John Hart, New Mantra, SteepleChase **** recommended
The new mantra is the same as the old one. Strum and hum along. Pleasurable originals, Monk, Leonard Bernstein and a whole lot...
13 March 2026
Marius Neset, Time To Live, ACT ****
Impeccable, imaginative big band writing from the greatest Norwegian saxophonist since Jan Garbarek - pride of the great city of Bergen, Marius Neset.
11 March 2026
Metropole Orkest, Arakatak, V2 Records **** recommended
Bursting with great writing, energy and vitality that snaps all notions of what a contemporary big band & crucially strings together should sound...
10 March 2026
Track of the Day: ‘Kiss and Run’: standout new release jazz vocals from Marianne Solivan
Track of the day for a second time in these pages new from Marianne Solivan - one to return to time after time.
10 March 2026
Talkline, Vortex, Dalston ***
Unusually fronted by a singer who plays vibes accompanied by double bass and piano, Talkline on this performance played originals and treatments of...
10 March 2026
Shai Maestro, The Guesthouse, Naïve ***
There's plenty of spirit and a contemporary sheen to The Guesthouse. But Shai Maestro's latest doesn't quite engage as much as some of...
9 March 2026
Carsten Dahl, Into the Storm, Storyville ****
Body and Soul, Caravan and more plus a wonderful reading of Blame It On My Youth.
9 March 2026
Alex Hitchcock, Ant Law, Jasper Høiby, Sun-Mi Hong, House of Light, ZenneZ **** recommended
Formidable, probing, interrogative instrumentalism from a band of leaders. Post-bopper Alex Hitchcock is the sax genius of Chris Potter calibre quietly nestling in...
9 March 2026
Shabaka, Of The Earth, Shabaka Records ***
This latest sprawling solo effort from Shabaka isn't at all the most essential item in the saxist/flautist's discography.
9 March 2026
If Ever I Would Leave You – Jo Harrop
A knockout version of a Lerner and Loewe classic is the first newly released Jo Harrop recording in a while and marks a...
8 March 2026
Live review: Nathan Carter, London Palladium, Soho ****
An entertaining evening as once in a generation country singer Nathan Carter has the London Palladium audience eating out of the palms of...
7 March 2026
Mark Nightingale, Alan Barnes feat. James Davison, Jazz Classics… With A Twist, Woodville ****
Straight ahead sextet settings that set the bar high.
5 March 2026
Pat Metheny, Side-Eye III+, Uniquity Music ****
A lovely album, Metheny sets the bar high as ever. But is it an album that has the weight of his widely acclaimed...
4 March 2026
Darley Bowie EP
The tender side of classic David Bowie songs inhabited extremely convincingly on a new EP.
3 March 2026
Jeremy Pelt, Our Community Will Not Be Erased, HighNote ***
Not as compelling as Pelt's 2025 album Woven
3 March 2026
Sara Colman and Rebecca Nash, Ribbons Vol. 1, Stoney Lane ****
A brooding, serious work stocked with more than a few great moments.
1 March 2026
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