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An occasional blog about populist politics and popular music, not necessarily at the same time. LinksLocal Links My Other Websites Music Politics Others Networking Music DatabaseArtist Search: Website SearchGoogle: Recent Reading
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Monday, June 30, 2025 Music Week
Music: Current count 44435 [44388) rated (+47), 23 [24] unrated (-1). This will be another premature post, put up early so I can get back to working on my major project at the moment, which is wrapping up the Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll: Mid-Year 2025. Deadline is tomorrow, July 1. While one wants to appear hardass about deadlines, you probably know by now that I'm a big believer in counting every vote, so I've always welcomed a few late ballots. Moreover, I figure that, like normal Americans, ArtsFuse will be taking July 4 off to enjoy the holiday. As a fairly abnormal American, I'll probably be hunkered down, working, playing music, trying to drown out sounds of fireworks and gunfire I once enjoyed but now have grown to despise. I did manage to steal a few moments to compile a Loose Tabs last week. I posted it on Friday, but kept adding things over the weekend, so the expanded version (12549 words) will appear at the same time as this post. I haven't really dumped everything I have into it: a couple things figuring I should write more on them later. I also didn't do an obituary trawl, but there have been quite a few worth noting since the last time I did a section (May 14), including Brian Wilson and Sly Stewart, and most recently, Louis Moholo-Moholo. One item of possible interest here is my list of mid-year music lists. I haven't had time to do an exhaustive list of such, but I have incorporated these lists into my metacritic file (which otherwise I've struggled to find time to keep current). A week ago, I was impressed by how many albums our poll critics were voting for that I hadn't heard or in many cases hadn't even heard of. But as I rushed to check out the most promising -- at least those most readily accessible -- I found that most were indeed quite interesting, but few made my A- grade. That changed big time this week, with one album crashing my ballot list, and another that quite likely could if I could afford to give it another spin. (The former is by Rodrigo Amado; the latter is by another Portuguese group, Motian & More.) Still much more I haven't gotten to. I've been especially remiss on following up on download links, and I'm afraid I've also neglected two vinyl albums I was generously gifted. (They don't fit in the physical queue, and I play LPs so rarely it's rather inconvenient to even get to the turntable. I will at least get to them this week.) What I can do for now is disclose my own ballot (which may at least inhibit me from fiddling with it further):
At present, I have 69 ballots counted, plus another half-dozen or so in my inbox. My best guess is that we'll wind up somewhere in the 85-100 range. Last year's mid-year poll wound up with 90 ballots, far short of the 177 who voted in the year-end poll. While many critics keep running lists and/or can rattle one off the top of their heads -- which is something I try to encourage, possibly because I'm one of them -- others insist on preparation and review, so were unprepared for my late invite to a somewhat less solemn affair. Still, we already have accumulated a huge store of information on how the year is developing, and I think that anyone with the slightest concern to keep up with the state of the art will find much of interest here, both at the highly competitive tops of the charts and on the far fringes. I will probably update this post later, or maybe offer a separate one on the poll. I've done minimal work to open up a new July Streamnotes archive, postponing the usual indexing. Other projects are worth talking about, but no time here. New records reviewed this week: Rodrigo Amado/Chris Corsano: The Healing: Live at ZDB (2016 [2025], European Echoes): Tenor sax and drums duo, the first of a promised series of archival tapes fallen by the wayside, but barely falls within our 10-year New Music window. Terrific straight out the gate. A- [bc] [08-01] Benny Benack III: This Is the Life (2024 [2025], Bandstand Presents): Jazz singer, also plays trumpet, several albums since 2017, has one of those hipster styles (with a lot of scat) that I rarely enjoy (cf. Kurt Elling), but he makes it more fun than most. Live set, runs long, with Mathis Picard (piano), Russell Hall (bass), Joe Peri (drums), "with special guest" Benny Benack Jr. (tenor sax, presumably his father) noted on the cover. B+(***) [cd] Antonia Bennett: Expressions (2025, self-released): Standards singer, daughter of Tony Bennett and actress Sandra Grant, has a couple of previous albums. Backed by a piano trio led by Christian Jacob. Caught my attention with an ebullient "Comes Love," followed by a song in French, and a jaunty "Right on Time." Several more bright spots here. B+(**) [cd] Christer Bothén 3: L'Invisible (2024 [2025], Thanatosis): Swedish bass clarinetist, b. 1941, not a very large discography but established himself in the 1980s, and again since 2016 (notably in the new group Cosmic Ear). Also credited with "inside piano" here, in a trio with Kansas Zetterberg (bass) and Kjell Nordeson (drums), for two tracks (17:11 + 19:54). B+(***) [sp] BROM: Чёрная голова [Black Head] (2023 [2025], Addicted Label): Russian free jazz group, Discogs lists 10 albums since 2008, longest term member Dmitriy Lapshin (bass), here with Ivan Bursov (tenor sax), Fesikl Mikensky (electronics), and Bogdan Ivlev (drums). B+(***) [sp] Michael Buckley: Ebb and Flow (2025, Livia): Irish tenor saxophonist, has a trio album from 1998, at least one more, mainstream, nice tone, backed by piano-bass-drums. B+(**) [sp] Terri Lyne Carrington & Christie Dashiell: We Insist 2025! (2025, Candid): Drummer, first album in 1981 was very impressive, but was followed by widely-spaced albums in 1989 and 2002 before more regular releases, which ranged enough to snag Grammys in 2012 and 2014 and top a DownBeat poll in 2020. Here she updates Max Roach's 1961 We Insist! Freedom Now Suite, with Dashiell the featured singer -- a role originally filled by Abbey Lincoln. Front cover also mentions as "featuring": Weedie Braimah (congas/djembe), Milena Casado (trumpet/electronics), Morgan Guerin (bass), Simon Moullier (vibes/marimba, Matthew Stevens (guitar); while the fine print mentions a few more names (mostly vocals), plus "special gueset" Julian Priester (trombone on one track). B+(***) [sp] Daniel Carter/Ayumi Ishito: Endless Season (2023 [2025], 577): Saxophone duo (also trumpet, clarinet, flute, and piano for Carter), recorded this as an acoustic set, then Ishito dubbed in synth beats and effects. The latter are quite pleasing, although the straight duets hold up rather well. B+(***) [bc] Anita Donndorff: Thirsty Soul (2022-24 [2025], Fresh Sound New Talent): Standards singer from Buenos Aires, debut album 2021, moved to New York, this draws on sessions before and after the move, includes one original, and lands on a Jobim. B+(***) [cd] Drank [Ingrid Schmoliner/Alexander Kranabetter]: Breath in Definition (2023 [2025], Trost): Duo, prepared piano and trumpet/electronics, four tracks, with guest marimba on one, voice on another. B+(***) [bc] Marty Ehrlich: Trio Exaltation: This Time (2024 [2025], Sunnyside): Alto saxophonist (tenor one track), has an impressive discography since the mid-1980s, tends to produce tricky postbop but returns to basic here, in what is basically a blowing session, backed only by bass (John Hébert) and drums (Nasheet Waits), not that anyone could ask for more. Group name goes back to a 2018 album. Album cover can be parsed multiple ways. A- [sp] David Grollman/Andy Haas/Sabrina Salamone: SCRT (2025, self-released): Improv trio, drums, saxophone, violin, with some spoken word poetry written by the drummer's late wife, Rita Stein-Grollman. Beyond its own merits, the poetry provides some focus, which sharpens the surrounding music. A- [cd] Noah Haidu: Standards III (2023 [2025], Sunnyside): Pianist, based in New York, third volume in a series recorded closely together, mostly trio with Gervis Myles (bass) and Charles Goold (drums), with some cuts substituting the more famous collaborators from the previous volumes: Buster Williams and Peter Washington (bass), Billy Hart and Lewis Nash (drums), with Steve Wilson (alto sax) on one track. Haidu also claims three songwriting credits, but they touch on standards (e.g., "Stevie W."). B+(***) [cd] Mary Halvorson: About Ghosts (2024 [2025], Nonesuch): Guitarist, student of Anthony Braxton, started producing interesting records around 2004, got her first A- in my book with Dragon's Head in 2008, and has moved on to effective stardom in the postmodern jazz world, with a major label contract, a MacArthur "genius" grant, and a Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll win with Amaryllis (2022). This reconvenes her stellar Amaryllis Sextet, with Adam O'Farrill (trumpet), Jacob Garchik (trombone), Patricia Brennan (vibes), Nick Dunston (bass), and Tomas Fujiwara (drums), adding saxophonists Immanuel Wilkins (alto) and/or Brian Settles (tenor) for four tracks each (three in tandem). This is dazzling as long as you keep your attention focused to pick up the myriad ever-shifting details. But it's not so compelling that I notice much without thinking to focus. I'm not sure that's even a knock. It may just be my own personal limitation. By the way, she's also having a terrific yet in side-credits. A- [cd] Hanging Hearts: Where's Your Head At (2023 [2025], Ropeadope): Chicago-based sax trio, leader Chris Weller plays tenor and bass saxophones, with Cole DeGenova (keys, synth, synth bass) and Quin Kirchner (drums). First album was Chris Weller's Hanging Hearts (2014). B+(*) [sp] Sun-Mi Hong: Fourth Page: Meaning of a Nest (2025, Edition): Korean drummer, based in Amsterdam, first album was Page 1 (2017). Meticulously layered post-bop quintet with trumpet (Alistair Payne), tenor sax (Nicolò Ricci), piano (Chaerin Im), and bass (Alessandro Fongaro). B+(*) [sp] Jason Kao Hwang: Myths of Origin (2022 [2025], True Sound): Violinst, born in US but also has a solid grounding in Chinese classical music, subtitle here is "for improvising String Orchestra and Drum Set," I'm counting: 10 [more] violins, 5 violas, 4 cellos, 3 guitars, 1 bassist (Ken Filiano), and one drummer (Andrew Drury). Live set from Vision Fest, every bit as glorious as you'd expect. A- [cd] [07-07] Jane in Ether: Oneiric (2023 [2025], Confront): Trio of Miako Klein (recorders), Magda Mayas (piano), and Billana Vouitchkova (violin, voice). Effectively a drone album. B+(*) [bc] Sven-Åke Johansson Quintet: Stumps (2022 [2025], Trost): Swedish drummer (1943-2025), played with many avant-jazz figures since 1972, especially Schlippenbach. An earlier version of this material was recorded at Au Topsi Pohl in 2021 and released in 2022, but these are previously unreleased, from a set at Haus der Berliner 6.11.2022. Quintet with Pierre Borel (alto sax), Axel Dörner (trumpet), Simon Sieger (piano), and Joel Grip (bass). The little figures that begin and end each piece seem awkward, but each develops into a 12-17 minute extravaganza. B+(***) [bc] Stefan Keune/Sandy Ewen/Damon Smith: Two Felt-Tip Pens: Live at Moers (2023 [2025], Balance Point Acoustics): German saxophonist (sopranino/alto), fair number of albums since 2002, mostly free jazz contexts, this one with guitar and bass on edge. B+(***) [sp] Maruja: Tír na nÓg (2025, Music for Nations, EP): Punk/jazz band from Manchester, or post-rock in the sense of heavy instrumental riffing in place of improv, EPs from 2017 with one LP, this 4 songs, 22:07, title from Gaelic refers to underworld, the jazz component coming from a saxophone, but I'm unclear on credits, or much of anything else. B+(**) [sp] Roscoe Mitchell: Gratitude: One Head Four People (2024 [2025], Wide Hive): Art Ensemble of Chicago founder and mainstay, plays bass saxophone here, with guitar (Sandy Ewen), bass (Damon Smith), and drums (Weasel Walter). Rather sketchy. B+(*) [sp] Motian & More: Gratitude (2022-23 [2025], Phonogram Unit): Portuguese quartet, bassist Hernâni Faustino seems to be the leader, with José Lencastre (tenor sax), Pedro Branco (bass), and João Sousa (drums), opens with "Misterioso" (Monk), followed by four Paul Motian pieces, with "Mandeville" a very choice cut, and that's just a warm up for the finale. A- [bc] Eva Novoa: Novoa/Kamaguchi/Cleaver Trio Volume 2 (2020 [2025], 577): Spanish pianist, from Barcelona, debut 2012 on FSNT, trio with Masa Kamaguchi (bass) and Gerald Cleaver (drums), follows a 2023 release from the same session. B+(**) [bc] Potsa Lotsa XL: Amoeba's Dance (2024 [2025], Trouble in the East): Band led by German saxophonist Silke Eberhard, originally a quartet of brass and reeds for an Eric Dolphy tribute (2009-10), later augmented beyond Plus to XL (a tentet here). Original pieces, interesting but tends to slip away. B+(**) [sp] The Quantum Blues Quartet: Quantum Blues (2025, Ropeadope): New fusion group: tempted to say "supergroup," as everyone involved is long established in their own right: Tisziji Muñoz (guitar), Paul Shaffer (keyboards), Jamaaladeen Tacuma (bass), and Will Calhoun (drums). B+(**) [sp] Resavoir & Matt Gold: Horizon (2025, International Anthem): Resavoir is basically Will Miller, wide range of side credits (like from Whitney to SZA), third album since 2019, mostly plays keyboards here, while Gold plays bass, guitar, and drums, with others coming and going, bits of vocals. B [sp] Matthew Shipp: The Cosmic Piano (2024 [2025], Cantaloupe Music): One of the major pianists in jazz history, many albums since 1988, I've written a whole Consumer Guide about his work, which was a substantial task 20 years ago and would have to be more than doubled today. Along the way, he's recorded well over a dozen solo albums, with this the latest, and this is one more. I've never been a huge solo piano fan, but this is clearly pretty remarkable, in ways that make him instantly recognizable. A- [sp] Mark Solborg: Tungemål: Confluencia (2025, ILK Music): Danish/Argentinian guitarist, side-credits from 2001, albums from 2007, quartet here with Susana Santos Silva (trumpet), Simon Toldam (keyboards), and Ingar Zach (percussion). A little slow. B+(*) [sp] Kevin Sun: Lofi at Lowlands (2024 [2025], Endectomorph Music, EP): Tenor saxophonist, impressive debut in 2018, has a deep understanding of history and lore. Trio with Walter Stinson (bass) and Kayvon Gordon (drums), short at 23:13, but pulls nine fragments from six live sets, and experiments: this is "Sun's initial foray into the seemingly limitless possibilities of post-production, for the first in a projected series drawn from the same sources. B+(*) [sp] Sun & Rain: Waterfall (2022 [2025], Out of Your Head): Quartet of Nathaniel Morgan (alto sax), Travis Laplante (tenor sax), Andrew Smiley (guitar), and Jason Nazary (drums). Morgan has a fairly long list of side-credits since 2012 (69 per Discogs), but nothing under his own name. Smiley started with the avant-noise group Little Women. The others I've run across more often. B+(**) [sp] Transcendence: Music of Pat Metheny (2025, FMR): Trio of Bob Gluck (keyboards), Christopher Dean Sullivan (electric bass), and Karl Latham (drums), playing five pieces by Metheny plus one each from Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett. I've never been much of a fan of Metheny's more popular albums, although I've noticed that he occasionally strays toward the margins, with mixed but sometimes interesting results. Gluck, on the other hand, has written a book on Metheny's music, and comes up with some unexpected twists. B+(**) [cd] Terry Waldo & the Gothim City Band: Treasury Volume 2 (2025, Turtle Bay): Ragtime pianist, learned from Eubie Blake, who said that Waldo reminds him of Fats Waller. He first recorded in 1969 with his Gutbucket Syncopators, and introduced his Gotham City Band in 1984. Unclear how old these recordings are, or for that matter who's playing what, but at 80 he appears to still be active. I like modern (and for that matter postmodern) jazz just fine, but for me "real jazz" will always be pre-bop, and this really hits that mark. A- [sp] Wheelhouse: House and Home (2024 [2025], Aerophonic): Trio of Dave Rempis (saxophones), Jason Adasiewicz (vibes), and Nate McBride (bass). Sort of the avant-garde's version of a chamber jazz group. The saxophonist remain supreme in any setting. A- [cd] [07-22] Brandon Woody: For the Love of It All (2025, Blue Note): Trumpet player, from Baltimore, first album but on a major label, with a band of similar unknowns (keyboards, bass, drums, one vocal). B+(**) [sp] John Yao and His 17 Piece Instrument: Points in Time (2024 [2025], See Tao): New York-based, originally a trombonist, albums from 2004, here just a big band composer/arranger (with Mike Holober co-producing). B+(**) [cd] [07-11] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Anthony Braxton: B-X0 N0-47A (1969 [2025], BYG Actuel): Early album, 2nd in Discogs' list, 4th for Wikipedia (where the title is rendered as Anthony Braxton, the latest of many reissues deriving this title from the graph Braxton used to title his 2nd side composition. First side has two pieces by band mates Leo Smith (trumpet) and Leroy Jenkins (violin) -- all have long lists of miscellaneous instruments, including percussion, which is mostly Steve McCall. B+(**) [sp] Marco Eneidi Quartet: Wheat Fields of Kleyehof (2004 [2025], Balance Point Acoustics): Alto saxophonist (1956-2016), born in Portland, was associated with William Parker in the late 1980s, later based in Vienna. Improv quintet with Darren Johnston (trumpet), John Finkbeiner (guitar), Damon Smith (bass), and Vijay Anderson (drums). B+(***) [bc] Bill Evans: Further Ahead: Live in Finland 1964-1969 (1964-69 [2025], Elemental Music): Three trio sets: 1964 with Chuck Israels (bass) and Larry Bunker (drums); 1965 with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Alan Dawson, with Lee Konitz (alto sax) in for the last cut; and 1969 with Eddie Gomez and Marty Morell. B+(**) [sp] Charles Kynard: Woga (1972 [2025], We Want Sounds): Soul jazz organ player from St. Louis (1933-79), recorded for Pacific Jazz and Prestige in the 1960s, with this the middle of three 1971-73 albums for Mainstream, with a larger group -- two each trumpets and trombones, electric guitar and bass, and drums -- arranged and conducted by Richard Fritz. B+(***) [sp] David "Fathead" Newman/Ellis Marsalis/Cornell Dupree: Return to the Wide Open Spaces (1990 [2025], Amazing/Steady Boy): Reissue of a live album recorded in Fort Worth's Caravan of Dreams, the headliners (alto sax/flute, piano, guitar) joined by James Clay (tenor sax), Dennis Dotson (trumpet), Leroy Cooper (baritone sax), Chuck Rainey (bass), and George Rains (drums) -- all cited in smaller print on the cover. B+(**) [sp] Kristen Noguès/John Surman: Diriaou (1998 [2025], Souffle Continu): Celtic harp player (1952-2007), French but sings in Breton, released an album in 1976, several more in the 1990s. This a duo with the English saxophonist, mostly playing bass clarinet. This is really lovely, a unique item. A- [bc] Ray Russell Quartet: The Complete Spontaneous Event: Live 1967-1969 (1967-69 [2024], Jazz in Britain): British guitarist, b. 1947, so was pretty young when these six BBC radio sessions were recorded: 6 tracks were released in 2000, expanded here to 20 tracks, 133:33, the with Roy Fry (piano), Alan Rushton (drums), and either Dave Holland or Ron Mathewson on bass. This is closer to classic bebop guitar jazz than to the avant/fusion strains developing around John McLaughlin, but is remarkably cogent and flat out enjoyable. A- [bc] Louis Stewart: I Thought About You (1977 [2025], Livia): Irish guitarist (1944-2016), enjoying a reissues boomlet, recorded this studio session with John Taylor (piano), who was also in Ronnie Scott's band, and two Americans who were touring with Cedar Walton at the time: Sam Jones (bass) and Billy Higgins (drums). B+(**) [bc] Sun Ra: Nuits De La Fondation Maeght (1970 [2025], Strut): Set at an art museum, opened in 1964, in France near Nice, this title is shared by much reissued live albums by Albert Ayler and Cecil Taylor. Sun Ra's original came out in two volumes in 1971, finally expanded here to over 4 hours in what is surely the most definitive packaging ever. The usual mix of marvelous and corny, much too much to sort out. B+(***) [sp] Sun Ra: Stray Voltage (1970s-80s [2025], Modern Harmonic): This is a sampler of "Ra's electronic peregrinations during the 1970s and '80s," with or (mostly) without Akrestra. Nothing I can find on exact recording dates, but the LP cover scans suggest some juicy technical details on the synths -- I'm guessing because I can't make out the words. B+(**) [sp] Clifford Thornton: Ketchaoua (1969 [2025], BYG Actuel): Trumpet/cornet player (1936-89), started with Sun Ra in the early 1960s, then with Pharoah Sanders (1963-67). First album as leader (although some of his earlier work eventually panned out). Four tracks, starts as an octet (with Archie Shepp, Grachan Moncur III, Dave Burrell, and Sunny Murray), but the second side slims down, ending with just cornet and two bassists. B+(**) [sp] Old music: None. Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
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