Longtime collaborators Stephan Crump and Eric McPherson join forces with Darius Jones in Otherlands Trio

Sun 6/14 at Constellation

Bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Eric McPherson are precise, creative accompanists who’ve respectively enhanced the works of avant-garde pianists Vijay Iyer and Andrew Hill. Crump is also a purposeful and individual composer; on Earth Day at Constellation, he presented Slow Water, a chamber-jazz suite that ponders the power and perseverance of the titular element. But when you put him with McPherson, they’re instant cocomposers. Between 2017 and 2024 these veteran New York musicians refined their approach with pianist Kris Davis in Borderlands Trio, whose completely improvised music was cohesive and ever evolving. When Davis paused that ensemble, McPherson and Crump quickly recruited alto saxophonist Darius Jackson to be their partner in Otherlands Trio. Though Jones tends to choose clearly defined sound worlds for the groups he leads, he fits quite naturally into Crump and McPherson’s spontaneous approach on the trio’s debut CD, October’s Star Mountain (Intakt). Otherlands Trio sound as fluent compacting martial rhythms and snaky lines on the pithy, pungent “Lateral Line” as they do cutting a fluidly shifting trail on the long, winding “Metamorpheme.” The saxophonist’s harmonic footprint is narrower than a pianist’s would be, which makes it easier than ever to savor McPherson and Crump’s empathetic give and take.

https://chicagoreader.com/music/concert-preview/otherlands-trio-constellation/

Michael Formanek Thriving in his New Digs

The bassist and composer reflects on his new Intakt Records release and his recent move abroad.

Since COVID, there has been a steady trickle of jazz musicians emigrating from the United States to Portugal. Alto saxophonist John O’Gallagher was one of the first American musicians to make the move to Lisbon in 2021. Brooklyn-born, Grammy-winning keyboardist-composer-producer and ’80s Miles Davis collaborator Jason Miles followed in November 2022. Pianist Aaron Parks moved with his family to Lisbon at the beginning of 2024. Other musicians relocating to Portugal in recent years include British saxophonists Andy Sheppard (2016) and Julian Argüelles (2021) and American drummer Jeff Williams (2023).

Bassist, composer and bandleader Michael Formanek left for Portugal with his wife, photographer Sandy Eisner, in May of 2023, settling in the rustic village of Paú in Torres Vedras, about 45 minutes from Lisbon. He’s been thriving in his New Digs, the name of his fifth album for the Zurich-based Intakt Records and 25th overall as a leader or co-leader (including seven with Thumbscrew, the cooperative trio he formed in 2014 with guitarist Mary Halvorson and drummer Tomas Fujiwara).

A native of Pacifica, California, Formanek began his professional career in the Bay Area as a teenage sideman to the likes of Joe Henderson, Eddie Henderson, Art Pepper and Tony Williams, before relocating to New York in 1978 at the age of 20. Through the ’80s and ’90s he played a pivotal role on the Big Apple jazz scene, leading his own bands, collaborating with such musical renegades as Tim Berne, Marty Ehrlich, Jim Black, James Emery and Jack Walrath, and working as a sideman to living legends like Chet Baker, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Konitz and Toshiko Akiyoshi.

In 2001 Formanek moved to Baltimore and accepted a part-time teaching position in the newly founded jazz department at the Peabody Conservatory. He later moved to Towson, Maryland when the job became full-time.

New Digs, recorded at a studio just seven minutes away from Formanek’s home, is a remarkable septet offering that deftly straddles exacting compositions and pure improvisation. Joined by his Thumbscrew colleagues Halvorson and Fujiwara, Lisbon residents O’Gallagher and trumpeter João Almeida, along with Montreal-born, Brooklyn-based tenor saxophonist Chet Doxas and Oxford, UK–based pianist Alexander Hawkins (playing Hammond B-3 exclusively on this session), Formanek radically pushes the envelope on what an organ group can sound like.

A lifetime ago, when we were both living in Manhattan, I wrote the liner notes for Formanek’s 1990 debut as a leader, Wide Open Spaces, on the Enja label (with Greg Osby, Wayne Krantz, Mark Feldman and Jeff Hirshfield). Now from an ocean away, the ever-evolving 68-year-old’s music sounds just as potent and penetrating and visionary.

Our conversation was edited for length and clarity.

You’ve amassed such an expansive discography and played in so many different settings, from small groups to your 19-piece Ensemble Kolossus. I remember seeing you perform material from The Distance with that big band at an ECM showcase during the 2016 Winter Jazz Festival. On the other end of the spectrum from that is the intimate duo album you recoded with your son Peter on saxophone (Dyads, Out of Your Head Records, 2021).
Yeah, we recorded that just before the pandemic, in 2019. Peter had been into music and improvising since he was a little kid. And when we were living in Baltimore, friends would come down to play gigs in town — Jim Black, Tim Berne, Marty Ehrlich. They’d come over and hang out at the house and we’d always end up playing and jamming.

Peter was a pretty good guitar player in his early teens and he could really shred some metal. He mostly had that kind of heavy groove going on, but he could solo too. But he would sit at any instrument and just play it. He eventually gravitated to saxophone. Then when he was a little older, for his 18th birthday, I did a gig at Cornelia Street Café with Jim Black, Jacob Sacks, Tim Berne, myself and Peter playing a bunch of my music. So music was always going on with him.

He later went to school in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and when he graduated in 2017 we decided to do something together, so I set up a little Midwest tour for us in 2019. And then he came for a visit over the holidays that year where we were living in West Orange, New Jersey. And I said, “Let’s just go in the studio for a day and we’ll see what we get.” So we went into Sound on Sound Studios in Manhattan and recorded what ended up as Dyads. It’s mostly improvised, though we also played a few tunes — some of his tunes, a few mine.

He’s not playing that much now. His life’s kind of gone in some different directions. So I’m really glad I had such a strong feeling about wanting to document that part of our relationship.

Where did you record New Digs?
We recorded that one about seven minutes from where I...

Omni (Intakt CD 457) zeigt das JAMES BRANDON LEWIS QUARTET mit Aruán Ortiz am Piano, Brad Jones am Bass und Chad Taylor an Drums mit genug 'Fire in my Bones' für 'The Sermon', für 'Testify' und um viele mitzureißen, den 'Spirit of the living God' zu verehren. Jenen Geist, den alte Bücher, alte Kulte ausmalen als eine unendliche Kugel, deren Mittelpunkt überall und deren Umfang nirgends ist, als 'omnipotent', 'omniscient' und 'omnipresent'. Lewis zeichnet das nach, das Allmächtige allein und demütig mit weichem Pinsel, das Allwissende mit noch zartem Pizzicato. Als Sohn eines Baptistenpredigers und nun selber Prediger mit dem Saxophon, als Zwölfton-Gospeler im pfingstlichen Kreis. "Jazz is the Teacher, Funk is the Preacher" hieß es einst bei James Blood Ulmer, wobei das Quartet mit seinem inspirierten Feuer über Soul Jazz, Blues und Funk hinausflammt. Feurig genug für immer rasanteren, immer schneller wirbelnden Tanz. Wobei 'Testify' downtempo noch gewichtiger swingt, mit markanten Griffen von Ortiz. 'Call to Worship' ruft und ehrt Blitz und Donner, mit sonorem Bogenstrich, feierlich getragenem Tenorsaxsang, summenden Fingern, über den Texten sinnendem Piano. 'Line Upon Line' entbrennt in rhythmisierter, aufschreiender Begeisterung, dem Himmel nicht schnell genug nah genug. Taylor raddampfert stromaufwärts zur Quelle, an Bord kleinlaut bangende Sünder. Lewis und Ortiz entfalten ihr halbes Leben, als wollten sie dem allwissenden Ohr doch noch einige vertrackte Details erläutern, in denen auf Erden der Teufel steckt. Lewis scheut sich nicht, dem Großen Geist ein Ohr abzukauen und auch Taylor redet sein Wörtchen mit, mit Beats. Doch vorerst zählt doch nur die Zärtlichkeit, die man sich wechselseitig erweist, mit einem Rosenkranz des Pianos, klickenden Cymbals, singendem Pizzicato und einer zartbitteren Melodie von Lewis. [BA 134 rbd]

Pianist Alexander Hawkins hat in den unterschiedlichsten Besetzungen gespielt. Neben einigen Solo-Aufnahmen gibt es Einspielungen von ihm im Duo, im Trio, oder im Quartett. Nun liegt mit „No Nation But Imagination“ eine furiose Quintett-Produktion vor. Nachdem die Band am 02. Februar des letzten Jahres im legendären Café Oto in London aufgetreten war, versammelten sich Rhodri Davies (Harfe), Nicole Mitchell (Flöte), Matthew Wright (Turntables und Live Sampling), Hamid Drake (Schlagzeug) und Autodidakt Hawkins (Klavier, Synthesizer, Sampler) tags darauf in den Fish Factory Studios von London. Dieses Album enthält Auszüge aus dem Live-Auftritt, als auch aus der Studio-Sitzung vom 03. Februar 2025.
An diesen Orten ist die vielleicht reifste, auf jeden Fall maßgeblichste Musik entstanden, die Hawkins bisher eingespielt hat. Der Brite spannt auf „No Nation But Imagination" einen weiten, in sich schlüssigen Bogen, von seinen individuellen kompositorischen Strukturen, über die Traditionen westafrikanischer Musik, die historischen Einflüsse von John Coltrane und Muhal Richard Abramson und natürlich die improvisatorischen Umsetzungen und musikalischen Philosophien der einzelnen Mitglieder seiner Band. Akustische Leitmotive, elektronische Selbstverständlichkeiten, sich wiederholende, an Rituale erinnernde Endlosschleifen zeugen von einer ständig pulsierenden, sich erneuernden Dynamik. Energiereich und doch voller Poesie ist diese Gruppenarbeit, radikal und respektvoll im Miteinander, solistisch herausfordernd und völlig plausibel in der Umsetzung. Hawkins sagte 2023 in einem Interview sinngemäß, dass im Jazz viel Wert auf eine virtuose Spieltechnik gelegt wird. Konzepte und Ideen kämen dabei leider zu kurz. „No Nation But Imagination“ bringt zielgenau zum Ausdruck, was er damit meint. Komplexe Musik, die tief berührt und jede Menge Wagnis und Spannung bietet.

https://www.kultkomplott.de/Artikel/Musik/#article_anchor_3954

Schon immer verstand es der US-amerikanische Bassist Michael Formanek, die ultimativen Musiker für seine außergewöhnlichen Kompositionen um sich zu scharen. Sein jüngster Septett-Geniestreich beginnend mit dem Thema "New Old World" überzeugt mit frischem, zwischen Hardbop und freien Assoziationen changierenden Aktionen der beiden Saxofonisten John O'Gallagher und Chet Doxas. Die völlig unbekümmert stilistische Barrieren durchquerende Gitarristin Mary Halvorson und Alexander Hawkins' mystische, fernab vom Soul Jazz agierende Hammond-B 3 Beiträge sind frappierend. Und Tomas Fujiwaras Beats komplettieren den famosen Ensemble-Sound.

Am 22.8.2022 ist der Drummer Fredy Studer gestorben, kurz vor der Veröffentlichung von „50“ zur Feier der fünf Jahrzehnte mit OM. Für die Jubiläums-Tour sprang Gerry Heming­way ein (und bei zwei Terminen Tony Buck). Und für die alten OMs, Christy Doran an E-Gitarre, Bobby Burri am Kontrabass und Urs Leimgruber an Sopranosax, wurde aus der Notlösung ein neues Kapitel, mit einer Konzertreihe im Dezember 2024, mit Südpol (Intakt CD 455) als Mitschnitt des Auftritts im 'Südpol' in Luzern (und einer bereits für Ende 2026 organisierten OM/SÜDPOL-Live-Zukunft, denn Leimgruber hat mittlerweile eine neue Lunge). Mit 'Fast Line', 'P-M-F/B', 'A Frog Jumps In / Im Unterholz bei Kyjiv' und 'Behind the Eye' aktualisierten die Veteranen mit den beiden Drummern Stoff von „50“. Leimgruber musste dabei gleich an seine Schmerzgrenze gehen, „give me some air!“ Von de profundis bis altissimo und im Absturz in leise, unheimliche Elegie ist der Schmerz über Studers Fehlen mit auf der Bühne. Mit Trauerbass, eskalierender gitarristischer Eeriness und perkussiver Unruhe, die sich zu schriller Sopranistik donnernd und hagelnd steigert. OM is about survival of the spirit – Orpheus-Spirit, Coltrane-Spirit, Studer-Spirit. Mit 'Gamelan' offerierten sie eine neue Kopfgeburt von Doran, die dongend ans Tageslicht dämmert, über die Gitarrensaiten tonleitert und zu tagträumerischem Tamtam helldunkel sopraniert, hin zu tänzerischer Vitalität. 'PMF' bringt infektiöse rhythmische Burri-Reihen, die Gitarre twangt, bebt, klingt durch Devices akkordeonistisch. Das Soprano ist tütütüüü, tirili-iii auch dada da. Und die Drummer dosieren einen dezenten Groove zum spitzen iii, bis sie mit Burris wiederkehrendem Powwow den Kreis schließen. Leimgruber teilt die ukrainische Froschperspektive in kakophonster Atemlosigkeit. Becken rauschen, Saiten flirren, der Bass unkt, Gong dongt, Sound quallt, Urs quä-quäkt. So schält sich allmählich ein Kyjiw'scher Überlebens-Groove heraus, den Bassnoise jedoch vernebelt, zu sopranistischem Mitgefühl und metallischem Klirren. Zuletzt harfen, scharren, ruckeln Doran und Burri Klangwellen, Urs stößt ins Horn. Doch der Konsens zerfällt in stripsodistische Sounds, prickelig, wetzend, crashend. Und fasst wieder Tritt, tutend, gilfend. Cut! Statt Veteranen-Latein avant und fordernd wie eh und je. [BA 134 rbd]

Improvisierte Musik:
Alexander Hawkins
Er zählt zu den überraschendsten
Avantgardisten der Gegenwart.
Alexander Hawkins (45)
aus Oxford ist ein Pianist
mit
offenen Ohren für Vergangenheit,
Gegenwart und Zukunft.
Er ist ein Meister der Improvisation,
dessen Musik aber
stets verständlich bleibt. Nun
mischt er mit Flötistin, Harfenist
und Electro-Tüftler Traditionen
zwischen Jazz, afrikanischer
Urmusik und Playstation
auf. Welch aufgeweckte Musik!

Encapsulating the exploits of legendary guitar innovator Fred Frith, consider these epigrammatic notes: with Henry Cow ('70s), sped-up, quick-cut, slap-downs of mid Zappa-era; fully-prepared, tinkering *Guitar Solos I, II* (1974-76) with speed/slows, dubs, retunes, fades ghost notes up/out; *Gravity* (1980) and its Residents' zany, loopy, Balkan-eyed art rock via Art Bears' mannerly, chamberly reeds, plectra strings. Frith's restless nano-creativity can be tracked as he refits axes, invents tools, produces tons over the course of 400+ albums with fellow co-conspirators including Brian Eno, Iva Bittová, Lol Coxhill, John Zorn and others.

Here's Frith, 77, on his dozenth album since 2009 for Zurich-based Intakt (celebrating 40 adventuresome years), going head-to-hand with Brazilian percussionist Mariá Portugal at Köln's The Loft. Adept at pop, free improv and MPB, Portugal (who has worked with Maggie Nicols, Joe McPhee, Anthony Braxton, Tomeka Reid) proves an adept, experimental partner. While pure audio of their interactions — intimate, intuitive — induces a trance-like, meditative state, it also evokes a rare itch to peek at precisely how barefoot Frith wields his trade-tool kit-bag: violin + bow? tin cup? ashtray? shoebrush? chopsticks? kebab skewer? pie-plate? Though the duo here is less nuanced than their live dates, Portugal goes pit-for-pat on drumkit with hands, sticks, mallets, brushes, bottle-cap shekere. On "Things Considered", the ice crystal feedback and wavy organ skitter under legato ghost voices as flat hands strum lap-top guitar. The gong waves of "See-Through Blind" build a staccato march with hard mallets that morphs into a kinetic strum. "Looking Up" matches gnarly licks with more mallets. On "O tempo e sua secura" ("Dry Times" is a sketchy Brazilian translation), the two settle in a discomfort zone of drone snatches and folksy chant (both also vocalize). Critic Whitney Balliett famously called jazz "the sounds of surprise"; such adept, inveterate experimentalists as Frith and Portugal playfully tweak us with glittering galaxies and micro-sounds of surprise.

North Star Sounds 5.19.26

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Hamid Drake helps elevate the proceedings here, and everybody shifts into a higher gear when he kicks in on these improvisations. There’s Nicole Mitchell’s searching and spellcasting flute, Rhodrie Davies’ harp, but also Matthew Wright’s turntables and live sampling to add some grit with Hawkinss’ synths and sampler. No Nation But Imagination is out on Intakt today.

https://jonmgreenbaum.substack.com/p/north-star-sounds-51926

Ci sono dischi che sono pianeti a sé stanti, anche se i pianeti a sé stanti, sono sempre parte di un tutto che potremmo definire “l’universo musicale”. Il nuovo disco di Alexander Hawkins (Intakt Records) è una creatura piuttosto complessa dal punto di vista musicale, ma anche da quello semantico. Basta dare un’occhiata alla cover del disco e provare a leggerne il titolo ovvero No Nation But Imagination: per leggerlo però occorre ruotare di 180 gradi la copertina poiché No Nation è scritto in un verso e But Imagination al contrario, in modo da far coincidere parzialmente la parte finale del termine “imagi/nation” con il termine “nation”. Una raffinatezza grafica e di lettering di non poco conto e che, a mio modo di vedere, mette sull’avviso l’ascoltatore che il percorso che lo attende è di un certo impegno. Concettualmente poi il titolo espone già un programma musicale, ma forse anche una visione del mondo, e non solo del mondo musicale. Mi voglio sbilanciare intuendo, nella lettura di questo titolo, anche una dichiarazione non casuale in questi tempi di prepotenti nazionalismi e sovranismi.

Dopo la (non) doverosa premessa, lasciamoci andare all’ascolto. A far compagnia ad Alexander Hawkins al pianoforte ci sono la flautista Nicole Mitchell, il genio dell’elettronica Matthew Wright, l’arpista gallese Rhodri Davies e il batterista Hamid Drake. Chi conosce Alexander conosce bene la sua innata curiosità per le sonorità non stereotipate, sia del suo strumento, sia delle possibilità che hanno strumenti diversi e sonorità diverse nell’interagire con un pianoforte. Il quintetto che ha messo insieme, con strumenti tanti e diversi lo dimostra anche prima di pigiare il tasto “play”. Non è un caso che Peter Margasak nelle note di copertina, definisca Hawkins “eterno studente”, una definizione tanto bella e fresca, quanto azzeccata per il grande musicista britannico. E proprio come per un attento studente, una conversazione casuale con Drake ha convinto Hawkins ad approfondire la musica africana e in particolare la kora, ovvero uno strumento formato da cassa di risonanza costituita da una mezza zucca svuotata e ricoperta di pelle di animale e 21 corde fissate su di essa: infatti questo disco è pieno zeppo di scoperte che afferiscono non solo alla musica etnica, ma anche a poderose dosi di improvvisazione e ad iniezioni di sostanza musicale elettronica. Non inganni il quieto inizio del gracchiare di una puntina in un solco di vinile nel brano di apertura, Solo Way Far Gone che già di per sé, almeno per gli ascoltatori non più giovani, suscita un feticistico brivido di piacere che però sembra già, da fin dall’inizio, essere turbato da un inserto elettronico che ci avvisa che il volo musicale presenterà non poche turbolenze. Se passiamo infatti a Resolution Each and Every, le “risoluzioni” ci sembrano diventare “problemi” e qui sta il bello della musica, come dell’arte, se sono vere le parole (e lo sono) di Karl Kraus che affermava che “l’arte fa delle soluzioni un problema”. Il brano è infatti ricchissimo di una suggestione di difficile definizione e che porta in grembo tutto il colorismo della musica africana e tante “cime abissali” (per usare il paradosso di Zinov’ev) del jazz contemporaneo e dell’elettronica. Da un minuto e delicato primigenio caos ad una materia pastosa ricca di infiniti colori musicali, dove il pianoforte sembra contrastare e ribattere tutti gli altri strumenti in una estasi orgiastica di suoni; è proprio ciò di cui si compone il secondo travolgente brano dal titolo Mirror No Border, forse un invito a guardarci come siamo nella nostra ricchezza di popoli diversi e non a dividerci con confini che esistono solo sulle carte geografiche (e non per nulla la magnifica copertina elaborata da Jonas Schoder e realizzata da un’immagine del satellite Copernicus Sentinel, processata poi dall’ESA, riproduce il Delta del Mahakam Rivern Africa). La dolcezza dell’arpa di Rhodri Davies e del flauto di Nicole Mitchell sono l’elemento portante di Circles in the Celestian Garden il cui titolo dice tutto e, quello che non dice, è tutto nel brano di una incantata bellezza che concede un momento di pura rilassatezza a metà del lavoro che prosegue poi con Lullaby Much Further, ovvero ninna nanna molto più lontana: ma lontana da dove? Occorrerebbe chiederselo mutuando il titolo di un celebre romanzo di Joseph Roth: forse è un lontano estremo, magari una ninna nanna per chi sta su un’altra galassia, visto l’impegnativo uso dell’elettronica di Matthew Wright che rimanda a spazi siderali. Ma in fondo gli “al di là infra-galattici”, altro non sono che i futuri confini che non avranno più ragion d’essere, un po’ come i confini geografici di oggi che regolano i commerci ma non fermano le migrazioni, che impediscono le promiscuità, ma non fermano i virus. Davvero un brano impegnativo che invita ad una ulteriore riflessione, mentre il seguente Hocket Fierce Paceful corposo, multiforme e intenso sembra preludere all’esplosione d...

No Nation but Imagination is an album by British pianist and composer Alexander Hawkins, recorded with a quintet featuring Rhodri Davies on harp, Hamid Drake on drums, Nicole Mitchell on flute, and Matthew Wright on turntables and live sampling. Released May 22, 2026, as Intakt Recording #453, the album was recorded on February 3, 2025, at Fish Factory Studios in London by Ben Lamdin, with additional material recorded live at Café OTO on February 2, 2025, by Billy Steiger.

The title of this album is, if needed, a perfect introduction to what awaits within it.

No ‘nation’ for this quintet, first of all. Welsh, British, and American musicians come together here with a shared language, certainly, but above all for who they are and what they are able to offer in this very moment, beyond any other consideration. It even seems that the same applies to Hawkins and his own discography: yes, it is part of him, but today, without nation or borders, does he really need to follow a specific line? Clearly not.

And without ‘nation’, too, in style. Jazz, yes, but as part of something broader. Is it a foundation or a reference point here? Surely. But perhaps more simply, something that belongs to them and lies within reach of their imagination, just as much as the entirety of their experience and potential.

And this is precisely what the second term, ‘imagination,’ presents here. Once freed from borders and barriers, most often artificial ones, imagination can take shape, soar, become true creativity, and offer itself to us as much as to them.

The result, in this sense, is remarkable. The album, in its entirety, surprises — within Hawkins’ discography, in its style, compositions, and arrangements — and genuinely moves through its complete dedication to creative openness. The record gives us, as listeners, a kind of access to that imagination and seems to help dissolve some of the barriers within ourselves. The openness this music proposes emerges precisely through what it reveals: what exists, and what becomes possible once the limits that sometimes simply need to be ignored are set aside.

No Nation but Imagination
Alexander Hawkins: piano, synthesizer, sampler; Rhodri Davies: harp; Hamid Drake: drums; Nicole Mitchell: flute; Matthew Wright: turntables, live sampling

Tracklisting
1. Solo Way Far Gone (2:26); 2. Resolution Each and Every (5:03); 3. Mirror No Border (4:45); 4. Circles in the Celestial Garden (3:49); 5. Lullaby Much Further (8:16); 6. Hocket Fierce Peaceful (9:21); 7. Joy Beyond Blazing (4:37); 8. Open Sea, Boat’s Land (4:39); 9. Coda over the Fence (3:21)

https://bestofjazz.org/alexander-hawkins-no-nation-but-imagination//

Swiss native Sylvie Courvoisier has not escaped notice. She began her recording career in the 1994 and moved to New York four years later. Since then, judging by her faculty page at the New School College of Performing Arts, she has had no difficulties finding either work or fame.

Courvoisier received numerous awards including the United States Artist Fellow (2020); the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists (2018); Swiss Music Prize (2018); Switzerland SUISA’s Jazz Prize (2017); and Switzerland's Grand Prix de la Fondation Vaudoise de la Culture (2010). She received commissions to compose new works from The Shifting Foundation (2019) and the Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works (2016).

This recording documents two performances in Germany during a 2025 European tour. The trio features the superb bass of Drew Gress and Kenny Wollesen on drums and “Wollesonics.” The latter are instruments invented by Wollesen. You can see some of these fascinating creations at this link: https://www.15questions.net/interview/kenny-wollesen-about-drumming/page-1/ .

Éclats presents a series of compositions built around fairly simple lines. Courvoisier’s piano work ranges from heroic to sparkling. The pieces are coherent and, in many places, dramatic, or even romantic. “Requiem d’un songe” comes closest to telling a story, albeit in a variety of traditional accents. It reminds me of the compositional strategies (though not the sound) of Thelonius Monk.

“Imprint Double” begins with a thumping drive that would make a good soundtrack for a stagecoach scene in a Western. This action is broken periodically by short conversations between the piano and whoever is riding shotgun at the time. This gives way to a pensive conversation with enough space to let each instrument precisely define each moment. Then we are back to riding across the uneven landscape.

“Big Steps Toward Silence” is a lovely piece that might be the place to start if you want to appreciate what each member of the trio brings to the stagebut the percussion creates a soft mood just as effectively as the piano.

For much of the recording, I am never sure where the drums leave off and the Wollesonics begin. “Free Hoops,” however, begins with a very aromatic rattle that doesn’t sound like it comes from any drum kit I am familiar with.

This is a fine album. It makes for excellent background texture whether you are driving or washing the dishes. It also richly rewards careful attention. If it meets your approval, you might check out the Trio’s studio album D’Agala. Both recordings are available from Bandcamp or Amazon Music.

https://www.freejazzblog.org/2026/05/sylvie-courvoisier-trio-eclats-live-in.html

Since Carla Bley's passing in 2023, the growing fascination with her songbook—which had already been steadily building for years—has increased exponentially, as more and more musicians turn to her unique blend of melodic clarity and emotional ambiguity. And so, by now, pieces such as "Ida Lupino" and "Lawns" have cemented their place in the pantheon of modern standards, embraced by artists drawn to Bley's knack for memorable themes that feel at once simple and mysteriously open-ended.

With its suspended melody, slow-moving sustained bass lines and low-simmering groove, the openness of "Lawns" lures improvisers into a vast landscape—one explored in recent years by musicians ranging from Kurt Elling and Rachel Eckroth to Walter Smith III, the Ben Allison—Steve Cardenas—Ted Nash Trio and the Pierrick Pedron—Gonzalo Rubalcaba duo—ideal for creative reinterpretation.

Among the most original renditions of "Lawns" is the version by the trio of Luciano Biondini, Michel Godard and Lucas Niggli—three musicians equally fluent in Renaissance music and contemporary improvisation, and gifted with the kind of storytelling instinct that allows Bley's composition to unfold like the soundtrack to a late-summer open-air meditation. One can easily imagine Carla Bley raising an amused and approving eyebrow at the thought of her music being reimagined by a trio featuring accordion, serpent and percussion.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/luciano-biondini-michel-godard-lucas-niggli-lawns-play-this

Michael Formanek
New Digs
INTAKT
★★★½
New Digs is built around a seed of an idea: What happens when you center an ensemble on the organ? The answer, as it turns out, is a rich, multi-layered record, one that leverages Alexander Hawkins' majestic, jewel-toned pipes alongside a muscular horn section, with Michael Formanek and his partners in the trio Thumbscrew — guitarist Mary Halvorson and drummer Tomas Fujiwara — holding the rhythm.
As a bassist, Formanek is versatile: locking the rhythmic line with Fujiwara, tracing melodic evolution alongside Halvorson and Hawkins, anchoring the capacious horns. As bandleader and composer, he explores themes and textures in a way that feels hypertextual: bouncing between abstract motifs and noir tones, continuously returning to concepts, turning them anew.
In the opening "New Old World," the horn section comes out in full swing, a round-robin of big ideas in organized chaos. In "For My Consideration," Hawkins' organ evokes Sun Ra, its astral-jazz tone riding a driving blues rhythm, the horns commanding rather than cluttering. Jump ahead to the seventh track, "Braxes," and we hear the same multilayered sheets of sound that the horns laid out on "New Old World" and "For My Consideration." The soul-jazz warmth of the organ comes to the fore on the blues "AKA The Stinger."
Taken together, the tracks on New Digs form a mesh: cross-referencing, layering, looping back. Horn trills echo forward; the organ's deep, resonant tone bleeds between tracks; and Formanek's compositional web expands. This is a record that rewards close listening.