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 | Mark Lockheart & The NDR Big Band: Days Like These (CD: Fuzzy Moon)
Price: £13.99
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National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland: NYJOS Collective (CD: NYOS)
NYJOS Collective is a 9-piece ensemble offering the more experienced members of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland the opportunity to publicly perform their own arrangements, play a wide variety of compositions and lead jazz workshops with members of the community. Their debut CD includes music composed by some of the band members and unique arrangements of contemporary jazz standards by band Director, Malcolm Edmonstone. With impressive improvisations and scorching solos, tracks on the CD include: Clifford Brown’s Joy Spring, Gentle Piece by Kenny Wheeler and a version of Prince’s Thieves in the Temple, arranged by jazz veteran Herbie Hancock. (NYOS)
Price: £10.99
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 | Mark Lockheart: In Deep (CD: Edition)
In Deep is a record of great originality and integrity. It’s the command and authority of Lockheart’s saxophone that first strikes home on In Deep - magisterial, confident with maybe just hints of those two great tenor titans - Michael Brecker and Joe Henderson. Then the sheer quality of the writing hits you – these are tunes once heard not forgotten. And then the power, confidence and commitment of his group grabs you by the coat and you know they’ve got you. In Deep may be the finest realisation yet of Mark Lockheart’s talents. Given his undoubted pedigree that is high praise indeed. Rarely in jazz do music and performance combine to such flawless effect.Mark Lockheart has been at the forefront of the UK jazz scene for over twenty years, first with Loose Tubes, then with Perfect Houseplants, Django Bates’ Delightful Precipice, The Scratch Band, Big Idea, Robert Wyatt’s Soup Songs and Polar Bear. Now he introduces his latest band - the Mark Lockheart Group. (Harmonia Mundi)
Price: £13.99
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Alyn Cosker: Lyn's Une (SACD: Linn)
'Lyn's Une' is an album of searching electrifying jazz with compositional flair and mighty muscle from drummer extraordinaire Alyn Cosker. 'Lyn's Une' (a typing error for 'Alyn's Tune') showcases Alyn as an impeccable drummer equally comfortable at writing new tunes for a variety of instruments and vocals. His growing reputation has attracted top-class musicians who show the strength of the current Scottish jazz scene.As a drummer, Alyn Cosker grooves for a wide array of musicians in many styles, but it is in jazz that he is really making a name for himself. His drumming is influenced by many of the jazz greats including Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, Steve Gadd and Jeff Porcaro. He has drummed for Joe Locke, Lee Konitz, Courtney Pine, Carol Kidd and Clare Teal. As a writer he is influenced by many composers and in particular by saxophonist Tommy Smith who plays some wonderful solos on the album, including a driving solo on Bheki (a tribute to the late Bheki Mseleku). There are some soulful solos from fellow saxophonist Paul Towndrow on Lyn's Une and there are several energising and inventive solos from former rock guitarist David Dunsmuir throughout the album including on That's the Ticket - an upbeat funky track. The rest of the rhythm section includes bassist Ross Hamilton and Jason Rebello on piano and the entire band can be heard playing together on Twitter and Bisted. Straight Through Boogaloo is a fantastic demonstration track to showcase Alyn Cosker's talents. His softer side can be heard on the final track When Autumn Comes co-written and performed by SNJO vocalist Maureen McMullan. (Linn Records)
Price: £13.99
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 | June Time- The Allan Ganley Legacy (CD: Vocalion)
This Vocalion release features a superb big band, made up of the finest British jazz musicians, playing the brilliant arrangements and compositions of the late Allan Ganley. Allan, who died in 2008, was one of Britain’s leading drummers, and throughout his lengthy career played in bands and groups led by luminaries such as John Dankworth and Tubby Hayes and for Nelson Riddle, Henry Mancini and many, many others. He was also one of the most gifted arranger-composers of his generation, and this CD is a tribute to his genius.Recorded in 2009 and produced by Keith Mansfield, the world-class big band heard here is led by saxophonist Andy Panayi and includes in its ranks virtuosos such as Mark Nightingale, Cliff Hardie and Gordon Campbell (trombones), Henry Lowther, Martin Shaw and Tony Fisher (trumpets), Julian Siegel (tenor sax) and Mike Smith (drums). The music shows off the various facets of Allan’s skill as an arranger and composer, ranging from the hard-swinging, up-tempo Victor and the sublime harmonies of Two for the Road and June Time through to the joyous, uplifting samba grooves of Allisamba, among many others. An unmissable release for all who appreciate the finest in big band music. (Dutton Vocalion)
Price: £9.99
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Gareth Williams Power Trio: Shock! (SACD: Linn)
"Shock!" sees Wales' top jazz pianist deliver a selection of funky originals. From melancholy ballads to biting funk, the Power Trio bring a powerful focus and lyrical power to all that they play. (Linn Records)with Laurence Cottle (electric bass) & Ian Thomas (drums)
Price: £13.99
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 | The London Horn Sound with Gwilym Simcock: Give It One (CD: Cala)
Featuring nineteen of London’s finest horn players and pianist Gwilym Simcock, Britain’s “Jazz Musician of the Year”, Give It One covers the jazz spectrum with a dazzling array of standards and new compositions.Conductor of Give It One and Artistic Director of Cala Records, Geoffrey Simon, comments: “This CD shows not only that fine French horn players have the versatility and talent to excel in the big band idiom, but that they produce an amazing collective sound, like no big band ever heard before. The music goes from red-hot to velvety cool.” Simcock and the French horns are supported by the experienced Sam Burgess (bass) and Martin France (drums). (Cala Records)
Price: £13.99
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Geoff Eales Trio: Master Of The Game (CD: Edition)
Price: £13.99
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 | Dave Stapleton Quintet: Catching Sunlight (CD: Edition)
Pianist and composer Dave Stapleton's new album is filled with gorgeous melodies, drenched in sensual harmonies and driven by subtle, shifting rhythms and strange, exotic time signatures. He is joined by the Lunar Saxophone Quartet who weave and intertwine delightful dancing melodies over the rhythm section's steady, supple pulse, while Neil Yates' trumpet floats high above the ensemble. (New Note)
Price: £13.99
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Jim Mullen Organ Trio featuring Stan Sulzmann: Make Believe (CD: Diving Duck)
Price: £12.99
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 | John Randall Quintet: Insomnia (CD: Tentoten)
The John Randall Quintet play young, modern, forward thinking music that, whilst always influenced by the musical traditions of jazz, sees the raw energy of rock and the deep groove of hip hop sit alongside abstract textures and electronics. Complex rhythmic and harmonic ideas are made to sound simple and catchy. It is music of contrasts, where a sub bass rock out can dissolve within seconds into a rubato ballad. Underpinning all of this is the musicality of a band of virtuosic improvisers and the concept of playing honest music that does not draw boundaries between different musical genres or traditions . (Tentoten Records)
Price: £13.99
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Finn Peters: Butterflies (CD: Accidental)
Price: £13.99
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 | Tom Richards Orchestra: Smoke And Mirrors (CD: Candid)
'Smoke and Mirrors' is the debut album from the Tom Richards Orchestra, featuring 5 original compositions by the band leader Tom Richards as well as one unique collaboration co-written with and featuring Jamie Cullum on vocals. The TRO is a unique 19 piece jazz orchestra comprised of London’s most sought after young musicians including Gareth Lockrane (flutes), conductor Jules Buckley and BBC Jazz Awards winners Gwilym Simcock (piano) and Jim Hart (vibes). This orchestra is truly an ensemble of international stature and a who’s who of the UK’s current vanguard, as many of the TRO alumni are leaders of successful projects in their own right. With this CD Tom takes a giant step forward from being one of the UK’s leading young saxophonists to acquiring his own one-of-a-kind sound that goes far beyond that of the average big band. (Candid Records)
Price: £13.99
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Chris Biscoe Quartet: Gone In The Air- The Music Of Eric Dolphy (CD: Trio Records)
BBC double award winner Tony Kofi joins Chris Biscoe in an exploration of the musical legacy of reeds virtuoso Eric Dolphy. Gone In The Air features arrangements specially developed for this quartet with music written by Eric Dolphy, and tunes from Oliver Nelson, Fats Waller and Monk. (Trio Records)
Price: £13.99
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 | Arnie Somogyi's Ambulance: Accident And Insurgency (SACD: Linn)
Accident and Insurgency features five of the UK's most exciting young jazz musicians, in collaboration with U.S. jazz legend, trumpeter Eddie Henderson. (Linn Records)One of the aims when Ambulance first formed was to make it sound like a band, rather than a bunch of musicians playing one person's compositions. We felt it important that there should be the opportunity for complete spontaneity within the structure of the music - if anybody felt like changing tack halfway through a tune they should be able to. In 2006 the five of us, minus Eddie Henderson, were the first jazz group to be offered a musical development residency at Snape Maltings, near Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast. We spent a lot of time improvising freely and most of the tracks on this CD have been written around those moments, captured on minidisc and inspired by people and places in and around Aldeburgh. Having worked frequently with Eddie Henderson, I knew that his musical open-mindedness and generosity of spirit would dovetail with the band so I invited him to tour with us during May 2006. The bulk of this recording (over 45 minutes) was completed during one four-hour live session, mid-tour, and I think captures the essence of the band. (Arnie Somogyi)
Price: £13.99
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Gwilym Simcock: Perception (CD: Basho)
To say that Gwilym Simcock's debut album is awaited with huge anticipation would be no exaggeration. Gwilym is generally considered to be the most exciting British pianist/composer to emerge in recent years, as Chick Corea said: "Gwilym's an original. A creative genius." A previous winner of The Perrier Award, BBC Jazz Awards and British Rising Star Awards, this year (2007) he was voted Jazz Musician Of The Year at The Parliamentary Jazz Awards and is currently a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist. The trio is completed by Phil Donkin (bass) and Martin France (drums) with guest appearances on several tracks by Stan Sultzmann (tracks), John Parricelli (guitar) and Ben Bryant (percussion). (Proper Music)
Price: £13.99
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 | Gwilym Simcock: Blues Vignette (CD: Basho, 2 CDs)
Price: £13.99
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Portico Quartet: Knee Deep In The North Sea (CD: Vortex)
Price: £13.99
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 | Portico Quartet: Isla (CD: Real World)
Price: £12.99
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Basquiat Strings with Seb Rochford (CD: F-ire)
Price: £12.99
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 | Empirical: Empirical (CD: Destin-e)
Price: £13.99
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Simon Spillett: Sienna Red (CD: Woodville)
Following on from his successful Woodville debut, Simon Spillett presents the new edition of his superb quartet, now featuring ex-Hayes sideman Spike wells, with a set of tunes either composed by or associated with the great Tubby Hayes. Now firmly his own man Simon leads this session of virtuoso performances with great authority and awesome fluency. (New Note)
Price: £13.99
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 | Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia: Never Say Goodbye (CD: Intuition)
Price: £13.99
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Ingrid Laubrock & Liam Noble: Let's Call This (CD: Babel)
Price: £13.99
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 | Christian Brewer Quintet: Seesaw (CD: Basho)
Price: £13.99
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Neil Cowley Trio: Displaced (CD: HideInside)
Neil Cowley, founder of the now defunkt but stunning downtempo/electronia outfit Fragile States and also ex-member of Zero 7 & Brand New Heavies heads off into a whole new, melodic, nu-jazz direction with the release of his latest album. "Displaced" is an outstanding album of original material that presents Cowley as a thoroughly modern player with an impeccable touch. Working with Richard Sadler on bass and Evan Jenkins on drums he has created a hard swinging trio with tremendous flair that can create beautiful and forceful music by turns. It's already been described as Jazz wise as "The hottest album to reach Jazzwise this year" if you're a fan of EST and want their momentum and ideas moulded and taken to a new level by a UK band, then this is it, wrapping stabbing, hyper-confident vamps, a case, if ever there was one, for placing an advanced order at your local record shop today." Blues and Soul and Record Collector pieces are also now confirmed, more to come. (Proper Music)
Price: £12.99
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 | Neil Cowley Trio: Loud...Louder...Stop (CD: Cake)
“Post-jazz”, “punk-jazz”, “call-it-what-you-like-jazz”, one thing's for sure, today's generation of mavericks are informed by jazz, but channel the energy of rock and the surging dynamics of dance music to create a new sound, and stretch the envelope further. At the vanguard of this new scene, is The Neil Cowley Trio, whose 2006 debut Displaced was released to huge critical acclaim from across the musical spectrum.Loud.. Louder…Stop! is the trio's follow up album, and features Cowley's long-time collaborators Richard Sadler on bass and Evan Jenkins on drums. As the title suggests it is marked with energy, adrenalin and wit; an album of massive dynamic range and contrasts. Yet Cowley wears the “post jazz” label lightly. Neil expresses a wide gamut of emotions through his music, so there is often a sensitivity and romanticism to his compositions. (Candid Records)
Price: £13.99
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Neil Cowley Trio: Radio Silence (CD: Naim)
Price: £13.99
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 | Martin Speake: Change Of Heart (CD: ECM)
Price: £13.99
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Zoe Rahman: Melting Pot (CD: Manushi)
Price: £13.99
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 | Zoe Rahman: The Cynic (CD: Manushi)
Price: £13.99
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Zoe & Idris Rahman: Where Rivers Meet (CD: Manushi)
Following her 2007 Mercury Award-nominated album “Melting Pot”, pianist ZoeRahman releases her new album, “Where Rivers Meet” - a collaboration with herbrother, Idris Rahman (clarinet, flute, & bass clarinet) - showcasing a unique, jazzinspired take on their Bengali heritage. Zoe’s regular trio members, drummer Gene Calderazzo and bassist Oli Hayhurst, are augmented by violinist Samy Bishai, percussionist Kuljit Bhamra - plus Dhakabased vocal star Arnob, and three additional vocalists.There are hauntingly beautiful interpretations of the music of Rabindranath Tagore, Gauri Majumdar & Hemanta Mukherjee, Pranab Roy & Kamal Dasgupta, Hemant Kumar, and Jasim Uddin, among others - with all arrangements by the two Rahman leaders. This is a rich, vibrant album of Anglo-Asian music, where jazz meets world music, with dazzling soloing and interplay from all concerned, but especially Zoe and Idris (who also leads his own Soothsayers band). The album comes in a delightfully designed gatefold digipack sleeve, with excellent 12-page booklet. (Discovery Records)
Price: £13.99
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 | Zoe Rahman Trio: Live With Special Guest Idris Rahman (CD: Manushi)
Pianist Zoe Rahman has been hailed as one of the UK’s brightest talents. In 2006, she and her second album ‘Melting Pot’ were Mercury Prize winners, an event which brought her style of Jazz to a much wider audience.After ‘Melting Pot’ came a new studio album ‘Where Rivers meet’, a collaboration with her brother Idris Rahman and a number of other musicians; this album fused Zoe’s brand of Jazz with elements of World Music. LIVE features her fabulous trio (bassist Oli Hayhurst and drummer Gene Calderazzo) and special guest Idris Rahman kicking back in the relaxed setting of a live performance and exploring some of Zoe’s key influences with luminous readings of music from Abdullah Ibrahim and Joanne Brackeen, Phineas Newborn, her own Last Note and intriguing covers from Mario Langinha and Hemant Mukherjee. (Discovery Records)
Price: £11.99
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Geoff Gasgoyne: Keep It To Yourself (CD: Candid)
Geoff is the bass player with the multi platinum artist Jamie Cullum. Jamie sings on two tracks including "God Only Knows", a favourite of his live set and unavailable elsewhere. Also features two tracks with guest vocals from Georgie Fame. Extensive marketing to Jamie Cullum's fanbase.Originally from Nottingham but based in London since the late 1970s, Geoff Gascoyne is now a world-renowned bassist (both electric and acoustic), bandleader and arranger, having played and toured internationally with Everything But The Girl, Jim Mullen, Ian Shaw, Georgie Fame, Guy Barker and contributed to a host of other projects in the worlds of jazz, pop and classical music. With countless appearances at Ronnie Scott's club and many recording sessions under his belt he is also a well-respected name within the London jazz community and is presently a mainstay of the Jamie Cullum band. Jamie is a featured guest vocalist on this new album, as is Georgie Fame and Geoff's wife Trudy Kerr. Geoff's playing team is Martin Shaw (trumpet), Steve Kaldestad (saxes), Tom Cawley (piano), Sebastiaan de Krom (drums) and the Gavin Wright String Quartet. (Proper Music)
Price: £12.99
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 | James Chadwick: Undercurrent (CD: 33 Jazz)
Price: £13.99
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Ronnie Rae Quintet: From The Cradle To The Groove (CD: Tentoten)
Price: £12.99
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 | Rob Hughes: Butterfly (CD: Self Produced)
Price: £13.99
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Jonny Boston: What's Waiting (CD: Sheldon)
Price: £13.99
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 | Tim Garland: Change Of Season (CD: Sirocco)
Price: £14.99
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Acoustic Ladyland: Camouflage (CD: Babel)
Price: £12.99
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 | Acoustic Ladyland: Last Chance Disco (CD: Babel)
Price: £12.99
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Acoustic Ladyland: Skinny Grin (CD: V2)
Price: £13.99
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 | Charlie Watts & The Tentet: Watt's At Scott's (CD: Black Box, 2 CDs)
Price: £14.99
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Denys Baptiste: Let Freedom Ring (CD: Dune)
With two critically acclaimed albums and numerous awards including, in 1999, a Mercury Music Prize for An Album Of The Year and a MOBO Award for Best Jazz Act, high standards are expected and are definetely delivered for this, Denys Baptiste’s third album. Let Freedom Ring! is a beautifully crafted suite which musically echoes the historic ‘I Have A Dream’ speech of Dr Martin Luther King. Rejuvenating King’s message of freedom, equality and justice, Denys inspires us all through his joyously uplifting and celebratory outlook, encouraging us to Let Freedom Ring!. This album is an exhilarating mix of contemporary jazz, gospel, blues, and Afro-Cuban music combined with the poetry and voice of Ben Okri (reading extracts from his epic poem, Mental Fight) and featuring an explosive international line-up, including Abram Wilson, Gary Crosby, and Omar Puente. (Dune Records)
Price: £13.99
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 | Dylan Howe: The Way I Hear It (CD: OT Records)
Price: £13.99
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Roger Beaujolais Quintet: Blue Reflections (CD: Stay Tuned)
Virtuoso vibes player Roger presents his new album “Blue Reflections” with his regular all-star UK band : tenor/soprano saxophonist Mark Lockheart, pianist Robin Aspland and drummer Winston Clifford; bass duties on the album are shared between Simon Thorpe and Orlando LeFleming. As the title suggests, “Blue Reflections” features 11 blues-infused tunes: six original compositions by Roger Beaujolais sit neatly alongside fresh and inventive versions of Hank Mobley’s “Soul Station”, Stanley Turrentine’s “Sugar”, Grant Green’s “Green Jeans”, Kenny Burrell’s “Chitlins Con Carne”, and Joey Caldarazzo’s “Midnight Voyage”. Roger Beaujolais originally gained recognition with 80s jump jive favourites The Chevalier Brothers. After a brief spell with the chart -topping Fairground Attraction, he formed Latin-jazz outfit The Beaujolais Band, and later the jazz/funk/soul group Vibraphonic - both these bands releasing a number of big-selling albums on Acid Jazz Records. Roger currently plays with Tim Richards’ Great Spirit and Tommaso Starace, and runs his own label, StayTuned Records. He also teaches jazz vibraphone at Trinity College of Music, London. (Discovery Records)
Price: £13.99
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 | Perfect House Plants: Snap Clatter (CD: Linn)
Price: £13.99
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Perfect Houseplants: New Folk Songs (SACD: Linn)
Price: £13.99
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 | First House: Cantilena (CD: ECM)
Price: £13.99
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Django Bates: Summer Fruits (And Unrest) (CD: Winter & Winter)
Price: £13.99
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 | Django Bates: Autumn Fires (And Green Shoots) (CD: Winter & Winter)
Price: £13.99
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Django Bates: You Live And Learn...Apparently (CD: Lost Marble)
Price: £13.99
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 | Django Bates: Spring Is Here (Shall We Dance?) (CD: Lost Marble)
Price: £13.99
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Django Bates: Belovèd Bird (CD: Lost Marble)
Belovèd Bird, by the multi-award winning British jazz musician Django Bates is a celebration of the music of Charlie Parker. On his first recording with a classic trio line-up, Bates delivers his own interpretations of music associated with Parker and pays tribute to Bird with one of his own compositions. He says of Belovèd Bird, “I believe there is no point in recording unless one has something special to say. Now’s the time to say something special: Bird Lives!” (Proper Music)
Price: £13.99
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 | David Newton: Victim Of Circumstance (CD: Linn)
Price: £13.99
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Guy Barker Quintet: Holly J (CD: Miles Music)
Price: £9.99
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 | Guy Barker's Extravaganza: Isn't It? (CD: Spotlite)
Price: £11.99
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Guy Barker: Soundtrack (CD: Provocateur)
Price: £13.99
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 | Guy Barker: The Amadeus Project (CD: Global Mix, 2 CDs)
Price: £13.99
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Clark Tracey: Stability (SACD: Linn)
Price: £13.99
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 | Clark Tracey Quintet: The Calling (CD: Tentoten)
The debut CD from the award winning quintet.
Price: £13.99
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Clark Tracey Trio: British Standard Time (CD: Tentoten)
Price: £13.99
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 | Clark Tracey Quintet: The Mighty SAS (CD: Tentoten)
Price: £13.99
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Clark Tracey Quartet: Given Time (CD: Tentoten)
This is Volume 2 in the British Composers Series featuring Brendon Allen (saxophone), Gareth Williams (piano) & Arnie Somogyi (bass).
Price: £13.99
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 | Clark Tracey Sextet: Current Climate (CD: Tentoten)
New Clark Tracey bands are always worth checking out, since the great drummer/leader has a keen ear for fresh talent, and the ability to nurture it in his consistently sparky outfits. Here, he has recruited yet another lively, vigorous set of players whose poise and professionalism belie their relatively tender years... The sextet is an archetypal Clark Tracey band, breezily informal yet whip-smart, powerful in the soloing department yet mutually sensitive and perfectly cohesive, the whole flawlessly propelled by one of Europe's most accomplished drummers. Warmly recommended. (Chris Parker, Vortex Magazine)
Price: £13.99
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Martin Speake: Hullabaloo (CD: Linn)
Price: £13.99
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 | Martin Speake: Generations (CD: Pumpkin)
In his 50th year alto saxophonist Martin Speake celebrates by recording a set of standard songs with a quartet featuring Barry Green on piano, Dave Green on bass and Jeff Williams on drums. The band plays these classics tunes as if they were their own original compositions, reinventing the forms with spontaneity and melodic and rhythmic imagination. (New Note)
Price: £13.99
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Gerard Presencer: The Optimist (SACD: Linn)
Price: £13.99
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 | Gerard Presencer: Platypus (SACD: Linn)
Price: £13.99
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Tim Garland: Enter The Fire (CD: Linn)
Price: £13.99
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 | Dave O'Higgins: Fast Foot Shuffle (CD: Candid)
Price: £12.99
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Dave O'Higgins Quartet/Quintet: In The Zone (CD: Jazzizit)
Price: £13.99
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 | Alec Danworth with Julian Arguelles & Phil Robson: If You're Passing By (CD: Candid)
'If You're Passing By' utilises a trio format with the somewhat unusual decision to exclude a percussionist. Rather, Alec has chosen to fill the trio with the sultry saxophone of Julian Arguelles and Phil Robson's intensely gripping yet smooth guitar. Rejecting a drummer, Dankworth instead substitutes his own strengths as a rhythmic proprietor allowing the trio an atypical sense of freedom while also providing a painstakingly clear and emotionally vivid sound. (Candid Records)
Price: £12.99
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Alec Dankworth: Spanish Accents (CD: Basho)
Alec Dankworth’s long-standing love of all things Spanish provided the inspiration for this album. Metheny, Corea, even Rodrigo are reinvented alongside traditional folk songs and originals in flamenco rhythms creating a wonderful and genuinely Spanish world. A heady mix of top British players - guitarist Phil Robson, saxophonist Julian Arguelles, Chris Garrick’s gorgeous violin and Alec Dankworth’s bass interweaving with the genuinely Spanish drumwork of Barcelona-based Marc Miralta make this an unusual line-up. Added to this is some intriguing drone-work from French bagpipe expert Jean-Pierre Rasle. Three tracks include singing from the youngest member of the Dankworth dynasty, Emily, as well as the great Cleo Laine. (Proper Music)
Price: £13.99
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 | Richard Fairhurst: Standing Tall (CD: Babel)
Price: £12.99
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Tony Kofi Quartet: Plays Monk (CD: Specific)
Price: £13.99
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 | Tony Kofi: Future Passed (CD: Specific)
Price: £13.99
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Tony Kofi Quartet: The Silent Truth (CD: Specific)
The Silent Truth comes two years after Kofi’s previous album of his own work, Future Passed. While that album focused on the trio format, utilising a classic B3 Hammond organ sound and solid, repetitive grooves and hooks, here he returns to the four-piece sound that he perfected while playing the works of Thelonious Monk. “It was only a matter of time before revisiting the magic of the quartet format,” says Kofi. “It’s been four years since recording the music of Monk (on the album All Is Know), so I thought 2008 was the right time to bring us all back together, same line-up only this time performing original compositions, having solidified our group sound from the first recording”. The pieces range in mood from the driving swing of If I Spoke My Mind to the playful and gently reflective Cicada, and demonstrate a continuing maturity in the sound of both the group and the individual players. (Proper Music)
Price: £13.99
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 | Colin Steele: Twilight Dreams (CD: Caber)
Price: £13.99
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Colin Steele: The Journey Home (CD: Caber)
Price: £13.99
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 | Colin Steele Quintet: Through The Waves (CD: ACT)
Price: £14.99
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Colin Steele: Stramash (CD: Gadgemo)
Colin Steele’s latest project, Stramash, is the trumpeter’s most ambitious to date. The result is a culmination of the musical path he started to explore with his award winning jazz quintet of Dave Milligan (piano), Phil Bancroft (sax), Aidan O’Donnell (bass) and Stu Ritchie (drums). This has now been expanded to incorporate the cream of Scotland’s musical talent from the folk and classical worlds. The new band now includes three of Scotland’s finest folk fiddlers – Aidan O’Rourke, Catriona MacDonald and Mairi Campbell as well as Scotland’s top classical cellist Su-a Lee, and piper/whistler Rory Campbell. Stramash draws both from Colin’s indigenous musical heritage and his years as an improvising jazz musician and is a joyful, heartfelt album from start to finish. Much of the album was written on the island of Islay where Colin went to compose for this large ensemble without the distractions of everyday life. One of the standout tracks is The Bletherer which has since gone on to win first prize in this year’s International Songwriting Competition – no mean feat with the judges including McCoy Tyner, John Scofield, Youssou N'Dour and Tom Waits. Islay became very much part of the album, the first twelve tracks becoming known as the ‘Islay Suite’. His stay on the island inspired many of the tunes, from Shindig at the Lochside (after sampling the local whisky on his first night on the island) to Sunset over Loch Indaal (an evocation of the beauty of the landscape) and View from the Round Church, the final tune in the suite. The final three tracks on the album are arrangements of previously recorded tunes including the title track of his second album The Journey Home. (Gadgemo Records)
Price: £13.99
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 | James Pearson Trio: The Best Things In Life Are Free (CD: Diving Duck)
Price: £12.99
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James Pearson Trio: Swing The Club (CD: Diving Duck)
This is the long-awaited second album from The James Pearson Trio, and the first in their current incarnation as resident band at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club. Recorded over four nights live at the club, the album typifies the make-up of one of their regular sets, and captures the verve and intensity that is a product of performing together on such a regular basis in the great environment of one of the world’s most famous and respected jazz clubs. (Diving Duck Recordings)
Price: £12.99
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 | Robert Fowler: Tight Lines (CD: Diving Duck)
Robert Fowler is regularly seen on the British jazz and big band circuit with various ensembles, including Humphrey Lyttleton, The Great British Jazz Band, the Syd Lawrence Orchestra, the Pasadena Roof Orchetrsa, Back To Basie, and as far afield as Bryan Ferry. Tight Lines is Robert's first album as a featured soloist, and superbly displays the swinging feel and sonorous tone for which he has become known. (Diving Duck Recordings)
Price: £12.99
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