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Devin Daniels

LesGo!

Sam First Records 

Devin Daniels (as), Julien Knowles (t), Chris Fishman (p), Jermaine Paul (b) and Benjamin Ring (d). Rec. 16-17 February 2024

Devin and his cohort met at UCLA’s Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance, and Mr Hands himself has personally mentored the young alto prodigy and taken him on tour. The title track of this, his second album, shows us why: Daniels simply explodes out of the gate with a flurry of creative phrases before the theme, a sort of Ornette-ish gospel chant, kicks in – then he’s away, his poky, acidic tone burning over a tricky dotted rhythm bassline. In a similar vein to the Immanuel Wilkins quartet, Daniels and his band operate at the forefront of the US acoustic jazz tradition - there are versions of Monk’s ‘Ugly Beauty’ and the evergreen ‘Scrapple From The Apple’, and the soloists’ language is rooted in bop and it’s more free-ranging successors, but the rhythm arrangements are furiously contemporary so that Coltrane’s ‘Spiral’ seesaws between straight swing and a breakneck Vijay Iyer inspired 11/8.

If that sounds intense, it definitely is. Tunes like ‘Reckon’ show a more contemplative side and indicate Daniels' potential as a composer, and while there’s still a flavour of the conservatoire about some of the studiedly knotty themes, the overt link with the powerful, edgy West Coast black avant-garde tradition of Horace Tapscott and Arthur Blythe imbues this music with palpable passion and commitment. Outstanding. Eddie Myer 

Tord Gustavsen Trio

Seeing

ECM

Tord Gustavsen (p), Steinar Raknes (b) and Jarle Vespestad (d). Rec. October 2023

Like many ECM artists, Tord Gustavsen is known for working on the borders of jazz, folk and classical, along with a touch of tango and a soupçon of blues. As we were once informed by his fellow Norwegians, The Kings of Convenience, quiet is the new loud. And of course, for Tord Gustavsen, quiet is his default mode: he is the living embodiment of the ECM sound: slow, contemplative, solemn and full of space.

On this new album, the profound religious sensibility that was always lurking just beneath the surface of his music has now broken cover. Hence the first track is the traditional melody ‘Jesus gjør meg stille’ (‘Jesus make me quiet’). The religious theme continues with the original composition ‘The Old Church’, followed by two ancient hymn tunes adapted by Johann Sebastian Bach - the 16th century ‘Christ lag in Todesbanden’ (‘Christ lay in death’s bonds’) and ‘Auf meinen lieben Gott’ (literally ‘In my dear God’).

The trio’s previous outing (Opening, 2022) was notable for the inclusion for the first time of bassist Raknes, an alumnus of Chick Corea and Michael Brecker. And here he is again, though this time he’s all acoustic – no sign here of the electronica with which he made his instrument howl and squeal on that album.

Although Seeing is in no way a departure from Gustavsen’s signature style, it’s a mature work, with a more serene, settled feel to it than we have heard before. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that he seems to have found his perfect band: drummer Jarle Vespestad has been with him since the beginning of his career, but the bass slot was always fluid – until now. In Steinar Raknes he has found his perfect foil. The final track, ‘Seattle Song’ is perhaps the best example of this, with a simple melody and repeated bass line that were apparently improvised at a sound check in 2023. Peter Jones 

Samara Joy

Portrait

Verve 

Samara Joy (v), Jason Charos (t, flhn), Donavan Austin (tb), David Mason (as, fl), Kendric McCallister (ts), Conor Rohrer (p), Felix Moseholm (b) and Evan Sherman (d). Rec. February 2024

Recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio, this follow-up to Samara Joy’s Grammy-winning 2022 album Linger Awhile sees the vocalist, songwriter, arranger and bandleader reach ever greater heights of artistic expression, accompanied by her road-tested band.

With one of the most daring harmonic journeys in the Great American Songbook, Joy weaves through the shifting tonalities of the restless ‘You Stepped Out Of A Dream’ with complete command of the melodic line. The Mingus tribute to Charlie Parker, ‘Reincarnation Of A Lovebird’, is an absolute tour de force – featuring Joy’s own lyrics; a remarkable, free-time a cappella opening section is followed by a subtle transition to a mid-tempo swing which is brilliantly done.

There’s a gorgeous version of the standard ‘Autumn Nocturne’ in which the singer’s lustrous timbre caresses the lyrics. The splicing together of ‘Peace of Mind/Dreams Come True’, the first co-written by Joy and tenor saxist Kendric McCallister, the second a song from Sun Ra’s felicitously titled album Sound of Joy, is one of the most transcendent vocal performances I’ve heard this year.

Composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes, and with English lyrics by Jon Hendricks, Joy and her band give a joyously virtuosic take on one of the greatest songs in the bossa canon, ‘No More Blues’. On the poignant ‘Now And Then (In Remembrance Of…)’, she appends bittersweet lyrics to a tune written by her late mentor, Barry Harris, which the piano maestro recorded on his 1975 album, Vicissitudes. (“We will sing your song though it’s not the same/Will a spark like yours ever burn again?”). A dazzling take on ‘Day By Day’ rounds off this astonishingly good collection. Peter Quinn 

Fernando Huergo Big Band

Relentless

Whaling City Sound

Fernando Huergo (b, el b, comp, arr), Jeff Classen, Billy Buss, Dan Rosenthal, Greg Hopkins (t), Randy Pingrey, Chris Gagne, Jason Camelio (tb), Andy Garcia (btb), Rick Stone, Allan Chase (as), Rick DiMuzio, Joel Springer (ts), Daniel Ian Smith (bs), Santiago Bosch (p), Gen Yoshimura (d) and Ernesto Diaz (cga). Rec. 4-5 November 2023

No, I hadn’t heard of composer/bassist Huergo before, although he has a 60-session discography, according to Tom Lord’s Jazz Discography. Again, though, those recordings were largely concerned with artists based in Massachusetts, the home state for the Whaling City Sound label. Unknown or not, this is a hugely accomplished big band, brim-full of confidence and handling some demanding charts (all by Huergo, bar ‘Deluge’ by Wayne Shorter) with considerable verve, the soloists similarly forceful and happy to play at length.

Huergo says the arts exist "to elevate our spirits" as a kind of counterbalance to "the relentless absurdity in our daily reality" and who’s to say he’s wrong? That said, it’s his ‘Consciousness of Reality’ which opens, the ensemble flute-led, the piece developing over a series of punchy brass-bound passages much as Maria Schneider’s do, Huergo on electric bass, with vibrant solos by Buss and DiMuzio (all soloists are identified, thankfully). ‘Ornette’ is dedicated to the sax giant, electric bass to the fore again over rock-patterned drums, the ensemble shouts also flute-led, an array of soloists playing chase. ‘Vidalita’ is carried by flutist Musayelyan, the writing quite solemn, and simply lovely.

With 11 pieces to consider, it’s perhaps pertinent to pick out ‘The Illusion of Hope’, dedicated to the late Russian dissident Alexey Navalny, the writing elegiac and richly hued, altoist Chase featured. I liked the oddly intricate finisher, ‘Groove Odds’ too. The blurb says the album is a ‘testament to resilience, hope, and the enduring power of music’. Sounds about right to me. Superb music throughout. Peter Vacher 

 Claire Martin

Almost In Your Arms

Stunt Records 

Claire Martin (v), James McMillan (t, flhn, ky), Karl-Martin Almqvist (ts), Mark Jaimes (g), Martin Sjöstedt (p, ky), Niklas Fernqvist (b), Daniel Fredriksson (d, perc), Nikki Iles (acc), Joe Locke (vb) and Charlie Wood (v). Rec. January-February 2024

Almost In Your Arms sees Martin reuniting with the all-Swedish trio featured on her superb 2019 album, Believin’ It, augmented here by a number of exceptional guests. Written by the trio of Dorothy Fields, George Oppenheimer and Jimmy McHugh for the 1935 film Every Night At Eight, the album gets off to an explosive start with the energising blast of ‘I Feel A Song Coming On’, which sees Locke peeling off a dazzling solo. Charlie Wood joins Martin for a sublime cover of Tom Waits’ ‘This One’s From The Heart’, while Martin’s spectacularly deep pocket is heard to great effect on the title track, an arrangement featuring the piano trio only which is definitely more Nancy Wilson than Sophia Loren.

The delicious McMillan-Martin co-write ‘Apparently, I’m Fine’ sounds as if it could have been excerpted from a lost neo-noir directed by Roman Polanski.

Other highlights include a joyous take on Carole King’s ‘Bitter With the Sweet’, a fine brace of Mark Winkler songs – the uber atmospheric ‘Train In the Desert’ in which Locke doubles as narrator and soloist, and the pleasingly bittersweet ‘Do You Ever Wonder?’ – plus one of the most extraordinarily beautiful covers you’ll hear this or any other year, the Bacharach/Costello masterpiece ‘This House Is Empty Now’. Elsewhere, Martin’s incredibly rich timbre lights up the exquisite jazz waltz ‘September Song’, co-written by McMillan and the noted lyricist, Don Black. Produced, recorded and mixed by McMillan, who also contributes trumpet, flugel, keys and programming, the incredible clarity and spaciousness of the recorded sound captures Martin’s vocals to perfection. Peter Quinn  

Michael Mayo

Fly

Artistry Music 

Michael Mayo (v, g, perc), Shai Maestro (p, ky), Scott Mayo (v, as, ss), Linda May Han Oh (b, el b), Nate Smith (d, perc), and Valerie Pinkston (v). Rec. January 2024

Mayo’s debut album, Bones, was a work of startling originality with a sound world which referenced everything from The Beach Boys to J Dilla. Recorded over two days at Bunker Studio in Brooklyn and backed by an incredible all-star band, this eagerly awaited follow-up presents another wildly enjoyable sonic ride. Mayo-penned originals including album opener ‘Bag of Bones’, the title track (which again features his parents on backing vocal duties), and ‘Frenzy’ highlight his amazing facility for delivering hooks which lodge immediately in your consciousness.

There’s a delicious mid-tempo reworking of ‘Just Friends’ which calls to mind a version recorded by the great Andy Bey on his 2001 album Tuesdays In Chinatown. This song also features one of Mayo’s signature moves, namely a coda with stacked up vocal harmonies which pops up out of nowhere. Another Mayo original, ‘Silence’, epitomises all of the great qualities of his writing: a multipartite structure which keeps you guessing until the end, a pleasing metrical ambiguity, tiny textural details which delight the ear, plus vocal harmonies which take surprising harmonic turns. Mayo’s a cappella version of the Rodgers and Hart standard ‘I Didn’t Know What Time It Was’ is just under two and a half minutes of complete gorgeousness, with yet another of those heart-melting codas.

As well as impressive takes on ‘Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most’ and ‘Four’, Mayo’s energising account of Wayne Shorter’s ‘Speak No Evil’ features another metrical sleight of hand when its supercharged fusion tempo suddenly morphs into a half-time hip-hop feel. Peter Quinn  

The Necks

Bleed

Northern Spy 

Chris Abrams (ky), Lloyd Swanton (b) and Tony Buck (d, perc). Rec. date not stated

What can I say? What is there to say? It’s The Necks. You’ll either get it – and like it – or you won’t. If you do get The Necks, you’ll love this album (comprising just one track, a 42-minute improvisation), which is somehow both exactly the same as every other Necks album, and what you'd expect from this singular Australian trio; but at the same time it's also completely different from everything else they've ever done. And that's the appeal of The Necks, right there; as the late John Peel used to say of his favourite band, The Fall: "They are always different, they are always the same".

So what of Bleed? As with all Necks albums, it begins quietly, even tentatively, as if from nothing. The blank slate here is a delicate yet assertive piano figure, which builds not just in volume but also in textural complexity. You are taken on a journey into the unknown, but as always with this outfit, it's a trip of discovery and surprise, and into beauty, rather than a cause for dread (or a dead end).

As ever, the trio are rather opaque about who's doing what, and where, but it sounds as if there are electronics and an electric guitar in here somewhere as well as the customary piano, bass and drums. It's difficult to tell; but, it doesn't really matter. It's the scenery, what you discover on your journey, and who you meet, rather than the destination or mode of transport that's important. Bleed is immersive and – inaurguably – gorgeous and thus truly compelling. Kevin Whitlock  

Aaron Parks

Little Big III

Blue Note 

Aaron Parks (p), Greg Tuohey (g), David Ginyard Jr (b) and Jongkuk Kim (d). Rec. date not stated

You have to go all the way back to 2008 for the last time pianist Aaron Parks released an album on Blue Note; that was his outstanding debut Invisible Cinema which was the inspiration for his band Little Big. Now back on the label’s books, the 40-year-old pianist-composer continues his lyrical exploration of contemporary song-form on Little Big III on originals that draw from Americana-inflected alt. rock rather than your Irving Berlins or Wayne Shorters.

The interpretations take on the characteristic of the source material, largely but not exclusively in a dreamily atmospheric and warmly melancholic kind of mood. In a sense it touches on the work in this area of Keith Jarrett, Brad Mehldau and Bill Frisell, but Parks creates his own hauntingly atmospheric signature. In spite of Parks’ central influences, this is no watered down pop-orientated jazz. Greg Tuohey’s guitar chimes with Americana on the languorous ‘Locked Down’ that’s crying out for a Tom Waits vocal.

Right out of the blue comes ‘Sports’ with its uplifting Weather Report-ish African-tinged funk bass with Parks’ cohesive story-telling soloing prowess and Tuohey’s more surging jazz-rock guitar. The Steely Dan-ish ‘Little Beginnings’, the stimulating contrast between chiming indie guitar and feverish drum and bass-type kitwork on the perfectly titled ‘The Machines Say No’, the rock guitar psychedelia of ‘Willamania’ and the touching Jarrett-influenced ballad ‘Ashé’ are further indication of the pianist-composer’s highly impressive return to the legendary label’s catalogue. Selwyn Harris 

Thom Rotella

Side Hustle

HighNote 

Thom Rotella (g), Bobby Floyd, Greg Karukas (org), Roy McCurdy, Kendall Kaye (d) and Lenny Castro (perc). Guests: Eric Alexander (ts) and Jeremy Pelt (t). Rec. 20-21 and 27 February 2024.

US guitarist and composer Rotella, now 73, rarely ventures into jazz, having been immersed very fruitfully in the Hollywood studios for the past half-century. His credits cover the great names of popular music, Sinatra among them, TV sessions and soundtracks, jingles galore – but happily for us, HighNote has him paying tribute to the jazz organ trios of the 1960s and what a cracking job he and his pals make of it.

Bobby Floyd, an ex-Ray Charles sideman who once opened for the great man, knows exactly how to navigate these funky themes. Think Grant Green and organist Brother Jack McDuff and you’ll know what they’re collectively about. Add in the sheer rhythmic zest engendered by veteran drummer McCurdy and this is quite a package.

Rotella’s ‘Who Dat?’ is just right: a neat guitar riff with stop-time chords, before the solos, Floyd cooking in abundance. The title track has Alexander handling the twists and turns of the tune, with admirable aplomb, his solo typically direct, Rotella’s clear lines a further asset. Pelt comes in on Marvin Gaye’s ‘Don’t Mess With Mr T’, a quiet groover, with the trumpeter muted, Rotella underpinned by Floyd’s cushioning chords, percussion added. Classy. ‘Roy’s Groove’ is a standout: a chunky riff, McCurdy triumphant, swinging hard, Floyd flowing, Rotella bearing down.

Tadd Dameron’s lovely ‘On A Misty Night’ is, Rotella says, his take on the George Shearing sound, with strings and keys locked together in fetching style. Pelt returns for ‘Three Views of a Secret/Goodbye Pork Pie Hat’, drummer and organist changed, the effect quite ethereal, echo added: atypical of the album as a whole. A certainty for my year-end Top 10. Peter Vacher