The Imposter Acoustic is a stylistic exercise that pays tribute to the greats from hip-hop’s early days (Gil Scott-Heron springs to mind) by setting the lyrics to an often irresistible jazzy groove (see "Requiem For the Ego").

Between Whispers is synonymous with taking vocal aesthetics to the very highest level, precisely through each artist’s (Elina Duni, Sofia Ribeiro, Veronika Harcsa and David Linx) unique vocal characteristics. Moreover, anyone who hires someone like Vincent De Bast as a recording engineer knows that the sound quality is guaranteed. (Georges Tonla Briquet)

SML is a Los Angeles-based contemporary jazz supergroup that perfectly embodies the genre's move towards a wider audience. It's free-flowing, finely nuanced and, yes, spontaneous music, as the title of the two-longtrack album suggests. Bassist Anna Butterss and saxophonist Josh Johnson also play in Jeff Parker's band, which released a similar record this year, and even the recording engineer is the same – Bryce Gonzales. In the band's first two albums live recordings were used as well, but this is an unedited full-length double take that allows you to fully enjoy the musicians' stream of consciousness, their true power and feeling for each other in the language of music. A kosmische jazz combination of repetitive psychedelia, modern anxiety and artistic quality.

The most beautiful concerts are those in which the musicians themselves are still discovering where the music will take them. Some bands need years to develop a shared musical language. Others meet for the very first time, and after only a few bars, it already feels as though they have been playing together forever. That is precisely the story told by Live at Loft. Originally, this quartet was intended for just a single concert. For a performance in January 2024, Hamburg trombonist Lisa Stick assembled her dream lineup: tenor and soprano saxophonist Cesar Joaniquet from Aarhus, Swedish double bassist Anders Jormin, and Berlin-based drummer Heinrich Köbberling. By the end of that very evening, it had become clear to everyone involved that this musical encounter was not meant to remain a one-off event. The unusual instrumentation, without a harmonic instrument, opens up an exceptionally spacious sonic landscape. In the absence of piano or guitar, a remarkable sense of freedom emerges—one that all four musicians explore with great attentiveness. Harmonies are suggested rather than stated, melodic lines intertwine, and through constant mutual listening, the quartet creates music that is both transparent and surprisingly rich in texture. Lisa Stick's compositions provide the ideal point of departure. They give the music a clear sense of direction without ever determining its destination. Within these open structures, there is ample room for spontaneous ideas, individual voices, and collective development. This is exactly where the quartet's distinctive identity takes shape: melody, timbre, and improvisation always remain in service of the music as a whole. Particularly striking is the natural way in which the solos become part of the musical flow. No one plays simply to step into the spotlight. Every improvised passage develops the composition further, broadens its expressive range, and carries the shared musical idea forward. The result is a rare balance between individual freedom and collective responsibility. The fact that this album was recorded entirely live is far more than a technical detail. It is an essential part of its identity. Jazz reveals its greatest strength in the very moment of its creation—where every decision is made instantly and every reaction remains unique and unrepeatable. That atmosphere is present throughout Live at Loft. The music is not created in front of the audience; it is created together with them, in a single, unrepeatable moment. Live at Loft is therefore much more than the document of a concert. It captures the very moment in which four exceptional musicians discover a shared musical language. And it is precisely this authenticity that makes the album feel so vibrant, so immediate, and so deeply moving.

Gabriel Vicéns, guitar, Román Filiú, alto saxophone, Vitor Gonçalves, piano, Rick Rosato, bass, E.J.Strickland, drums and Victor Pablo, percussion. It presents a work situated in the realm of active contemplation. More than a mere sequence of compositions, the album is perceived as an evolving artistic work—fittingly, Vicéns himself created the cover image—a sonic surface where every element, note, silence, and resonance finds its place within a carefully constructed balance.

A surprisng take off by a teenage Polish jazz quintet – a leaderless cooperative which includes Leon Jakubek on piano and keyboards, Andrzej Frydko on trumpet, Tymon Okolus on trombone, Piotr Golec on acoustic and electric basses, and Wojciech Lubczyński on drums. Their striking debiut is a tribute to Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski, the late Polish jazz legend, saxophonist, composer, aranger, bandleader, educator, and radio host. The title of the record probably refers to his influential radio show “Trzy kwadranse jazzu” (“45 minutes of jazz”) that was aired for over half a century. The modest track list  is a nod to the so-called golden era of Polish jazz, the sound of the ’60s. There are three pieces composed by Ptaszyn himself (inlcuding “Cannonbird” and „Zielono mi”), one  by Krzysztof Komeda (“Svantetic” from his iconic album “Astigmatic”), and one by Wojtek Karolak, a co-leader with Ptaszyn of the Polish Jazz Quartet (“Zarys,” featuring special guest Maciej Kądziela on alto saxophone). Considering the age of the musicians (with one exception they are all under 20), their interpretations of the Polish jazz standards are no-nonsense, mature, fresh, inventive (a rare combination of trumpet and trombone in a modern jazz group). Their music sounds cool, spacious, mysterious, and… up to date!

Standards, musical hits, old favorites, and yet an original composition. That is the repertoire we find on the first orchestral album by Cécile McLorin Salvant. The artist performs on it with the Metropole Orkest conducted by Jules Buckley.  Cécile McLorin Salvant herself has been performing with orchestras for years, and an album like this had long been her dream. However, other projects and logistical difficulties made it impossible until now. The determination of the vocalist and all other parties involved meant that, four years after the decision was made, they finally managed to meet in a recording studio.  The superb arrangements by Darcy James Argue, the orchestral grandeur, and the vocalist's genius made sure those expectations were exceeded. Cécile McLorin Salvant is one of those artists I "buy sight unseen." Her phenomenal voice, vocal abilities, and interpretive choices that go against conventional patterns mean I can listen to her in any repertoire—because it is always something extraordinary.

The best from the Danish band Cactus together with the Norwegians in the larger ensemble, OJKOS, and everything composed by the great alto saxophonist Maria Dybbroe (who is danish, but lives in Norway).

More than half a year after the release of their striking second album, *How You Been*, the jazz collective SML is already back with a new album. It’s a live recording they made in their hometown of Los Angeles at Club Zebulon, where they held a three-day residency: *Spontaneous Music Live*. The collective—comprising bassist Ann Butterss, saxophonist Josh Johnson, guitarist Gregory Uhlmann, percussionist Booker Stardrum, and keyboardist Jeremiah Chiu—decided to use the residency to make music spontaneously and see what would come of it. This approach is actually in line with the philosophy of Jeff Parker, whose band ETA features both Butterss and Johnson. Spontaneous Music Live is, incidentally, quite different from what Parker does. The languor that makes his pieces so interesting is nowhere to be found here. The two pieces SML selected for their new album have a frantic energy that’s almost un-Californian. Driven by electronics, the band creates—just as on their albums—an alienating atmosphere that finds its way through busy rhythms.

Akira Kosemura reminds me of Erik Satie and John Lewis of MJQ, with his vignette compositions and minimalist piano touches. In some songs the rhythm section is Mother Nature with the field recordings of Lawrence English and Muneki Takasaka on guitar. Listening is a must although hearing is optional.

LEIDA is a vocal ensemble led by Mariana Dionísio, bringing together multiple voices that function as "a synthesizer," in the words of its founder. The ensemble's debut album fully realizes the epic scope of this artistic vision. By combining voices into dense, ever-shifting configurations, LEIDA expands the boundaries of vocal writing, proposing new compositional directions and revealing the human voice as an instrument of extraordinary timbral richness and expressive breadth. It is a haunting and haunted record, one whose spectral atmosphere and overwhelming sonic scale linger long after the music has faded.

This is the third album extraordinaire with the electric bass guitar in a melodic main role. First this year came Björn Meyer’s solo album “Convergence”, then an album of the pioneering master Steve Swallow entitled Winter Songs. The New Yorkian Icelander fits excellently in this line and has given us a present for our ears, mind  and soul. Enjoy this one too to the fullest.

Pianist Zoe Rahman was commissioned to write a suite of pieces inspired by the themes of voyage, migration and family. They resonated with her. “It made me think of my family. The opening number [‘Across The Humber’] is me imagining [my mother] as a ten year old girl, about to embark on a six week journey to the other side of the world, looking out to sea and wondering...My dad lived in Bengal and he went by ship to Sydney, to university, and met my mum there. So there was a lot of migration in my parents’ story – and my story because I wouldn’t exist if they hadn’t come together in Sydney and then come to the UK”. The movements of the suite – played by her regular trio with Gene Calderazzo and Alec Dankworth – are played joined-up, which reinforces the spirit of a continuing journey, maybe even the need to keep on the move to a different place, as befits the album's theme. Through keeping such a strong sense of narrative and flow, Zoe Rahman’s piano playing and composing, always accessible, melodic and persuasive, have landed in a really good place.

Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science return with Trip the Night Fantastic, a powerful 13-track collection that serves as both a musical sanctuary and a call to action. Originally commissioned for the Visualizing Abolition Initiative, the album explores a vast landscape of social justice themes, including women's empowerment, gender identity, climate justice, and the abolition of punitive systems. Through a series of evocative collaborations, the music on the album also celebrates the resilience of the human spirit. Great line-up with names like Brandee Younger, Michael Mayo, Ledesi,  Moor Mother, Larry Goldings, Marc Ribot, Aaron Parks and Lizz Wright.

This album is supposed to unfold five thematic movements, but for some reason only three are promoted: THE MIRROR, THE MARTYR and THE MALEDICTION - whereas THE RECKONING and THE REQUIEM are yet to materialize. Each movement is centered around poetry from writers including Dorothy Parker and Emily Dickinson a.o. Zuraitis writes, arranges, sings and plays piano, and the stellar ensemble supporting her includes Christian McBride, Gilad Hekselman, Donny McCaslin, and Larry Goldings, with horn arrangements by Jerry Hey and string arrangements by Vince Mendoza, including the Budapest Scoring Orchestra. In other words: All sails are set. That also goes for the production and packaging. It is a bit over the top in terms of smooth sound and glamorous photos. However, the music including the lyrics – the backbone of these 12 songs – is burgeoning and profound.

With this second album, the American saxophonist drives the point home and positions herself as a composer. Backed by drums and two basses, her alto saxophone takes on a rare tone and the ensemble sounds fresh. Though she was once inspired by Jacky McLean, she now follows more in the footsteps of Anthony Braxton, Ornette Coleman, or Steve Lehman in terms of composition and her approach to time and melody. But her distinctive sense of arrangement gives her music a unique texture. On this album, she also incorporates sound design effects, a piano, vocals, a trumpet, and a guitar, depending on the tracks and the musical context. It’s not often that a young musician displays such musical maturity—to the point of having already stripped away the superfluous, the unnecessary, and the flashy… let’s enjoy it while we can!