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An occasional blog about populist politics and popular music, not necessarily at the same time. LinksLocal Links Social Media My Other Websites Music Politics Others Networking Music DatabaseArtist Search: Website SearchGoogle: Recent Reading
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Saturday, June 27, 2026 Music Week
Music: Current count 46191 [46138] rated (+53), 14 [9] unrated (+5). I posted a preview of this Music Week to Notes on Everyday Life as Music Week (6:4) (also archived here). For this I selected nine reviews from below: 7 new releases (5 jazz) and 2 reissues. Actually, I made a couple of edits there but not here: I combined the two Immanuel Wilkins volumes below into a summary of the three-volume series (it isn't a set yet, but probably will be); I also added some of the Jan Klare (1000) old music album as a footnote to the KIND review. My hope is to make the Substack versions easier to read and deal with than full Music Week posts like this one, which contain (sometimes many) more albums, many with cryptic reviews. You can think of this (and the monthly Streamnotes as the reference copy, and the Substack posts as (slightly) more polished columns. Until this week, I've prepared the advance posts before running my cutoff (the point when I calculate how many records I've rated, and move the index from a scratch file to the notebook, marking the boundary between one week and the next). This week I did the cutoff first, on Wednesday evening. In the past, I was running so late I wanted to skip the extra cutoff work. This time, I was bogged down with other writing I wanted to post via Substack before I could get to Music Week. But with 50+ reviews piled up, I figured I should go ahead with the cutoff, and get to the post(s) whenever. This one was mostly written on Friday, but still needed work, so has slipped into Saturday. One thing having the cutoff done did was to make it easier to decide what to pick out. It also saved me from being tempted to slip in later finds (which, with a big June 26 release day, already include new albums by James Brandon Lewis and SML). I did manage to get two non-music pieces out on Substack this week:
While I'm fairly happy with the reception given my Music Week posts on Substack, these two pieces, which I think make important points you're unlikely to encounter elsewhere, got virtually no reaction. A big part of the reason I went to Substack was that I wanted to get some statistical feedback on readership. One thing I've learned is that the music posts are getting about 70% views, vs. 50% for the non-music posts. I'm reminded of the Preston Sturges (or was it Woody Allen?) movie where he tries to tackle the world's major problems, and all people have to say is "get funny again." While these posts have taken considerable time, much more has been sucked up in running the Francis Davis Jazz Critics Mid-Year Poll. With 8 days left to the July 5 deadline, I have 59 ballots counted, with a couple dozen more commitments to make the deadline, a similar number of declines — for reasons which range from no time or no interest, with a few stories of long illnesses (and I'm aware of one death: Mark Holston). I've tried to encourage some to send in whatever they can if they find as much as a stray thought, but I've let most of them go. I may do some more voter prospecting — I'm often surprised by the amount of quality of jazz writing when I find time to go searching — and I welcome further suggestions, but the response so far is generating a huge amount of album tips (366 so far, 153 not previously in my tracking files), with I'm sure much more to come. As I explained last week, the ballots are already available online), as well as lists of all albums that have received votes. The totals will only appear when we publish the poll results at ArtsFuse, in mid-July. My ballot, filled out when voting opened, is here. I've refrained from updating it, even as a couple of new albums have come very close, although I'm inclined to add James Brandon Lewis & Lutosławski Quartet: These Are Soulful Days to the 5th Rara Avis slot. (See below: I'm counting it as a reissue, although most voters see it as a new album.) I was surprised to hear that Mark Shepherd died last week. He grew up just around the corner from us, was in my brother's classes, so I've known him, and his family, going on 70 years. His sister married my brother, so he's been family for most of that time. Like his father, he worked at Boeing until he dropped, and like his father, he had better things to do with the rest of his life. For Art, it was fishing. For Mark, restoring classic cars. He's part of the reason Wichita has more of them than anywhere (except Havana). One more note: I seem to be off X/Twitter now. Last time I looked at it, they declared "Happening now." They offered to let me "Continue with phone," "Continue with Google," "Continue with Apple," or "Email or username." When I tried the latter, they rejected my password, and didn't offer me any way to reset or recover. I've only been using it to announce blog posts, which I also do on Bluesky (where I post more, but not a lot more). Its usefulness has really come into doubt recently, although I could say the same about Bluesky (although Bluesky tries harder to illustrate links). A recent stats sheet from Substack showed I got 4 views from Bluesky and 8 from Twitter. If you want to get notified, best to subscribe to Notes on Everyday Life and/or use the RSS feed. [PS: X allowed a reset option today, so I'm back in. Not that I really want to be.] New records reviewed this week: Ben Allison/Steve Cardenas/Ted Nash: Triological (2026, Sunnyside): Bass, guitar, and tenor sax/clarinet trio, stylized on cover as "Allison, Cardenas & Nash," all three long-established and familiar (with at least four previous albums together), song credits split 4-3-3. Model referred to is Jimmy Giuffre's drummer-less trio, but with guitar instead of piano. I'm not sure I ever got the model, but such distinctions are pretty subtle. B+(**) [sp] Thommy Andersson: Shimmering Blue (2026, SteepleChase): Swedish bassist, Discogs credits him with 14 releases since 2004, 98 total performance credits (many with Pierre Dřrge). Drummerless trio with high and low brass: Kirk Knuffke (cornet and soprano trombone) and José Davila (trombone, tuba, euphonium, helicon, bass flute, didgeridoo). Nicely done, worth focusing on the bass. B+(***) [sp] Ballister + Luke Stewart: Clocking the Wheel (2025 [2026], Aerophonic): Trio of Dave Rempis (4 saxophones), Fred Longerg-Holm (cello), and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums), 7th album since 2019, adds the bassist for this go around. Two pieces, 72:46, exactly the sort of hard hitting free jazz one expects by now. A- [cd] [07-10] Sam Barsh/Mark Guiliana/Keyon Harold: Straight08 (2026, La Reserve): Keyboardist, from Chicago, based in Los Angeles, has a previous album from 2008, but 40+ side-credits, mostly jazz but the big names are in or near hip-hop (Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Macy Gray, Doja Cat, Logic, Anderson .Paak). With drums and trumpet, the latter often quite striking. B+(**) [sp] Luciano Biondini/Michel Godard/Lucas Niggli: Fables of Time (2025 [2026], Intakt): Italian accordion player, many albums since 2000, including a previous (2011) trio with Godard (tuba, serpent, E-bass) and Niggli (drums). B+(*) [sp] Nat Birchall Quartet: Path of Enlightenment (2025 [2026], Ancient Archive of Sound): British tenor saxophonist, first album 1999, bears the "spiritual jazz" label because few if any have worked longer or harder to sound like John Coltrane, but also to expand on his legacy. To that end, he's kept the classic quartet format, with piano (Adam Fairhall), bass (Michael Bardon), and drums (Paul Hession). B+(***) [bc] Nat Birchall: Liberated Sounds (2025, Na Bi): Aside from Coltrane, his great influence was from the Jamaican saxophonists of the ska and rocksteady periods. He gets them right, too. B+(***) [bc] Adam Brodsky: American Epitaph (2026, Permanent): Antifolk singer-songwriter, released four albums 1995-2002, came back from wherever he went to "throw sand in the gears of the fascist regime." Advises "don't break bread with your fascist former friends." ("Their brains are broken from the poison they're fed.") Like many of us, his ideals were set early, only to find a nation that has forsaken them. ("We were once the good guys but no more.") I'm more tolerant of, and probably more sympathetic to, lapses of political judgment that he is, but he's on the right side. A- [sp] Betty Bryant: Nothin' Better to Do (2026, Bry-Mar Music): Jazz singer, plays piano, originally from Kansas City, where Jay McShann was a mentor, moved to Los Angeles in 1955, played clubs but didn't record much — Discogs lists an album in 1987, two in 1999 — until she started releasing her own albums in 2013. Her Lotta Livin' (in 2023, at 93) was terrific, and this (at 96) is also quite satisfying. Three songs by her and/or producer Robert Lyle (soprano/tenor sax, flute). Some guest spots, good for trumpet, not so good for strings. B+(***) [sp] Chrome Hill & Dōjō: Free Rangers (2024 [2026], Clean Feed): Norwegian free jazz group, sixth album since 2008, down to three here — Asbjřrn Lerheim (bass guitar, electric guitar), Roger Arntzen (double bass), and Atle Nymo (tenor sax, clarinet, bass clarinet), joined by a Japanese duo: Michiyo Yagi (electric 21-string koto) and Tamaya Honda (drums), with most also credited with electronics. B+(***) [bc] Emmet Cohen: Universal Truth (2025 [2026], Mack Avenue): Pianist, close to a dozen albums since 2011, many designed to showcase old-timers (including 5 volumes of his Masters Legacy Series). Trio here with Joe Farnsworth (drums) and Yasushi Nakamura (bass), the latter spelled on three cuts by Ron Carter, with ample guest spots for Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), George Coleman (tenor sax), and Tivon Pennicott (tenor sax). B+(***) [sp] Andrés Coll Cosmic Trio: Ride to Heaven (2026, XJAZZ Music): Mallets player from Ibiza, mostly marimba here, with Mateusz Smoczynski (violin) and Ramón López (drums/tabla). B+(**) [sp] ContraPunctus [Mike McGinnis/Carmen Staaf/Gui Duvignau/Hamir Atwal]: ContraPunctus (2025 [2026]. Adhyâropa): Surnames on the cover, but group name is more than implied. Respectively: clarinet/bass clarinet/soprano sax, piano/fender rhodes, bass, drums. B+(***) [sp] Lao Dan Chicago Quartet: Klotski (2024 [2026], Trost): Saxophonist from China (Dandong, near the border with North Korea), majored in bamboo flute, was featured in the Shenyang Conservatory of Music's youth orchestra, toured the US in 2018, has many albums since then, some trad Chinese, and some free jazz. He plays tenor sax, chinese flute, and suona here, with piano (Mabel Kwan) and a Chicago rhythm section of Joshua Abrams (bass) and Michael Zerang (drums). B+(***) [bc] Jesse Davis Quartet: Reflections (2025 [2026], Cellar): Alto saxophonist, from New Orleans, was a student of Ellis Marsalis, early albums (1991-2000) on Concord, regular side credits since then but not a lot of albums under his own name. Quartet with Spike Wilner (piano), John Webber (bass), and (cover says "featuring") Lewis Nash (drums). Mainstream, but exceptionally vibrant, which could very well be the superb drummer hard at work, but you mostly hear it in the horn. A- [sp] Thomas Dollbaum: Birds of Paradise (2023 [2026], Dear Life): Singer-songwriter from New Orleans with a rep as a poet, second album, a roots-rock affair aided sonically by MJ Lenderman, but Dollbaum probably needed no help with the story lines and words. I'm not much good at following such intricacies, but I hear echoes of John Prine and Neil Young, and that's pretty satisfying. A- [sp] Neale Eckstein: Build Our Dreams (2026, self-released): Folkie singer-songwriter from Massachusetts, has been "chasing music his entire life" while working as a dentist, but set up his own studio, has recorded others, and has at least two albums of his own. B+(*) [sp] Marty Ehrlich: Cartographies of Flight: Lines Set Afloat Towards Hope (2024 [2026], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Alto saxophonist, plays a lot of clarinet and some flute, grew up in St. Louis, where he started working with Julius Hemphill and Oliver Lake, moved to New York in 1978, albums from 1984. Sextet with Ron Horton (trumpet), Sara Schoenbeck (bassoon), Erik Friedlander (cello), Matt Pavolka (bass), and Satoshi Takeishi (drums), with poetry read by Erica Hunt. B+(***) [bc] Fire-Toolz: Lavender Networks (2026, Warp): Electronica producer Angel Marcloid, based in Chicago, Discogs lists a dozen albums since 2016, some big gestures with quasi industrial klang and the occasional odd glitch. B+(*) [sp] Vinny Golia Quintet: Angular Momentum (2025 [2026], Nine Winds): Plays all saxophones and clarinets, turns 80 this year. Quintet with Kris Tiner (trumpet), Cathlene Pineda (piano), Miller Wrenn (bass), and Clint Dodson (drums, vibes, waterphone). B+(***) [bc] Golomb: The Beat Goes On (2025, No Quarter): Indie rock band from Colombus, Ohio, 3rd album per Discogs, more on Bandcamp, but looks like a label advance (2nd was a cassette, 1st barely had artwork), although they're still pretty lo-fi. B [sp] Joy Harjo: Insomnia & Seven Steps to Grace (2026, Smithsonian Folkways): Singer-songwriter (b. 1951), from Muscogee Nation in Oklahoma, has over a dozen volumes of poetry, a play, several non-fiction volumes, eighth album since 1997 (including one as Poetic Justice). Some jazz touches, including a coda of "Goodbye Pork Pit Hat." B+(***) [sp] Alexander Hawkins: No Nation but Imagination (2025 [2026], Intakt): English pianist, prolific since 2006, mostly free but fairly eclectic, opens with a synth solo, then the quintet kicks in, light tones and frothy rhythm: Rhodri Davies (harp), Nicole Mitchell (flute), Hamid Drake (drums), and Matthew Wright (turntables/live sampling). B+(**) [sp] Jon Irabagon: Raw Dog (2025 [2026], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Always excited to find a new album by the MOPDTK saxophonist. Less excited to find out that it's solo, even more that it's bass saxophone, covering two compositions each from Anthony Braxton and Julius Hemphill. But it probably helps that the big horn handles slow, and is impervious to screeching (unlike, say, Braxton's For Alto, which some regard as a masterpiece but I couldn't stand). The results are neither "mind-blowing [nor] ear juddering," but the explorations of "Hemphill's deep blues feel and Braxton's erector set structures" are interesting. B+(**) [bc] KIND: Count (2025, Umland): Group led by German alto saxophonist Jan Klare, dozen-plus albums since 1998, also plays bassoon, all original compositions, group a sextet with clarinet (Shabnam Parvaresh), trombone (Shannon Barnett), cello (Emily Wittbrodt), bass (David Helm), and percussion (Bruna Cabral). Superb postbop, as the ever-shifting harmonics revolve eccentrically around an ever-changing rhythmic drive. A- [bc] March to August: Highway 75 (2026, Crisp): Husband-and-wife country duo from Fayetteville, Derrick (who sings) and Jodi Mears. Mostly drinking songs, especially if you count the not-drinking songs. B+(**) [sp] Simon Moullier: Ceiba (2025 [2026], Simon Moullier Music): Vibraphonist, based in New York, sixth album, a quartet with Lex Korten (piano), Rick Rosato (bass), and JK Kim (drums), with guest percussion (Keita Ogawa) on two tracks. Original pieces. Sails right along. B+(***) [cd] New England Jazz Collaborative: Tributaries (2025 [2026], ACP): An "artist-run nonprofit collective," ACP stands for Amherst College Press, which matches up featured composers with musicians for various programs. This first album features compositions from Jeremy Cohen, Matan Rubinstein, Darryl Harper, and Sam Spear, performed by a big band conducted by Ken Schaphorst, with some extra guitar from Eric Hofbauer, on their quite nice Latin turn. B+(**) [cd] [07-16] Pascal Niggenkemper Ensemble Tuvalu: D'Une Rive ŕ L'Autre (2024 [2026], Subran Musiques Aventureuses): German-French bassist, living in Brooklyn, 20 albums since 2008. This piece is inspired by the Pacific archipelago of Tuvalu, a land especially endangered by climate change. "The stage plot consists of sixteen sounding curtains which surround the audience, 8 musicians and a poet circling nine sounding islands at the very center which symbolise the South Sea archipel Tuvalu." The group splits into two quartets, of cornet/trumpet, clarinet, accordion, bass/cello, with voice parts all around, in however many languages they can muster. B+(**) [bc] Nite Bjuti: Minwi (2023 [2026], Intakt): Trio of Candace Hoyes (vocals), Mimi Jones (bass, vocals), and Val Jeanty (drums, electronics), lyrics credited to Hoyes. Seems to be Hoyes' first album. Art song, deeply ensconced in dark atmospherics. B+(**) [sp] Outer Worlds Jazz Ensemble: The Kármán Line (2026, ATA): Leeds group, principally Chip Wickham (flutes) and Neil Innes (bass), with piano, bass, harp, drums/balafon, and percussion, plus some extra orchestra. Title refers to the hypothetical boundary between atmosphere and outer space. Some nice grooves at that distance. B+(***) [sp] Mariam Rezaei/Sakina Abdou/Kobe Van Cauwenberghe: 1984 [I IX VIII IV]: The Forward Process (2025 [2026], Dropa Disc): Turntables, saxophones, guitars: I filed it under the latter, as he is principal composer. Most sources give group name as 1984, but cover offers four Roman numerals, in a 2x2 matrix, with the artist names above and the album title below, both in small print. B+(**) [bc] Jeff Rupert Quartet: Sea Spell (2022 [2026], Rupe Media): Tenor saxophonist, mainstream, several albums back to 2009, including one as The Jazz Professors and another with Veronica Swift. Quartet with Richard Drexler (piano), Ben Kramer (bass), and Marty Morell (drums). Quite enjoyable easy listening. B+(**) [cd] [06-29] Olaf Rupp: Berlin Eiskeller (2025-26 [2026], Scatter Archive): German guitarist, many albums since 1998, mostly in free jazz contexts, although he's largely escaped my attention. This one is solo. B+(**) [bc] Serengeti: Symphony of Psalms (2026, CC King): Chicago rapper David Cohn, many albums since 2006, cover says "produced by Greg Saunier." B+(*) [sp] Skerik: Skerik 061725 (2026, Loosegroove): Seattle-based saxophonist Eric Walton, has worked in many groups since the 1990s, including Garage A Trois, Critters Buggin, the Dead Kenny G's, and his Syncopated Taint Septet. This one is full-on ambient, like Eno's first ambient albums. Seems like a waste of a good saxophone to me, but on its own terms, this is nicely done. B+(**) [sp] Colin Stetson/Greg Fox/Trevor Dunn: Nethering (2018 [2026], Envision): Saxophonist, plays a wide range of instruments but is best known for his bass saxophone, which he's employed in various projects, rock and classical as well as jazz. Improv here with drums and bass. B+(**) [sp] Pat Thomas & XT: Strata, Act (Joy Contemporary) (2022 [2026], We Jazz): British avant-pianist, also electronics, along with the duo (XT) of Paul Abbott ("real and imaginary drums") and Seymour Wright ("actual and potential sax"; you may know him from [Ahmed]). The duo has 7 other albums, one with Thomas (a rendition of Cecil Taylor's Akisakila). Three long (36:02, 43:24, 50:05) live sets on the 2-CD, plus two more digital tracks (20:31 + 16:43). Way too much, but pretty awesome when they all his peak intensity. B+(**) Udeigwe: Four Lemmas (2026, LU Factors): First name Lawrence, from Nigeria, moved to US in 2000, got a Ph.D. and is a professor of mathematics, also sings, several albums since 2007. B+(*) [sp] Joe Webb: Neath Beat (2025 [2026], Edition): Pianist, grew up in Wales, based in London, Discogs seems to have this album filed under the wrong Joe Webb (should be 5). Has a couple previous albums, including a Mercury nomination for Hamstrings & Hurricanes (2025). Trio with Will Sach (bass) and Sam Jesson (drums). Beat matters. B+(**) [sp] Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. 2 (2025 [2026], Blue Note): Alto saxophonist, debut 2020 on a major label made him an instant star, big enough that his label decided to split up his live stand into three digital albums, rolling them out in monthly intervals. With Micah Thomas (piano), Ryoma Takenaga (bass), and Kweku Sumbry (drums), five tracks, 57:27. B+(**) [sp] Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. 3 (2025 [2026], Blue Note): Four more songs, 61 minutes. This one seems a bit more consistently upbeat, which is where their strengths lie. But the distinctions are marginal, and patience is wearing thin. Needless to say, they could have edited the three volumes down to a more compelling hour, but the cost-benefit analysis seems to have favored more product. B+(**) [sp] Zen Zadravec: New Paradigm (2026, Marmite): Pianist, from Canada, has several albums, gets a big band feel from a smaller (but revolving) group here. B+(*) [cd] [06-26] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Johannes Bauer/Michael Griener/Olaf Rupp: Aufsturz (2007 [2026], Scatter Archive): German trombonist (1954-2016), younger brother of Conrad Bauer, an improv bash with drums and guitar. B+(***) [bc] Pierre Favre Trio: Bird Food (1968 [2026], Songs): French drummer, b. 1937, first albums 1964-65 were jazzed-up classical music, much notable work followed, especially his duos with Swiss pianist Irčne Schweizer. This recently unearthed tape appears to have been their first collaboration, a trio with George Mraz on bass, playing Ornette Coleman's title piece plus three by Schweizer (total: 29:56). B+(**) [sp] James Brandon Lewis & Lutosławski Quartet: These Are Soulful Days (2021 [2026], TAO Forms): Tenor saxophonist, makes his entry into the sax-with-strings forum with a well-known Polish string quartet (dozen-plus albums since 2012, including jazz meets with Uri Caine and Kris Davis). This was originally released as a bonus CD with Lewis's poll-winning 2023 album, For Mahalia, With Love, so counts as a reissue here. A- [sp] Tom Raworth & Peter Brötzmann: No Hard Feelings: For Steve Lacy (2005 [2026], Corbett vs. Dempsey): British poet (1938-2017), only album in Discogs is a 1969 reading, plus this rara avis, where "John Corbett schemed to make a duo record" from a 2000 reading with accompaniment by Steve Lacy. However, Lacy died in 2004 before delivering, so Brötzmann filled in a year later, playing tarogato, clarinet, and alto sax, short fragments plus some longer solos. Includes bits of music box, credited to Raworth. To some extent, a simple shuffle of two separate things, but each helps with the other's limits. B+(***) [bc] Dick Spottswood & Tompkins Square Present . . . 1925 Songs: Blues, Country, Jazz & More (1925 [2026], Tompkins Square): Genre distinctions that meant far less then than now — black and white were the concepts back then, distinctions that have since become blurred, as Allen Lowe showed in his American Pop (his 1998 release of a book with 9 CDs ranging from 1893-1946). This is comparable, sticking close to the crossroads of the genres, and avoiding big hits (like "Sweet Georgia Brown" and the Bessie Smith version of "St. Louis Blues"; I don't keep many song dates in my mind, but one I do recall from 1925 is "Cake Walking Babies From Home"). B+(***) [sp] Louis Stewart: Joyce Notes (1982 [2026], Livia): Irish guitarist (1944-2016), recorded extensively from 1975 on, but I've only noticed him since this reissue series began. A six part suite composed for James Joyce's centenary, with narration and readings from Ulysses by Eamon Morrissey, and a fairly large group with two saxophones, flute, piano, bass, drums, and extra percussion. The music is delightful, and the words add a powerful dimension. A- [bc] Sun Ra: Hidden Fire (1988 [2025], Strut): Live album, originally released as two volumes ("in tiny quantities with minimal packaging and cryptic artwork"), combined here (6 songs, 77 minutes). Group has some extra violins (Billy Bang for one), and vocals (Art Jenkins?), and spends much time way out on the fringe. B+(**) [sp] Old music: Jan Klare/Wilbert de Joode/Michael Vatcher/Bart Maris [1000]: Played (2008 [2009], Leo): Discogs regards "1000" as a group name, although they also credit the artist names, at the top of the cover, and they list several other albums by the same group (5 total, 2007-22). Alto sax, bass, drums, trumpet. B+(***) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
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