Best 10 jazz albums - Jan-to-June

Approaching the summer these 10 albums stood out most of all through winter and spring in 2022. 1 BUGGE WESSELTOFT, BE AM, JAZZLAND Profound solo statements from the groundbreaking Norwegian 2 JULIUS RODRIGUEZ, LET SOUND TELL ALL, VERVE 3 JOHN …

Published: 8 Jun 2022. Updated: 21 months.

Approaching the summer these 10 albums stood out most of all through winter and spring in 2022.

1 BUGGE WESSELTOFT, BE AM, JAZZLAND

Profound solo statements from the groundbreaking Norwegian

2 JULIUS RODRIGUEZ, LET SOUND TELL ALL, VERVE

3 JOHN SCOFIELD, JOHN SCOFIELD, ECM

4 KIT DOWNES TRIO, VERMILLION, ECM

5 MELODY GARDOT AND PHILIPPE POWELL, ENTRE EUX DEUX, DECCA

6 DAVID BINNEY A GLIMPSE OF THE ETERNAL, CRISS CROSS

7 MARK TURNER, RETURN FROM THE STARS, ECM

8 LIZZ WRIGHT, HOLDING SPACE (LIVE IN BERLIN), BLUES & GREENS

9 TIM BERNE AND GREGG BELISLE-CHI, MARS, INTAKT

10 CHARLES LLOYD, TRIOS: CHAPEL, BLUE NOTE

Bugge Wesseltoft, photo: Tore Sætre/Wikimedia

Click on each entry above for reviews and more details

Tags:

T. S. Monk, Two Continents One Groove, Storyville ****

Like a fine wine kept in the cellars until the time is right for a precious sip Two Continents One Groove is swinging, grooving, jostling, saluting, testifying and a whole lot more all shaped by bebop because there is a direct link to the 20th …

Published: 8 Jun 2022. Updated: 21 months.

Next post

Monk-1_photo Mathew Webber

Like a fine wine kept in the cellars until the time is right for a precious sip Two Continents One Groove is swinging, grooving, jostling, saluting, testifying and a whole lot more all shaped by bebop because there is a direct link to the 20th century-changing sound given birth to in Harlem by among others his father Thelonious Monk, drummer T. S. Monk revels in a direct-from-the source Max Roach rhythm raison d'être at the heart of this sextet live affair recorded in 2014 at Ginny's Supper Club, Harlem, and in 2016 at the Marians Jazzroom in the Swiss city of Bern.

tc1g

With Toot are the Charlie Rouse-and-éminence grise-of-the-band, Willie Williams, on tenor saxophone, Kenny Davis on bass, trumpeter Josh Evans, multi-reedist Patience Higgins and pianist Helen Sung. Victor Feldman and Miles Davis classic 'Seven Steps to Heaven' is streaming ahead of release and features some blistering soloing from Evans and a t(r)inkle in the intro from Sung that wrinkles into your ears and enchants. Counting in 'Chessmen's Delight' heralds a raucous energy that shakes us agreeably down. And the beautiful 'Ernie Washington' (a pseudonym that Monk père used when he was unfairly sans cabaret card) has a momentous cymbal splash at the outset and Evans elaborating initially on the melody of 'Brilliant Corners' finds the sound at its most heartfelt. An album that makes us love jazz, a feeling that never goes away, all over again. SG. Out on 17 June

T. S. Monk photo: Matthew Webber