Reviews of the week

The album A Sun That Never Sets by Ralph Alessi is recommended by media in the US, UK and Germany

This is a wholly different ensemble than on his previous ECM albums, yet one that continues to build upon the bold group interplay that has become a signature of Alessi’s approach. The quartet grabs you from the start on the opening title track, a syncopated fanfare in which Alessi, Hébert, and Smith on vibraphone dance around each other with motivic glee. Joining the group elsewhere is the trumpeter’s brother, esteemed classical trombonist Joe, who brings his clarion technique and daring improvisational chops to the fore. Together, they evoke the progressive work of reedist Jimmy Guiffre’s small groups of the 1960s, and cuts like ‘Relaxed Misery’ and ‘Of Trees’ have playful free jazz energy. Yet, as wide open as the improvisation can get, Alessi never lets things get out of control. There’s always a sense of controlled chaos to the group, and even an introspective tone. This is especially true of ‘Sweet Spot,’ which resonates with a warm, baroque chamber jazz lyricism.

Matt Collar, All Music

The 11 tracks here are gentle but swinging modernist post-bop tunes with occasional flourishes: ‘Of Trees (Variations On A Theme BY TB)’ features the two brothers playing simultaneously if not together, as the rhythm section cut up a stuttering groove more like beat-juggling than jazz. Alessi is a smart composer, and he lets Mitchell, Hébert and Smith take the music to interesting places.

Phil Freeman, The Wire

Eine große Bandbreite an Stimmungen abdeckende Kompositionen des Trompeters. Es gibt offen wirkende, mal melancholisch grundierte, mal düstere Klangräume. Aber es gibt auch kantigere Stücke von großer Dringlichkeit, die eine vehementere, expressivere Improvisationslust herausfordert. In beiden Fällen versteht es Alessi, geschickt zu verschleiern, wo die kompositorischen Strukturvorgaben enden und die spontanen Interaktionen beginnen. Das ergibt ein so abwechslungsreiches wie stimmiges Album, ein jazziges Klangideal auf der Höhe der Zeit. Hervorragend.

Reinhold Unger, Münchner Merkur

The debut recording of Joe Lovano’s new Paramount Quartet fascinates an Italian reviewer

L’assetto cameristico del gruppo è in grado di sviluppare una tensione e una grande inventiva a ogni brano, che siano quelli originali di Joe Lovano o i due tributi: ‘First Song’ di Charlie Haden o ‘Lady Day’ di Wayne Shorter. Il suono pieno e morbido del sassofono del leader (tenore, G mezzo soprano, in chiave sol) e il taragot (uno strumento a fiato della tradizione ungherese) incanta ogni volta, cercando soluzioni armoniche peculiari. Questo offre la sponda per il lavoro dei comprimari che possono dare un contributo  altrettanto interessante allo sviluppo dei brani. È soprattutto nelle composizioni originali che è possibile apprezzare il lavoro sulla ricerca timbrica e l’interplay tra i quattro musicisti. Album misurato e ricchissimo di idee questo ‘Paramount Quartet’. Ad esempio in ‘The Great Outdoors’ la chitarra di Julian Lage punteggia l’incipit del leader per prendersi nella seconda parte uno spazio tutto per sé, ricevendo spunto proprio dal modo in cui è stato presentato il brano da Lovano. La chiusa del CD, ‘Congregation’, risuona invece di modi blues lievi e divertiti. Joe Lovano e il suo ensemble ci hanno offerto un ascolto davvero intenso e attendiamo di poterli seguire anche dal vivo quanto prima.

Alessandro Tacconi, Off Topic Magazine

The re-issue of Mick Goodrick’s album In Pas(s)ing within the Luminessence vinyl series is welcomed in a German music monthly

Er hat vor allem als Lehrer in Boston fast alle Großen beeinflusst, aber diese Aufnahme vom November 1978 mit John Surman an den Saxofonen, Eddie Gomez am Bass und dem Spitzenschlagzeuger Jack DeJohnette zeigt, wie kristallklar auch seine Kompositionen waren, was für ein modernes, ja pianistisches Verständnis er von Akkorden hatte, während seine sparsamen Soli den Geist des Bläsers atmeten.

Tobi Müller, Rolling Stone (German Edition)

The re-issue of the album Of Mist And Melting by Bill Connors within the Luminessence vinyl series excites a UK reviewer

Here Connors concentrates exclusively on the classical guitar. All six characterful compositions are his and they elicit a memorable range of contributions from Garbarek, Peacock and Jack DeJohnette. The combination of the leader’s tendency to phrase behind the beat with Peacock’s astutely spaced yet rooted figures and DeJohnette’s dynamic sensitivity and polyrhythmic power makes for a superb, rolling launching pad for Garbarek’s diversely projected and modulated contributions: hear especially the tenor-fired ‘Melting’ and ‘Cafe Vue’ and the soprano-led ‘Face In The Water’ and ‘Unending’. A classic album from first note to last.

Michael Tucker, Jazz Journal

Feebles, Fables & Ferns by Mick Goodrick and Fred Hersch is reviewed in US, UK and German media

In the hands of simpatico handlers of guitar and piano, those instruments can create delicious contrasts besides effecting blends of notes striking in their sonority. Mick Goodrick and Fred Hersch waste no time exploring those possibilities, staking out some fertile ground for themselves in this cryptic title song, then proceeding with no small amount of self assurance on ‘Falling Grace.’ As on ‘Away 10’/’Amazing,’ the two musicians carefully place the notes they play, yet without any of the overly correct approach that would render the performances stiff and antiseptic. On the contrary, these almost thirty-nine minutes, originally recorded in 1988 (then remixed by Chris Allen in 2025), exude an impeccable sheen matching the fluency of the duo’s musicianship: their interactions effortlessly dovetail. […] The distinct separation of the two instruments across the stereo spectrum is a constant but hardly intrusive reminder of the quiet and gentle but nevertheless kinetic instrumental relationship between Mick Goodrick and Fred Hersch.

Doug Collette, All About Jazz

The ECM record label still surprises and delights, digging out – I assume from Fred Hersch’s archive – this previously unknown set of duos he recorded in his own studio in New York with guitarist Mick Goodrick in August 1988. […] in 1988 both musicians were active in Boston, and on Hersch’s invitation, Goodrick came down to New York to record some duos together. Looking back at this music almost four decades later – Goodrick himself died in 2022 – Hersch notes ‘The highlight to me is just the level of ensemble playing. There was a lot of profound listening going on between both of us.’ […] To hear Goodrick’s lilting solo intro to the title track is to understand why he was always held in such regard, Hersch gently sliding in behind him before his more forceful lines take over. […] This subtle, often unassuming set is an unexpected treasure. Cherish it.

Simon Adams, Jazz Journal

Dass damals auch Mikros eingeschaltet und die Aufnahmen später nicht vergessen oder gar gelöscht wurden, kommt einer Fügung gleich, ermöglicht dies doch fast vier Jahrzehnte später, Hersch als erst 33-Jährigen bei seiner Erstbegegnung mit dem zehn Jahre älteren Goodrick (1945-2002) zu erleben. Und zu beobachten,wie angeregt, gewandt, bar aller Verlegenheit der Austausch über Eigenes, zudem über Standards wie Mal Waldons ‘Soul Eyes’ oder Steve Swallows ‘Falling Grace’ vor sich ging. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit verdienen jene ‘5 Excursions’ in der Mitte des Albums, in welchen Hersch und Goodrick Free Music praktizieren und dabei mit Neigung zu vergleichsweise experimentellem Interplay überraschen.

Wolfgang Gratzer, Jazz Podium

A US reaction to the album Mountain Call by Miroslav Vitous

Vitous creates with ‘Mountain Call’, a sort of musical self-portrait that demonstrates his immense talent as an improviser, composer and sampling pioneer. The album strikes a balance between spontaneous improvisation and sequences in which the recording studio’s technology is put at the musicians’ service, like a canvas on which to paint brand new soundscapes. Miroslav and Jack have not forgotten that they were one of the most thermonuclear rhythm sections ever and the rust of time has not affected their sublime class […] in the five-part suite ‘Rhapsody’ we can hear Esperanza Spalding’s vocals, making her ECM debut. The extraordinary bassist/vocalist joins Vitous, Gary Campbell’s sax and Gerald Cleaver’s drums on ‘Fun and Games,’ where ‘call and response’ dynamics are inserted within the textures created by Vitous. The keystone, however, lies in the opening and closing of the album, which see Vitous and Portal perform astonishing duo sequences, probably the freest moments of the Czech bassist’s artistic journey, since his collaboration with Jan Garbarek on ‘Atmos.’ Sheer beauty and irrepressible bliss, period. […] this is a really relevant work that delivers much more than it promises.

Ferruccio Martinotti, Free Jazz Collective

The duo recording Memento by Marilyn Crispell and Anders Jormin is hailed in a US music paper

Titled after its track with the shortest running time, their newly-released ‘Memento’ offers music of the tresholds – elusive, inconceivably nuanced, immune to ostentation and overstatement. Its 38 minutes of mostly modal improvisations and compositions explore the notion of memory and loss. While ‘memento’ has come to be most used meaning a souvenir in English, the original Latin means ‘remember’ and as the well-known phrase, ‘memento mori’: ‘remember you must die.’ Thus, Crispell offers a tribute to the young victims of current wars, and another one to the late bassist and past frequent collaborator, Gary Peacock […] Other album selections stem from the pianist’s recollection of a visit to the coasts of Cornwall to newer versions of songs recorded in previous ears with different setups and instrumentations. An antidote to our mindlessly noisy times, ‘Memento’ best exerts its magic though focused and exclusive listening: not background music by any stretch, its sparseness and lightness of touch only lead to an increased and sometimes overwhelming intensity of emotion. This musical impressionism strikes a perfect balance between clarity and abstraction, joy and sadness. It’s one for the ages.

David Cristol, New York City Jazz record