Joel Lyssarides, Is There A Way, ACT *****

'Is There A Way' is the latest advance track from Stay Now which if push comes to shove is the album we are most interested in at the moment among the pre-releases of any ''new'' artist. After the Satie-like feeling of calm and mystery engendered …

Published: 14 Jan 2022. Updated: 2 years.

'Is There A Way' is the latest advance track from Stay Now which if push comes to shove is the album we are most interested in at the moment among the pre-releases of any ''new'' artist. After the Satie-like feeling of calm and mystery engendered by 'Echoes' which kicked off the countdown towards release Swedish pianist Joel Lyssarides once again shows a lot of composure on this trio track, his own composition, which has a late-Romantic classical feel on one level with the layer that we are more interested in: the quietism of a purring elegant hip jazz piano trio on another even if the jazz licks and riffs are kept under wrap, again an introspective feel to the piece bassist that carries the particular creative space of the piece. Niklas Fernqvist is very subtle and you can hardly hear the drums or rather the brushes of Rasmus Blixt but the rustling undertow certainly adds warmth. A very lovely track with a strong melody, beautiful cadential grasp and an intact complete feel to it Stay Now itself issued by ACT is out in a fortnight. Just a word of warning finally – you may be playing and replaying 'Is There a Way' all day long. It's that kind of track when you gain more the more you listen.

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Raise Four unites players from across the stylistic divide

What a fascinating clash of styles and sensibility here on Raise Four, a 2004 BBC recording now getting a release that pits doyen of the UK jazz avant garde Evan Parker with a much more straightahead operator no less revered in mainstream circles in …

Published: 13 Jan 2022. Updated: 2 years.

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What a fascinating clash of styles and sensibility here on Raise Four, a 2004 BBC recording now getting a release that pits doyen of the UK jazz avant garde Evan Parker with a much more straightahead operator no less revered in mainstream circles in bassist Dave Green here with incendiary saxophonist Iain Dixon and the Partisans drummer Gene Calderazzo.

What's notable certainly on the extracts we have heard so far is how intuitively the group mesh together. Expect free improv as well as Monk and Strayhorn covers, Raise Four (the title drawing on Monk's tune of the same name featured on 1968's Underground album) is to be issued by Trio Records on 25 February. Follow this link for a small sample of the title track ahead of release.