Charlie Apicella and Iron City meet The Griots Speak, Destiny Calling, Origin/OA2 ***1/2

With winningly loose and organic sounding pieces written in collaboration with The Griot Speaks guitarist Charlie Apicella who leads the organ-guitar-drums combo Iron City meshes in a very free flowing pan-African riff led spree. Avant bass icon …

Published: 27 Apr 2023. Updated: 12 months.

With winningly loose and organic sounding pieces written in collaboration with The Griot Speaks guitarist Charlie Apicella who leads the organ-guitar-drums combo Iron City meshes in a very free flowing pan-African riff led spree. Avant bass icon William Parker superb with Elaine Mitchener, Orphy Robinson et al a few years ago on Good News is in glorious form here. Not at all way out in an obscure fashion what's evident is its accessible percussion heavy and lightly organ grooving spiritual jazz sense. The renowned Jimi Hendrix percussionist Juma Sultan who appeared with Hendrix at Woodstock is notable on congas while the earthy blend of Daniel Carter's sax and clarinet and Apicella's guitar touch locks into the wider vibrational situation. Rugged and distinctly long play it's not out for a while yet but certainly you'll need to be au fait with this upcoming record particularly if you are a Parker fan. And if a UK head and into Artie Zaitz, note well - Apicella is up your strasse and pick of the tunes is 'Sparks' certainly a beaut that oh at a wild guess the less brain dead DJ - as endangered a species as the great crested newt - will be clamouring to put on air asap. Check out the video clip to whet the appetite. Photo: via Jazz Promo Services. Out on 16 June

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PJEV, Kit Downes, Hayden Chisholm, Medna Roso, Red Hook ****

An extraordinary choral, saxophone, pipe organ work recorded at Cologne's neogothic Catholic Agneskirche 18 months ago. The work relishes a process of transformation by crossing from both the temporal and spiritual spheres into an entirely other …

Published: 26 Apr 2023. Updated: 12 months.

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An extraordinary choral, saxophone, pipe organ work recorded at Cologne's neogothic Catholic Agneskirche 18 months ago. The work relishes a process of transformation by crossing from both the temporal and spiritual spheres into an entirely other worldly dimension.

Think of the way the Hilliard Ensemble and Jan Garbarek leapt the centuries and successfully collided the relative modernity of the saxophone into ancient monastic choral traditions on Officium and Mnemosyne in the 1990s.

But instead by some way of contrast Medna Roso, which introduces Zagreb based microtonal New Zealand saxophonist Hayden Chisholm, who also utilises the sound of the Indian bellows instrument the shruti box among his array of contributions, is in collaboration with the PJEV choir. Very still and often lament laden rising up from the fearful rumble of a great Rieger 3-manual pipe organ Kit Downes is a stately presence - think Keith Jarrett on 1970s album Hymns/Spheres.

Directed by Jovana Lukic this Zagreb a cappella 5 piece ensemble - whose members are also Zvezdana Ostojic, Gloria Lindeman, Lana Hosni and Julijana Lesic - sing the ancient and often deeply moving music of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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Downes' work builds on a template set on Wedding Music, the Norwich now Berlin based musician's album with Huddersfield's Tom Challenger.

  • Medna Roso is out on 5 May. 'Listaj goro ne žali be’ara' is streaming. PJEV, main picture, and with Hayden Chisholm, above; Kit Downes top. Photos: Niclas Weber

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