Anthony Joseph, The Rich Are Only Defeated When Running for Their Lives *****

Having heard this happy day for the first time all of The Rich Are Only Defeated When Running for Their Lives, it was released on Friday, I'll not add much more to the earlier marlbank articles, see this link and this. Suffice is to say that all the tracks are excellent, Shabaka Hutchings' bass clarinet playing on 'Kamau' and Anthony Joseph's iridescent, beautiful, homage to his late father on 'The Gift' are to be flagged up. As are Jason Yarde's arrangements that deserve every award going. But above all dear readers absorb, there is so much here, a record that's like a novel written in poetry and prose, talking with the spirits. Anthony articulates what instrumentalists cannot and is in a way their interpreter and companion the observation becoming participation. An event release and must listen. Check on 'Swing Praxis' when Shabaka kicks in this time on saxophone from exploratory beginnings after 3 mins 31 secs and when the track later gains a whole lot more Fahrenheit. There's some outrageously compelling playing here. The album title is drawn from C. L. R. James' 1938 book The Black Jacobins. SG. On Heavenly Sweetness

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The initial piano line is so simple and unadorned that it does not necessarily promise much. However, 'Spiritual Wars' from In Between transforms itself when not even the brushes of the drummer or twang of plucked string but the chime of harmonica enters. A first album by harmonica player Ariel Bart, the setting finds the Israeli (who reminds me of the sound of Grégoire Maret a little) in a pastoral chamber-jazz configuration that has much in common with a lot of the more interesting new jazz these days especially emanating from labels such as La Buissonne and CAM Jazz. Brutal power is not the name of the game more a sense of poeticism and statement that never needs to shout but speaks volumes. With instrumentation of cello played by Mayu Shviro who also gets a featured spot on later track 'Intro', aforementioned piano (Moshe Elmakias) double bass (David Michaeli) and drums (Amir Bar Akiva) the sound certainly embraces the arc of improvisation and is grounded in an unobvious sense of bittersweetness that accentuates the minor mode of its bluesiness especially when the best parts of Bart's soloing are reached. Towards the end of the track the piano part becomes far more interesting and you divine a real sense of how fully formed the ideas are. I'm looking forward already to hearing the rest of the album later this month. SG

In Between (Ropeadope) is to be released on 20 May. Ariel Bart top, Photo: publicity shot via Bandcamp

Anthony Joseph, The Rich Are Only Defeated When Running for Their Lives *****

Ariel Bart, Spiritual Wars ****