Music
Welcome to the Music section. Here I post updates on new records from bands or composers that I enjoy, especially in contemporary jazz, fusion jazz, and modern classical.
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Gogo Penguin, the absolutely brilliant fusion-jazz trio from Manchester, released their new album Necessary Fictions a few months ago, and it’s a great listen. There are some excellent tracks on it, including contributions by Daudi Matsiko and violinist Rakhi Singh. They toured the album worldwide, and I was lucky enough to see them front row…
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The great Hania Rani, one of my favourite contemporary composers by far, released her new album Non Fiction – Piano Concerto in Four Movements last week. An important departure from what she’s been composing in the last few years (notably Ghosts and Home), though not a radical one — some clear reminiscences of Inner Symphonies…
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Can you remember the last time you found an album you just couldn’t stop playing? For me that’s Highlines (2020), by the French trio Foehn Jazz. I’ve had it on repeat for the past four months and still haven’t tired of it. It’s a very elegant mix of melodies, instrumentation, and rhythm. It’s definitely much better…
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Boom! What a brilliant piece, Bloom, by Bill Laurance with the Untold Orchestra. It came out about a year ago, but I’ve listened it so many times that I can’t help but write a quick ‘review’. It’s simply amazing–so much going on. The composition is full of details; you get strings and piano blending together…
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Not exactly a new release (it came out in 2023), but I couldn’t resist posting about Fragmente, the beautiful album by Berlin-based composer Felix Rösch. There’s a lot going on here—complex, beautifully melancholic, great taste. A few standout tracks: In Memory of a Honey Bee (I’d love to know the story behind that one), Driven…
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Daniel Herskedal, the brilliant Norwegian brass and tuba player, has released his latest album, Movements of Air. Great news that after a few beautiful—though at times overly calm—solo projects, his longtime collaborators Eyolf Dale and Helge Norbakken are back. While not as sublime as Harbour (still my favourite by far), the album combines some of…
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Immortal Onion, the fusion jazz super trio from Poland, recently released their latest album, Technaturalism. It’s very different from their (brilliant) earlier albums. I missed the finely crafted compositions found in Ocelot of Salvation — their first album and still my favourite — as well as in XD and Screens. But I suppose these guys,…
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Really nice album by the Belgian composer Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres, combining electronic and classical elements. Channel, the fourth track, is brilliant. There’s a noticeable style change between Side A and Side B of the record; I personally prefer Side A, but there’s a lot of interesting material on Side B as well.
Sebastian Lewis 