Recover from Christmas by detoxing to these choice tracks coming up in our 5-step new year look ahead
1 'Op' Beats and Pieces Big Band - from Good Days (Efpi - 27 January)
Non-orthodox tux free UK big band sounds with a north of England brassy dimension to it
2 'The Peace Inside' Wolfgang Haffner - from Silent World (ACT - 27 Jan)
German drummer Haffner is one of Europe's top big band drummers here in a more intimate flavoured reverie conjured by the great Till Brönner on flugelhorn
3 'Corser Hill,' Alec Schulman - from Light That Slips Away (Ropeadope - 3 February)
Touching vocals with a poignant Americana twist to the Schulman sound plus brilliant pedal steel from Greg Leiz
4 'Acrobats' Jo Lawry - from Acrobats (Whirlwind - 10 Feb)
Wonderful bass touch here in the ensemble sound and soloing later from Linda May Han Oh guided experimentally in the serpentine verse line by the poised alertness of Australian singer Jo Lawry
5 'The Call,' Lukas Traxel - from One-Eyed Daruma (WeJazz - March)
Bass, tenor sax, drums all add up to free-ish sounds that make complete sense. Swiss bassist Traxel was on Ydivide's well aimed Lumumba this year
Jo Lawry, photo: Bandcamp
Tags: