Latest Jazz & Blues Reviews

• Rolling Bomber Erland Dahlen

  
  Star Norwegian drummer goes solo with a sometimes creepy debut LP.

  reviewed by Wyndham Wallace

  • Late Junction

• Blue Moon Ahmad Jamal

  
  An unpredictable new set from the influential pianist.

  reviewed by Martin Longley

  • Jazz on 3

• Kindred Spirits Zoe Rahman

  
  A set melding its varied constituents into a deeply personal final form.

  reviewed by Martin Longley

  • Jamie Cullum

• The Face of Mount Molehill The Neil Cowley Trio

  
  Cowley’s taste-making doesn’t always succeed, despite the vitality of his tunes.

  reviewed by Martin Longley

  • Jamie Cullum
  • Gilles Peterson

• Portico Quartet Portico Quartet

  
  An endlessly absorbing third LP from the inspired jazz outfit.

  reviewed by Chris Parkin

  • Jamie Cullum
  • Gilles Peterson
  • Late Junction

• Montauk Variations Matthew Bourne

  
  An expectations-confounding listen of solo piano experimentation.

  reviewed by Martin Longley

  • Jazz on 3

• Cohesion Partikel

  
  Piano-less trio delivers discreetly elegiac melodies alongside their stinging grooves.

  reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre

  • Jazz Line-Up

• Further Explorations Chick Corea, Eddie Gomez and Paul Motian

  
  When this trio's performance, captured live in New York, clicks it is utterly magnificent.

  reviewed by Alyn Shipton

  • Jazz Library
  • Jazz on 3

• Space Is the Place Sun Ra

  
  Saturnian jazz godhead leaves Earth’s orbit.

  reviewed by Stevie Chick

  • Freak Zone

• The Art of the Trio – Recordings: 1996-2001 Brad Mehldau Trio

  
  A trio that changed the landscape of small group jazz.

  reviewed by Alyn Shipton

  • Jazz Library

• Rio Keith Jarrett

  
  Features performances which recall his career-defining early trio recordings.

  reviewed by Alyn Shipton

  • Jazz Library

• Wo!Man Archie Shepp & Joachim Kühn

  
  A pronounced swing emerges as this fine collaborative set unfolds.

  reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre

  • Jazz on 3

• Weather Meshell Ndegeocello

  
  A curious album which requires several airings to reveal its secretive charms.

  reviewed by Martin Longley

  • Benji B

• Sacred Dimension Nat Birchall

  
  A deeply sincere homage presented with an open heart full of passion.

  reviewed by Daniel Spicer

  • Jazz Line-Up

• Live at the South Bank Kieran Hebden / Steve Reid / Mats Gustafsson

  
  A welcome addition to what eventually became Reid’s late-period re-emergence.

  reviewed by Martin Longley

  • Gilles Peterson

• What Is the Beautiful? The Claudia Quintet +1 featuring Kurt Elling and Theo Bleckmann

  
  A collaborative jazz/poetry affair that proves to be a piece of vital, living art.

  reviewed by Daniel Spicer

  • Jazz on 3

• Big Gurl (Smell My Dream) Darius Jones Trio

  
  A notable addition to alto saxophonist Jones’ already impressive discography.

  reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre

  • Jazz on 3

• Mindset The Necks

  
  Expectations are set up only to be subverted on The Necks’ latest long-player.

  reviewed by Bill Tilland

  • Jazz on 3

• Elements of Truth Empirical

  
  This London jazz quartet crashes irresistibly through the decades on album three.

  reviewed by Daniel Spicer

  • Jamie Cullum

• Taylor Made Linley Hamilton

  
  A promising album from the trumpeter, which recognises its central force in its title.

  reviewed by John Eyles

  • Jazz Line-Up