‘Recorded live at the Middelheim Festival in Antwerp, Edizione Speciale brings together a team of young improvisers who play Rava’s music with fire and élan, accompanying his fountain of melodic ideas, while also taking advantage of the free space that the extensive musical forms open up. The group’s repertoire includes material from the trumpeter/flugelhornist’s early recording Enrico Rava Quartet (1978), and Wild Dance (2015), plus a rendition of Once Upon A Summertime — the English version of Michel Legrand’s La valse des lilas — as well as the universally known Cuban song Quizás, Quizás, Quizás.’

Dewey Redman (tenor sax), Charles Eubanks (piano), Mark Helias (bass), Ed Blackwell (drums).

The Argentinean bandoneon giant with German cellist Anja Lechner (from the Rosamunde Quartet). Crafted, free chamber music with inspirational roots in South American tradition — this is fab.

Fabulous music-making, as ever from the Argentinian bandoneon-player, with his clarinettist brother Felix, and cellist Anja Lechner.

The wonderful bandoneon player. ‘The work is alive with different genres: from dances such as zamba to carnavalito to chacarera… the tango… the milonga, wounded yet strong, intrinsic yet expressive.’

Wonderfully evocative solo bandoneon. No wonder Jean-Luc Godard whipped from it for both Nouvelle Vague and Histoire(s) du Cinéma.
Warmly recommended.

The great Argentinean bandoneon player in his first purely solo recording for more than thirty years.
‘A powerful reminder of Dino’s gifts as a musical storyteller of great subtlety. His pieces in this intimate recording reach back to early memories: Don Caye, subtitled Variations on the work of Cayetano Saluzzi, is a most touching dedication to his father. Throughout, the bandoneonist reflects upon the fleeting passage of time.’
Wonderful music, warmly recommended.

The title — ‘coming together’ in Sanskrit, sometimes ‘the meeting-point of three rivers’ — alludes to the mixture here of jazz, contemporary composition and diverse world folk traditions.

A song-cycle life of Aisha, youngest wife of the prophet Mohammed, co-written by the Armenian-German guitarist and Julia Hulsmann, performed together with her trio and Serbian singer Yelena Kuljic.

‘A sensual, haunting and reflective road movie that captures the magic of music.’ Grafelfing to Athens, Udine to Carthage, Tallinn to Pernes-les-Fontaines, Copenhagen to Salta in Argentina.

With new cohorts from Finland and Denmark — electric bass and guitar bringing a new tension and urgency — this is by turns fierce and hard, swinging and sparse, lyrical and mournful.

‘The quintessence of experience of sorts. It has some free playing, some reflection, and we also played Komeda’s Kattorna. Among my records this is the one I listened to the most after recording.’

Beautiful, balladesque quartet album — moody, blue and restrained.

Inspired by the great poet Wislawa Symborska, who died last year. Ace NY quartet. Full of dread and life, tersely sophisticated, imbued with Miles. Monk and Andrew Hill in the pianism. Always recommended, TS.