ECM): Argentinian bandoneon player, now 90, records start around 1972, joined ECM in 1983, recording regularly through 2011, third album since. Here he is joined by two guitarists: his son, José Maria Saluzzi on classical guitar, and Jacob Young on acoustic steel-string and electric guitars. Very nice mix. B+(**) [sp] Loren Schoenberg and His Jazz Orchestra: So Many Memories (2025, Turtle Bay): Tenor saxophonist (b. 1958), bandleader, Discogs gives him a lot of "acting, literary & spoken" credits — especially on Benny Goodman, but he's expert on everything swing, as much a scholar as a musician. He had five albums under this byline 1987-98, reviving it here (where he plays piano) on discovering, as the subtitle puts it, "Unheard Eddie Sauter Arrangements for Red Norvo and Mildred Bailey," to which the cover adds "featuring Kate Kortum & Warren Wolf." B+(***) [sp] Dave Sewelson/Steve Hirsh/Steve Swell/Matthew Shipp/William Parker: Muscle Memory (2022 [2025], Mahakala Music): Baritone sax and trombone stars, a piano-bass duo that was good enough for David S. Ware, and a drummer who knows a label owner who can't get enough of improv sessions like this. B+(***) [bc] Skerik/Brian Haas/James Singleton/Simon Lott: Compersion Quartet (2024, Royal Potato Family): Tenor saxophonist Eric Walton, from Seattle, many side credits since 1991, mostly in fusion groups, including some of the more interesting ones, like Critters Buggin, Mylab, and Garage a Trois. Here With piano/harpsichord, bass/trumpet, and drums, with ample effects. B+(*) [sp] Sonic Chambers Quartet: Kiss of the Earth (2024 [2025], 577): Two saxophonists, Byron Asher and Tomas Majcherski, with the latter doing most of the writing, backed by bass and drums. Not so obvious at first, but the New Orleans connections have a way of coming out. B+(**) [dl] Thomas Strønen/Time Is a Blind Guide: Off Stillness (2021 [2025], ECM): Norwegian drummer, group name refers back to a 2015 album, same instrumentation with Håkon Aase (violin) and Ole Morten Vagan (bass) returning, plus replacements at piano (Ayumi Tanaka) and cello (Leo Svensson Sander). B+(*) [sp] Yuhan Su: Over the Moons (2024 [2025], Endectomorph Music): Vibraphonist, from Taiwan, moved to US in 2008 to study at Berklee, based in New York, fifth album since 2012. Opens in dazzling form, with saxophonists Alex LeRe and Anna Webber, Matt Mitchell on piano, Yingda Chen on guitar, electric bass, drums, and electronics. Lags a bit when they try to mix it up, like with flutes. B+(***) [sp] Things of This Nature: Things of This Nature (2025, Mahakala Music): Quartet, four musicians I'd never heard of — Caylie Davis (trumpet), Chris Ferrari (woodwinds), Shogo Yamagishi (bass), JJ Mazza (drums) — evidently quite young ("One has to have childhood memories of the Obama administration to create some of this music"). Strong first impression, but the common tendency in first albums to show off everything you can do (including the flute) scatters and winds down. B+(*) [sp] Ken Vandermark: October Flowers for Joe McPhee (2025, Corbett vs. Dempsey): Solo, inspired by McPhee's 1976 solo album Tenor, and various collaborations since 1996. He also plays baritone sax, Bb and bass clarinet, 11 compositions each named for flowers. B+(**) [bc] Rufus Wainwright With the Pacific Jazz Orchestra: I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Wainwright Does Weill (2025, Thirty Tigers): He's never been the singer or songwriter his father is, nor am I sure he actually lives up to the camp he aspires to, but Weill's songs are still magnificent, and it matters that he cares. B+(*) [sp] Wrens: Half of What You See (2023 [2025], Out of Your Head): On paper I figured this group was led by Jason Nazary, the drummer who produced and took most of the technical credits, but the album is dominated by rapper Ryan Easter, who also plays some trumpet, while cellist Lester St. Louis and pianist Elias Stemeseder work their skewed electronics. Interesting in every direction. A- [dl] X-Ray Hex Tet: X-Ray Hex Tet (2023 [2024], Reading Group): One-shot sextet, recorded live at the Taktkos Festival in Zürich, with Seymour Wright (alto sax), Pat Thomas (piano), Billy Steiger (violin), Edward George (words/electronics), and drummers Crystabel Riley and Paul Abbott. B+(*) [bc] Yes Deer: Everything That Shines, Everything That Hurts (2025, Superpang): Scandinavian free jazz trio, three 2014-18 albums, founders Karl Haugland Bjorá (guitar) and Anders Vestergaard (drums) return here with new saxophonist Signe Emmeluth for two half-title tracks, total 32:30. Rough, a bit too much for my taste, but very much the point here. B+(**) [bc] Zanussi 3: A Keen Beast (2019 [2025], Sauajazz): Norwegian bassist Per Zanussi, 80+ side credits since 1995, some in short-lived groups I recall, recorded 4 Zanussi 5 albums, strips that down to a basic trio here, with Kristoffer Alberts (sax) and Per Oddvar Johansen (drums). B+(***) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Charlie Hunter/Bobby Previte/Skerik/Steven Bernstein: Omaha Diner (2013 [2025], SideHustle): Guitar, drums, sax, trumpet, released this as an eponymous group album in 2013, the idea being to "play the hits" — or deconstruct them, as they see fit. B+(*) [sp] Ibex Band: Stereo Instrumental Music (1976 [2025], Muzikawi): Ethiopian band, went through several iterations during the 1970s before the political situation deteriorated. Discogs shows them mostly backing singers, especially Mahmoud Ahmed and Aster Aweke, but they recorded this one instrumental album. The familiar background to much 1970s Ethiopian pop, growing into defining groove. B+(***) [bc] Masabumi Kikuchi: Hanamichi: The Final Studio Recording Vol. II (2013 [2025], Red Hook): Japanese pianist (1939-2015), survived the fire bombing of Tokyo, got a scholarship to Berklee, worked with Terumasa Hino, Gil Evans, is perhaps best known for his Tethered Moon trio with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian. Solo piano here, following an initial volume released in 2023. B+(**) [sp] Mujician: In Concerts (1993-2010 [2025], Jazz in Britain): Long-running (1988-2011) British avant-jazz quartet, with Keith Tippett (piano), Paul Dunmall (tenor/soprano sax), Paul Rogers (bass), and Tony Levin (drums). This compiles four live improv sets, one early (Cheltenham, 1993), one late (Birmingham, 2010), and two from the middle (Vienna, 2003). B+(***) [bc] Yusuf Mumin: Journey to the Ancient ([2025], We Want Sounds): Saxophonist, from Cleveland, played in Black Unity Trio in 1968, recorded this undated, uncredited "spiritual jazz" tape a bit later, with Munim also playing cello and flute, with drummer William Holmes. B+(*) [bc] Charles Tyler Ensemble: Voyage From Jericho (1974 [2025], Frederiksberg): Alto saxophonist (1941-92), started with Albert Ayler in 1965, recorded his debut for ESP-Disk in 1966, has a hole in his discography from 1967-75, when this album appeared, but was quite active (albeit little known) from then up to his death. Backed by bass (Ronnie Boykins) and drums (Steve Reid), with trumpet (Earl Cross), and on two tracks, Arthur Blythe takes over on alto sax, moving Tyler to baritone. B+(*) [sp] Mal Waldron: Candy Girl (1975 [2025], Strut): Pianist (1925-2002), first gained fame as accompanist for Billie Holiday, but that was just a drop in the bucket of a career that extended another 40 years, producing numerous highlights, like his work with Eric Dolphy, Steve Lacy, and Chico Freeman; duos with Archie Shepp and David Murray; an outstanding series of albums on Soul Note. This, well, is something else, a jazz-funk groovefest with electric keyboards (Frank Abel as well as Waldron), bass, and drums, the reissue adding alternative versions to push the total over the one hour mark. B+(*) [sp] Jessica Williams: Blue Abstraction: Prepared Piano Project 1985-1987 (1985-87 [2025], Pre-Echo Press): Pianist (1948-2022), mastered classical but moved quickly on to jazz, recorded regularly 1976-2014, with some remarkable trio albums. These "lost" tapes are solo sessions. The piano preparations are fairly mild here, producing unexpected tones but no great dissonance, developed with considerable skill. B+(***) [bc] Old music: Keith Tippett: The Unlonely Raindancer (1979 [2019], Discus Music): British avant-pianist (1947-2020), first record 1972, this a solo, released on 2-LP in 1980, showed up on a poll ballot but the only reissue I could find is this one. I'm not much of a solo piano fan, but he's always been a remarkable player, as is amply demonstrated here. B+(**) [sp] Keith Tippett: Blueprint (1972 [1973], RCA): This was the pianist's first album, with Roy Babbington (bass) and either Keith Bailey or Frank Perry (percussion), with wife Julie Tippett[s] on 4 (of 6) tracks (guitar, mandolin, recorder, voice). B [yt] Unpacking: Postponed until next week. Ask a question, or send a comment. Wednesday, December 17, 2025 Music Week
December archive (in progress). Music: Current count 45282 [45259] rated (+23), 1 [4] unrated (-3). I'm barely holding it together, although considering the circumstances one could argue that I'm doing remarkably well. Most of my time is taken up by the Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll. We are now less than one week away from the deadline, and I've counted about 40% as many ballots this year as we wound up with last year. That's probably bodes well, but is laced with a big shot of uncertainty. That became increasingly nerve-racking as Francis Davis faded into the background, and is all the more acute now that he's gone. But it's still not just his poll any more. I worry about wrecking it, but also suspect that if I didn't do it, no one else would. So after 19 years, consider this a bonus round. Tabulating the results is pretty easy. I have a system, some software I wrote back when I knew how, and I've developed a support network which provides a set of checks and balances. The real nightmare is figuring out what to write once the voting ends and winners are determined. I've toyed around with many schemes to offload my possibly self-imposed burden. What I've come up with this year is a scheme where I (or possibly someone else) writes a short, somewhat schematic introduction, followed by a list or table of data, and a few comments, some by me but most (hopefully) from ohers. Even if it winds up just being me, the format relieves much of the (possibly self-imposed?) pressure of having to come up with a coherent argument. Which, come to think of it, seems right, given that years are arbitrary time slices. I've written the idea up here. I'm allowing for the possibility of non-voters commenting, and for using quotes from previously published work. I'm looking for insight, not just reaction and opinion. But it's ok if the insights are scattered, as is the world. If you have something to say, feel free to use the email address in the file. Perhaps I'll add a form. I will add more guidelines, more specific suggestions, and possibly some results to prime the pump. But all of this will have to happen between now and the publication of the results, first week of January (if all goes well). Light load of albums this week. (The delay to Tuesday didn't help, except to add a newly discovered A- album. Otherwise, the cutover was early Monday, but I had little more time to wrap things up.) I can't blame this on the poll, which keeps me tied to the computer, and feeds me new finds to check out. Rather, my niece came to visit, which among other activities allowed me to cook dinner. I also had house projects, and signed a deal to get a new roof. The main reason this post is late is that I've been working in the attic getting ready for the roofers. I'm hoping they will do their thing later this week, but I'm less and less optimistic. Holidays are upon us, and weather is often precarious. Besides, it seems like literally everything is taking much longer than anyone imagined. More expensive, too. One thing that's taken longer than expected has been for me to file my own jazz ballot. I've done very little rechecking — although the top two albums still sound great, and nothing else I pegged at A- has caused me any regrets — and I've found very little new that has forced me to reconsider. Still, I've wound up tweaking the list a fair bit from last week's draft. But let's make this one official:
The ** notation carried over from my year-to-date file, representing something I downloaded or streamed. In past years I've been known to discriinate against such records, but I'm giving up here. Part of this is that I get less and less in the mail — especially since Trump turned European imports into a nightmare, although the labels there have been cutting back for a long time, at least since our "run like a business" post office started being run like venture capital prey. Perhaps some is that I can't play CDs in our new car. I've listened to quite a few jazz albums this year (760, vs. 409 non-jazz), but one thing I haven't managed to do is to go back through the download links I've saved up and see what I'm missing there. At this point I doubt I ever will. There is just literally too much to listen to. New records reviewed this week: Allo Darlin': Bright Nights (2025, Slumberland): Indie pop group, started in London by Australian singer-songwriter Elizabeth Morris as a solo project, morphing into a band. Fourth album since 2010. B+(**) [sp] Bruno Angelini/Sakina Abdou/Angelika Niescier: Lotus Flowers (2024 [2025], Abalone): French pianist, b. 1965 in Marseille, has more than a dozen albums since 2003, composed all of the pieces here, many dedicated to prominent civil rights leaders, joined by two saxophonists (tenor and alto). B+(**) [sp] Gregg Belisle-Chi: Slow Crawl: Performing the Music of Tim Berne (2024 [2025], Intakt): Guitarist, based in Brooklyn, has several albums since 2015, including two duos and a trio with saxophonist Berne, and now a second solo album of his compositions. I have little sense of most jazz musicians as composers, probably because very few of them manage to get their pieces played by others. Berne has found a capable ambassador here. B+(**) [sp] Jim Black & the Schrimps: Better You Don't (2024 [2025], Intakt): Drummer, b. 1967 in Seattle, has over 200 side credits since 1989, Tim Berne's Bloodcount and Dave Douglas's Tiny Bell Trio were important in the 1990s, he led Alasnoaxis 2000-13, this is his second Berlin-based Schrimps album, with bass (Felix Henkelhausen) and two saxophonists (Asger Nissen on alto and Julius Gawlik on tenor). B+(***) [sp] The Close Readers: Trees of Lower Hutt (2025, Austin): New Zealand singer-songwriter Damien Wilkins, has more than a dozen novels and short story collections since 1990, also recorded three pretty good albums 2010-14, comes up with another one here. Sounds a lot like the Go-Betweens. B+(***) [sp] Convergence: Reckless Meter (2019 [2025], Capri): Postbop sextet from Colorado, released three albums 1998-2003, led by John Gunther (tenor sax), with original members Greg Gisbert (trumpet), Eric Gunnison (piano), Mark Simon (bass), and Paul Romaine (drums), plus newcomer Mark Patterson (trombone), each credited with at least one song. B+(*) [sp] De La Soul: Cabin in the Sky (2025, Mass Appeal): Hip-hop group from Long Island, instant sensations with their 1989 debut, 3 Feet High and Rising. I didn't much care for them until their 2000-01 albums, but a collection of 1998-2001 singles is pretty great. Only three albums since 2004, the first without Maseo, this one finished after Dave (Trugoy the Dove) died in 2023 (he has six lead vocals here). B+(***) [sp] Hamid Drake & Pat Thomas: A Mountain Sees a Mountain (2019 [2025], Old Heaven Books): Drums and piano duo, recorded live in Shenzhen, China, and released on a label there. Some terrific piano here, but Drake makes everyone he plays with sound better. A- [bc] Effie: Pullup to Busan 4 More Hyper Summer It's Gonna Be a Fuckin Movie (2025, Sound Republica, EP): Korea rapper, 2nd EP, 6 songs, 13:23, topped a New York Times EOY list, call it "hyperpop" if you like, all glitchy and senseless. B [sp] Fred Frith/Mariá Portugal: Matter (2023 [2025], Intakt): British avant-guitarist, active since the 1970s, here in a duo with the German-based Brazilian drummer, who has a few albums since 2015. A bit of vocal toward the end. B+(***) [sp] Julius Gawlik: It's All in Your Head (2024 [2025], Unit): German tenor saxophonist (also clarinet), first album as leader, also plays in Jim Black & the Schrimps, and NDR Big Band. Quartet with Evi Filippou (vibes), Phil Donkin (bass), and Jim Black (drums). B+(***) [sp] Dave Gisler Trio: The Flying Mega Doghouse (2025, Intakt): Swiss guitarist, several albums since 2010, this a trio with bass (Raffaele Bossard) and drums (Lionel Friedli). B+(*) [sp] Jimmy Greene: As We Are Now (2024 [2025], Greene Music Works): Tenor saxophonist, some soprano, mainstream, started on Criss Cross in 1997, 13th album, backed by piano-bass-drums, plus extra guitar, organ, and/or percussion on some tracks, and a Javier Colon vocal. B+(**) [sp] Hamell on Trial: Dirty Xmas (2025, Saustex): No standards here, all originals, dirty is open to interpretation, so evidently is Xmas. B+(**) [sp] Nakibemebe Embaire Group and Naoyuki Uchida: Phantom Keys (2025, Nyege Nyege Tapes): Ugandan group, released an eponymous album in 2023, specialize in embaire, which is often described as a xylophone, but is made up of hollow logs arrayed in the dirt, large enough to be a team sport. Uchida is a Japanese DJ, credited here with the mix, which leaves it sounding like a lot of wooden mallet percussion. The group has a 2023 eponymous album, which I reviewed back then, and don't find significantly different. B+(**) [bc] Otherlands Trio [Stephan Crump/Darius Jones/Eric McPherson]: Star Mountain (2025, Intakt): Bass/alto sax/drums trio, all name players, joint credits but Crump has the inside track, with the new group name evidently spun off from Borderlands Trio, with McPherson and Kris Davis. Jones seems a bit subdued here, at least by his usual standards. B+(**) [sp] Out Of/Into [Joel Ross/Gerald Clayton/Kendrick Scott/Matt Brewer/Immanuel Wilkins]: Motion II (2025, Blue Note): House label supergroup, second album, six originals developed during a tour, unclear where or when or why but song credits are widely distributed in the band. Fitting that the mallets whiz gets first mention. B+(**) [sp] Keith Oxman: Home (2024 [2025], Capri): Tenor saxophonist, mainstream, based in Denver, has a dozen-plus albums since 1995, this a nice, relaxed quintet with trumpet, guitar, bass, and drums, playing original pieces. B+(**) [cd] Wayne Wilkinson: Holly Tunes (2025, self-released): Guitarist, from Colorado, has a handful of albums since 2007, this is billed as a trio with bass and drums, plus "special guest" Thomas J. Dawson Jr. (piano, strings, organ). Standards done so inoffensively I didn't even notice most of them. B- [cd] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Luke Bell: The King Is Back (2013-16 [2025], All Blue/Thirty Tigers): Country singer-songwriter, more western than southern, died young (32 in 2022), leaving three albums 2012-16, plus now this 28-track collection of engaging and entertaining scraps. Could be trimmed down, but he was an interesting character while he lasted. A- [sp] Fred Frith: Fred Frith and the Gravity Band (2014 [2025], Klanggalerie): British avant-guitarist, made his mark with his highly abstract Guitar Solos (1974), has played in prog rock groups like Henry Cow and Art Bears as well as in jazz and more classical-oriented ensembles. This group refers back to his 1980 "dance music" album Gravity, most obviously with a "Dancing in the Streets" medley. B+(**) [bc] Fred Frith/Shelley Burgon: The Life and Behavior (2002-05 [2025], Relative Pitch): Guitar and harp duo. The latter has some recordings with Trevor Dunn from the period, and scattered side credits since, ranging from Braxton to Björk to Eyvind Kang to William Tyler. Within limits, but "telepathic synchronicity" isn't just a boast. B+(***) [sp] Charles Mingus: Mingus at Monterey (1964 [2025], Candid): Live album, self-released in 1965, had a checkered history of reissues up to the early 1980s when Fantasy/Prestige got hold of it, but even they let it slip from sight after 1987. Opens with a quintet — Lonnie Hillyer (trumpet), Charles McPherson (alto sax), Jaki Byard (piano), Dannie Richmond (drums) — playing an Ellington medley, culminating in 13:35 of "A Train" (with John Handy added on tenor sax), then moves on to "Orange Was the Colour of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk" (13:38). Then they add extra horns for a new piece, "Meditations on Intgegration" (24:45). B+(**) [sp] Thelonious Monk: Bremen 1965 (1965 [2025], Sunnyside): Radio shot, with a live audience, part of a European tour that has produced other similar documents (one from Olympia was recorded the day before, and another from Olympia a couple months later). Quartet with Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Larry Gales (bass), and Ben Riley (drums) was in peak form, with the once-quirky tunes confirmed as classics. A- [bc] Old music: Fred Frith: Gravity (1979-80 [1980], Ralph): British guitarist, started c. 1973 in left-prog Henry Cow, played on important albums by Robert Wyatt and Brian Eno (and on less important but still memorable ones by Tom Newman, Jade Warrior and Art Bears), while releasing his own pathbreaking Guitar Solos (1974) and, by 1980, hooking up with Henry Kaiser, Eugene Chadbourne, Lindsay Cooper, and the Residents. He cut this smorgasbord of deranged dance music on the latter's label, with dozens of side credits I don't recognize, including a tap dancer, lots of handclaps, and four names Discogs places under "Other [criticism]" — worth noting that at the time, I still regarded him as less notable than Simon Frith, his critic brother (and I followed the names I dropped above, although I wasn't much of a Residents fan). B+(***) [yt] Grade (or other) changes: Lily Allen: West End Girl (2025, BMG): British singer-songwriter, fifth studio album since 2007, 7 years since number four, a stretch of time covering a marriage and a divorce, so easy subject matter, which she handles adroitly. Music doesn't have quite the same zip as the earlier albums, so I hemmed and hawed, figuring I didn't want to picture her in middle age. But she's still many times smarter than most other pop stars, and that extends past her words into her music. [was: B+(***)]: A- [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week (not yet counted):
Ask a question, or send a comment. Tuesday, December 9, 2025 Music Week
December archive (in progress). Music: Current count 45259 [45223] rated (+36), 4 [3] unrated (+1). We're less than two weeks away from the Dec. 21 deadline for the 20th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll. I have 54 ballots counted, which feels like good progress, although the pace will still have to pick up to match last year's 177 voters. I've only invited a little more than a dozen new critics, and I've only gotten one ballot back from that bunch, but we've gotten a few ballots from people who missed in 2024. It helps me to get your ballots in early, not least because I worry a lot about turnout. One person who hasn't submitted their ballot yet is me. I did the cutover on Monday, early enough to post, but I wanted to include my ballot picks, and didn't figure that out. Actually, I still haven't figured it out for sure, but what follows is where my list stands at the present moment:
I haven't logged this yet. I want to give it a day or two to settle before making it official. (I'll update this post when I do, but I don't want to hold it up or do something rash.) I'm surprised to note that two Rara Avis albums are new discoveries this week (although the Braxton has been long in hand; I've just been slow getting around to it), after a couple months with nothing (but SML) coming close. I'm not especially happy with these lists: everything I recheck from my A-list sounds really good, but I spend so little time with new records that even obvious favorites never really sink in, like albums used to do before I started spreading myself so thin. I will note a couple things:
What I really recommend is that you look at my EOY lists (only compiled this week, and subject to constant revision for the next year or so): Jazz [76+6 A-list new, 26+2 A-list old; 161+15 B+(***) new, 28+4 B+(***) old], and Non-Jazz [90+2 A-list new, 8+2 A-list old; 100+1 B+(***) new, 15+2 B+(***) old]. Biggest surprise so far is that I already have more non-jazz than jazz A-list albums. Usually this time of year jazz is about 30% ahead, with non-jazz only catching up after I've finished poll work and got a chance to catch up with the EOY lists. A big part of the reason I have so much this year is that I've been following HHGA's The Best Hip Hop Albums of 2025 as they've updated it throughout the year.
Discounting two titles I picked up from my jazz list plus one late discovery from 2024, that's still about 25% of my non-jazz list. I've also done a better-than-usual job of following Saving Country Music this year, so my country list (broadly speaking) is nearly as long:
Of course, one could make this list longer with country-adjacent singer-songwriters like Hamell on Trial, Jeffrey Lewis, Patterson Hood, Jason Isbell, Neil Young, Todd Snider, and Dylan Hicks, as well as bands like Mekons, Wednesday, and Delines. And not a lot more than accent and branding separates these artists from others. Plus there's a lot more good country further down the list — same for hip-hop and everything else, especially jazz, where nearly everyone is remarkably skilled and inventive, so list placement has become inescapably quirky and personal. The years when most people shared the same listening experiences are long gone. This is going to be another trying week for me. We have another guest this week, so that will take up much of my time. I'll try to keep up with the poll tasks. I need to start writing bits and pieces for the final package. It's also beginning to look like the big roof project could fall apart. The weather isn't helping, especially with the latter. It's going to be arduous until the poll appears in the first week of January. After that is unfathomable. I have an idea for my next Substack piece, but finding the time will be difficult. Actually, I have a bunch of ideas. Just too many other commitments in the meantime. New records reviewed this week: Tarun Balani: ڪڏهن ملنداسين Kadahin Milandaasin (2024 [2025], Berthold): Indian drummer, from New Delhi, has a few albums since 2012. Title is in Sindhi, translates as "when will we meet," refers to a grandfather he never knew and a father who died in 2024, uprooted when Sind (Karachi) found itself on the Pakistani side of the 1947 partition. Quartet, recorded in Brooklyn, with Adam O'Farrill (trumpet), Olli Hirvonen (guitar), and Sharik Hasan (piano/synthesizer). B+(***) [bc] Kenny Barron: Songbook (2025, Artwork): Pianist, b. 1943, recorded some fine albums for Muse starting in 1973, came to my attention backing Stan Getz on People Time (1991), Discogs credits him with 98 albums and 770 performance credits, starting in 1960 with Yusef Lateef, then his brother, saxophonist Bill Barron. But while he's justly famous for his albums, he may have had even more impact as an educator: the number of famous pianists who cite him on their resumes must run well past 100. One thing he's not especially noted for is accompanying singers (unlike, say, Tommy Flanagan, or Ran Blake), but there have been a few (catching my eye, up to 1991, are Maria Muldaur, Sheila Jordan, and Jay Clayton; next screen adds Helen Merrill, Abbey Lincoln, Dianne Reeves, and lesser names). This is billed as his "first album to fully feature vocals." At first, I figured this was would just be a showcase for singers — he lined up eight, some famous (Cécile McLorin Salvant, Kurt Elling, Catherine Russell), some "up and coming" (Tyreek McDole, Ekep Nkwelle, Kavita Shah) — with his piano trio — Kiyoshi Kitagawa (bass) and Johnathan Blake (drums) — tying them together. But it turns out they're all singing his music, with new lyrics by Janice Jarrett. So it takes longer to sink in than standards, and the scattered voices depersonalize it a bit. But the piano is superb. B+(***) [sp] George Cartwright & Bruce Golden: South From a Narrow Arc (2025, self-released): Avant-saxophonist, also plays guitar, b. 1950 in Mississippi but long based in Minnesota, albums since 1979, best known for his 1981-2003 group Curlew, has more on his own, some (both old and new) with the Arkansas-based Mahakala label. Second duo album with Golden ("percussion and lots lots more plus the cover"). Scratchy at first, remains testy. B+(*) [bc] Che: Rest in Bass (2025, 10K): Young Atlanta rapper Chase Shaun Mitchell (b. 2006), second album. Pitchfork called this "the platonic idea of rage rap — diced-up lines and constant distortion, with enough vulnerability to balance the outrageous hedonism." Maybe if you focus, but why sort the clutter? B+(**) [sp] Silvana Estrada: Vendrán Suaves Lluvias (2025, Glassnote): Mexican singer-songwriter, has a couple albums, sounds vaguely folkie. B+(*) [sp] Al Foster: Live at Smoke (2025, Smoke Sessions): Drummer, side credits start in 1964 with Blue Mitchell, Discogs counts 515 album credits, notably played with Miles Davis 1972-85, not many albums as leader (first in 1978, three with this label since 2019), but this comes from two live sets celebrating his 82nd birthday, four months before he died. Stellar quartet with Chris Potter (tenor/soprano sax), Brad Mehldau (piano), and Joe Martin (bass). B+(***) [sp] Billy Hart: Multidirectional (2023 [2025], Smoke Sessions): Drummer, b. 1940, has more than a dozen albums under his own name (starting in 1977), scores more slugline credits, and hundreds of side credits (Discogs says 817, with Jimmy Smith in 1964 not his first gig but a break out). Earlier this year, he released a studio album with this quartet: Mark Turner (tenor sax), Ethan Iverson (piano), and Ben Street (bass). Here's they're back for a live set (five songs, 47:05). B+(***) [sp] James K: Friend (2025, AD93): "Experimental musician and visual artist from NYC," Jamie Krasner, debut EP in 2013, fourth album, sings over beguiling electronic beats. B+(**) [sp] Led Bib: Hotel Pupik (2025, Cuneiform): British fusion group, ninth album since 2005, led by drummer Mark Holub, with Liran Donin (bass) and two saxophonists (Pete Grogan and Chris Williams). B+(*) [dl] Nick León: A Tropical Entropy (2025, Tra Tra Trax): South Florida electronica/hip-hop producer, fifth album since 2016. B+(*) [sp] Los Thuthanaka: Los Thuthanaka (2025, self-released): Electronic musician Elysia Crampton, born in California, grew up in Virginia, first album released as E+E in 2008, followed by several in 2015-18 before adopting the name Chuquimamani-Condori, drawing on her Bolivian heritage, here in a duo with brother Joshua Chuquimia Crampton. I'm finding this uncomfortably loud and abrasive, but it's easy to seel the appeal if you're tuned into the energy. B+(**) [bc] Paul Marinaro: Mood Ellington (2022 [2025], Origin): Standards singer, born in Buffalo, based in Chicago, has a couple of previous albums from 2015, tackles 25 pieces from the Ellington songbook, arranged in three sets, backed by a nine-piece band plus a phalanx of violins. Good singer, songs not always well suited, arrangements hit and miss. B+(**) [sp] Fred Moten & Brandon López: Revision (2025, TAO Forms): Wikipedia describes Moten as a "cultural theorist, poet, and scholar whose work explores critical theory, black studies, and performance studies." His bibliography is split between "academic" and "creative," with the latter extending now to three albums since 2022, the first two with López (bass) and Gerald Cleaver (drums), this just with bass. I doubt I gave this one enough time. B+(***) [sp] Charles Owens Trio: The Music Tells Us (2024, La Reserve): Tenor saxophonist, b. 1972, which distinguishes him from another saxophonist, b. 1939 (played with Buddy Rich and Mongo Santamaria in the late 1960s, has 149 credits at Discogs). This one debuted in 1999 with quartet including Omer Avital and Jason Lindner, who led his next two credits. Discogs has a few more albums, but his Bandcamp has a different batch, and I've seen reference to, but haven't verified, a box of 2003 live recordings that appear on neither (some digitals are on Amazon). Trio with Cameron Ralston (bass) and Koli Shepsu (drums), mostly standards, starts with "Body and Soul" and ends with "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing," with stops along the way for "Nature Boy" and "Tomorrow Never Knows" (the most interesting, and surprising, piece here). Owens also plays some piano (Nord Stage 3) here. B+(***) [sp] Aaron Parks: "By All Means!!" (2025, Blue Note): Pianist, albums since 2000, has a trio with Ben Street (bass) and Billy Hart (drums), adding Ben Solomon (tenor sax) here, to nice effect. B+(**) [sp] Revolutionary Snake Ensemble: Serpentine (2025, Cuneiform): Boston group led by saxophonist Ken Field, fifth album since 2003, modeled after New Orleans brass bands but somewhat removed. B+(***) [dl] Joanne Robertson: Blurrr (2025, AD 93): British singer-songwriter, from Blackpool, based in Glasgow, also a painter and poet, sixth solo album. B+(*) [sp] John Scofield/Dave Holland: Memories of Home (2024 [2025], ECM): Guitar and bass duo, both legends: Holland left Miles Davis to record one of the greatest avant-jazz albums of 1972 (Conference of the Birds), then developed into one of the definitive postbop composer-bandleaders; Scofield picked up the fusion banner in 1981 and brought it to a new level of intricacy and sophistication. Not their first meeting, but their first duo album together. A- [sp] Smerz: Big City Life (2025, Escho): Norwegian duo, Catharina Stoltenberg and Henriette Motzfeldt, second album, electronic beats, trip-hop vocals. B+(**) [sp] Omar Sosa: Sendas (2025, Otá): Cuban pianist, b. 1965, moved to Ecuador in 1990, lived in US for a while, eventually wound up in Spain. Solo, mostly downbeat, a couple of vocals. B+(*) [sp] Adrian Younge [Presents]: Something About April III (2025, Jazz Is Dead): Los Angeles-based composer-producer, started in "psychedelic soul," ventured into soundtracks, has lately mostly worked the Jazz Is Dead franchise with Ali Shaheed Muhammad, which usually features still-living-but-long-forgotten 1970s jazz figures, raising more questions than they answer. On his own, Younge's debut album was 2011's Something About April, to which he added a 2016 sequel. Here he hopes his increasing mastery of his trade — "a 30-piece orchestra, analog synthesizers, breakbeats and Brazilian vocalists" — will make the third time the charm. He may be right, but I'm not sure anyone else cares. B+(*) [sp] Adrian Younge: Jazz Is Dead 23: Hyldon (2025, Jazz Is Dead, EP): The guest star here is Brazilian singer-songwriter Hyldon De Souza Silva (b. 1951), whose albums started in 1975, for a twist on the producer's "psychedelic soul" roots. Eight songs, 24:40. B+(**) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Anthony Braxton: Quartet (England) 1985 (1985 [2025], Burning Ambulance): The alto saxophonist, who started in AACM in Chicago, cut a Penguin Guide crown-winning solo (For Alto) that was so ugly even I can't stand it 55 years later, got a major visibility boost when Arista signed him in the late 1970s, got a long-term teaching gig at Wesleyan whence he has had several students lauded with genius grants (Mary Halvorson most famously). Now past 80, he continues to add to the hundreds of albums in his discography, which is only starting to be fleshed out with old tapes. One thing that helped solidify his reputation was his 1980s quartet, with Marilyn Crispell (piano), Mark Dresser (bass), and Gerry Hemingway (drums), which ranks among the great quartets in jazz history — peers include Coltrane's in the 1960s, and Ware's 1990s (with any of its drummers, but let's say Guillermo E. Brown). Their 1985 tour of England produced three 2-CD sets at the time, from Coventry (the Penguin Guide pick), Birmingham, and London (my pick). This digital-only release collects four more shows, each with two 36-47 minute sets, from successive nights in Sheffield, Leicester, Bristol, and Southampton. Playing them end to end is liable to feel like drowning, but any time you come up for air, you're likely to notice something simply brilliant. Ends with a bonus set drawn from soundchecks, including bits of standards. A- [dl] Don Cherry/Latif Khan: Music/Sangam (1978 [2025], Heavenly Sweetness): Trumpet player (1936-95), originally from Oklahoma City, gained fame in Ornette Coleman's Quartet, moved to Europe and expanded his horizons even wider, including this duo with tabla player (1942-89) from Delhi, during a first encounter in Paris. B+(**) [sp] Griot Galaxy: Live on WUOM 1979 (1979 [2025], Two Rooms): Jazz band from Michigan, spanned 1972-89, recorded albums in 1982 and 1985, had another live set released in 2003. Names I first recognize here are Jaribu Shahid (bass) and Tani Tabbal (drums), who were Sun Ra veterans but I know them mostly from James Carter's 1990s Quartet. Here they're backing two saxophonists, Faruq Z. Bey and Anthony Holland. Strong sax interplay, outstanding rhythm section, some spoken word. A- [bc] Old music: Tarun Balani: The Shape of Things to Come (2020, Berthold): Indian drummer, same group as his 2025 album: Adam O'Farrill (trumpet), Sharik Hasan (piano/synthesizer), Olli Hirvonen (guitar). Bold title, reminiscent of Ornette Coleman but "things" are vague where "jazz" was specific, and attached to a short album (5 songs, 31:08). The title piece, which leaps out of the modal matrix, for a moment anyhow, suggests that the future is bebop. B+(**) [bc] Daniel Carter/Gary Hassay/William Parker: Emanate (2013 [2015], self-released): No credits on the site, but Rick Lopez has the lowdown, crediting Carter with tenor/soprano sax, clarinet, flute, and trumpet, Hassay with alto/soprano sax and vocal, and Parker with bass and tuba, and setting the date and location as Easton, PA. B+(**) [bc] Gary Hassay + Paul Rogers: To Be Free (2004 [2006], Konnex): Free jazz alto saxophonist, just died (1947-2025), based in Allentown, PA, which was close enough to New York to get him some connections (e.g., with William Parker) but keep him obscure. Still, Discogs credits him with 18 albums since 1996, adding one side credit for his 1999 Ye Ren album (actually just a duo with Parker). Very little of his work is available on Spotify, but most of it is available on Bandcamp, including this remarkable duo with the British bassist — best known for numerous albums with Paul Dunmall, but in exceptional form here. I'm not so sure about the bit of Tuvan throat singing. A- [bc] Gary Hassay/Dan DeChellis/Tatsuya Nakatani: Beauty (2007, Konnex): Alto sax/piano/drums trio, one with several albums together, although the credits seem to have been missing on the original release, and are blurred ("saxophones/keyboards/percussion") on Bandcamp. Seems like they think quieter is prettier, but this is more striking when they break loose. Includes another "taste" of throat singing. B+(**) [bc] Gary Hassay/Dan DeChellis/Tatsuya Nakatini: Ritual Joy (2009 [2010], Konnex): Another trio album, with a 57:44 live set ("Haunting Said That") and a 7:36 "Thank You" (order flipped for the 2015 digital). B+(**) [bc] Gary Hassay/Michael Bisio: My Brother (2011, Konnex): Duo, Hassay playing tenor sax here, with the bassist who had worked with everyone on the New York avant scene when William Parker wasn't available. B+(**) [bc] Gary Hassay/Dan DeChellis/Tatsuya Nakatini: Seven Pieces (2015, self-released): Trio (alto sax/piano/drums), no information on when/where this was recorded, but probably within the 2007-10 window of their other albums. Pieces are untitled and numbered. B+(*) [bc] Gary Joseph Hassay/Janet Young: What Remains (2016, Dbops Music): Hassay starts using his middle name here, playing saxophones, throat-singing, and also credited with singing bowls and tuning forks, an interest shared by Young, also credited with gongs. The vocals finally lost it for me. B- [bc] Charles Owens Quartet: Eternal Balance (1999, Fresh Sound New Talent): Tenor saxophonist, first album, with Jason Lindner (piano), Omer Avital (bass), and Daniel Freedman (drums), three originals and four standards. B+(***) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
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