Mondo Jazz

The playlist features trios, duos and solos that sound as big as an orchestra, many of them representing yet another challenge won by creative musicians facing the pandemic... and to top it all off the last album of the legendary British band Mujician, finally out after more than a decade from its recording session. The playlist features L'orchestre en carton; Devin Gray, Ralph Alessi, Angelica Sa...

A delightful end-of-summer menu of electro-acoustic new releases, building bridges between yesterday, today and tomorrow, visionary guitar and trumpet players, drummers and vibraphone synergies, and yet more music by Frank Kimbrough. The playlist features Kenny Garrett; Pat Metheny; Eivind Aarset; Giorgio Li Calzi, Arto Lindsay; Terence Blanchard, The E-Collective & Turtle Island Quartet; Florian...

Around the jazz world in 70 minutes, as we criss cross from North America to the Caribbean, From West-Africa to Europe, from North-Africa to India and back. The playlist features Dave Holland; Jean-Jacques Rojer; Lionel Loueke, Reuben Rogers, Eric Harland; ESINAM; Maurice Louca; Amir ElSaffar; Keshav Batish; Horizons Quartet; Renee Rosnes; Altoizm. Detailed playlist at https://spinitron.com/RFB/pl...

A trans-Atlantic collection of amazing new releases, building bridges between the US and the Belgian, French and British scenes. The playlist features Legraux Tobrogoï; Sébastien Texier; Joachim Caffonnette; Caroline Davis; Sam Gendel, Sam Wilkes; Jamire Williams; Anthony Joseph; De Beren Gieren; Rouge. Detailed playlist at https://spinitron.com/RFB/pl/14116758/Mondo-Jazz (up to "Svengali"). Happy...

This week's exploration of new and upcoming releases continues with a special focus on the late Frank Kimbrough through a preview of his upcoming posthumous CD "Ancestors" and some of the best renditions that appear on the monunental tribute conceived by pianist and producer Elan Mehler, "Kimbrough", one of the best releases of the year. Punkt vs. Punkt [Kaja Draksler pictured] and Chet Doxas add...

We are back on the new releases trail with an exceptionally packed playlist featuring a posthumous release by Lyle Mays in celebration of Eberhard Weber, the many sides of Chris Speed, exciting upcoming releases by Makaya McCraven, Irreversible Entanglements, Common, Linda Fredriksson [pictured], Steve Coleman, and exciting recent albums by Marc Johnson, Andrew Cyrille and Douglas J. Cuomo with Ne...

Certain musicians like to do one thing over and over again. Others, like Elvis Costello, keep reinventing themselves or, at the very least, like to experiment with the many sides of the musical talent they were born with. Looking back at Costello’s career it seems like his sense of adventurous restlenesses has been both the cause and the effect of his many high-profile collaborations, including th...

Jazz is one of the most recurrent motifs in the multi-layered quilt that Elvis Costello's discography is; and one of those which make that eclectic patchwork both cohesive and uniquely appealing.  The son of a jazz trumpeter and singer with a passion for the American jazz of the 40s and of a record seller with ears wide open, it's perhaps not surprising that he recorded a rendition of "My Funny Va...

Variety is the spice of jazz, and there's plenty to be found here, from Adi Meyerson's compelling project inspired by Japanese visual artist Yayoi Kusama, to the cinematic music of Slowly Rolling Camera and WiFi CaBel, to the doom jazz of "Lee "Scratch" Perry's Guide to the Universe" and the touching tribute to Tomasz Stanko by Giovanni Falzone and Glauco Venier. And much more! The playlist also f...

Impressive new albums by Rachel Eckroth and Melanie Charles, the cross-cultural experiments of Aakash Mittal and Ches Smith, groovy soulful recent releases and re-releases by Leon Spencer, David Axelrod and Will Bernard and much more in this week's playlist. The playlist also features Bruno Angelini; Sam Pilnick; Enrico Degani; and Christopher Hoffman. Detailed playlist at https://spinitron.com/RF...

Two beautiful and diverse renditions of Nefertiti-era Wayne Shorter, two exciting new albums featuring John Ellis, yet another susprise from Becca Stevens and much more in the second part of this week's edition focusing on recent and upcoming releases. The playlist features John Ellis, Adam Levy, Glenn Patscha; Pete Rodríguez; Terenche Blanchard; Kari Ikonen; Atticus Reynolds; Ben Goldberg; Becca...

Spiritual jazz, accordions, Ennio Morricone, noir atmospheres, unbridled virtuosos and the mighty guitar of {{Eva Mendoza}}, and much more in this set focusing on recent and upcoming releases. The playlist features Theo Croker; Web Web; Brandee Younger; Benito Gonzalez; Julian Lage; Noé Clerc; Maya Dunietz; Marco Fumo; Lauren Henderson; Duo Fines Lames; Erik Friedlander; William Parker. Detailed p...

More new and upcoming releases ahoy! And this time with a special focus on previously unissued gems by the likes of Joe Harriott, Roy Brooks, Roy Hargrove and Mulgrew Miller and Bill Evans who came back to the future... The playlist features Huntertones, Cory Wong; Nicole Johänntgen; Roy Hargrove, Mulgrew Miller; Bill Evans; Joe Harriott; Roy Brooks; Big Monitors; Fabien Mary; Madre Vaca. Detailed...

We're back to our periodic perusal of the best new releases, from the groove of the Band of Other Brothers and the Bogie Band to the show-stopping electric blues of Elliot Sharp's Terraplane and the sheer beauty of the latest albums by Sarah Wilson and Hank Roberts. The playlist features Band of Other Brothers; The Bogie Band; Malox; Elliot Sharp's Terraplane; Hank Roberts; Enzo Carniel, Filippo V...

In the early days of jazz, bands larger than a septet were called an orchestra. Nowadays jazz orchestras and big bands are much larger than that, like those we feature in our final instalment of our mini-series dedicated to (mostly new and upcoming) releases by big bands and orchestras which can be found at the intersection of beauty, fun and mischief. The playlist features: The Louis Cole Big Ban...

Big bands and orchestras have something that smaller ensembles cannot offer, sheer power and energy, which very often equals tons of fun, like that you will find in our ongoing deep-dive in the world of forward looking big bands and orchestras continues. The show features mostly new and upcoming albums from some of the best large ensembles from around the globe. Sometimes bigger is actually better...

As we continue our journey in the recent work of some of the most compelling Jazz Orchestras and Big Bands of today, and a few from the past that were so ahead of their time that their albums sound still very modern. The playlist features Orchestre National de Jazz; Michael Leonhart Orchestra; Enrico Terragnoli Orchestra Vertical; Fred Pallem et le Sacre du Tympan; The Don Ellis Orchestra; Miho Ha...

More is not always necessarily better, especially in music. However, the proliferation of remarkable Jazz Big Bands and Orchestras of the last decade or so is providing plenty of ground to prove that quality and quantity can go hand-in-hand. This week we focus on recent releases by some of the most compelling large ensembles around, with a few exceptions of older albums that fit with the forward-l...

Welcome to the second half of the England-Italy jazz rematch. England and Italy have both championed jazz very early on, and they have been among the first European jazz scenes to develop a recognizable accent in how they speak the jazz language, light-heartedness and sense of humour being integral aspects of that accent. Even though Italian and English sound quite different as languages, their tw...

Last week, England and Italy faced each other in the finals of the European Soccer Cup. It was a compelling match with a nail-biting end between two teams that exceeded expectations and that promise to have a brilliant future. Italy won in a penalty shootout because in sports--especially in the finals of a tournament--there has to be a winner and a loser. That's why we much prefer arts--and music...

In this installment of Mondo Jazz we check out the latest releases by the prolific French pianist Benoit Delbecq, the expanded version of Charles Mingus' 1974 legendary concert at Carnegie Hall, the textural work of Waxwing and the trio of Thomas Stronen, Ayumi Tanaka, Marthe Lea, and a couple of albums that may end up very high on the best of 2021 lists: the latest releases by Danilo Gallo and To...

This week we return to our periodic perusal of new releases, including re-releases from the vault of Black Fire Records (courtesy of the ever vigilant Strut Records), a newly released 1991 live-recording by Miles Davis and the upcoming project by his saxophonist from that band, Kenny Garrett. Speaking of saxophonists, don't miss the gems by electro-saxophonists Cochemea and Sam Gendel. The playlis...

The much-awaited return of queen Marisa Monte, and the faux-Nippo-jazz of Julien Daïan open a show which centers around the outstanding new album by Ches Smith and dives deep into the diversity of today's international jazz scene. The playlist features also Evgeny Ponomarev; Le Tigre (des platanes); Colin Stetson; Ches Smith; Attilio Sepe; Florian Pellissier; Tino Tracanna; Mário Laginha, Julian A...

In the two weeks since our last new releases special, so much great new music came to our attention, that today we have one of those shows that some like to define all killer, no filler, except that I don't like to think of music as killing, but you get the drift. A special focus on Charlie Hunter numerous recent projects as leader or sideman, and on great bass players like Petter Eldh, Christian...

Welcome to the second part of this week's edition of Mondo Jazz dedicated to the one and only Geri Allen, the monumental pianist that would have turned 65 this year, but has left a body of work that will continue to play a fundamental influence on generations of musicians. Her unique synthesis of influences comes across a beautiful Songbook which we'll explore through her original interpretations...