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Jamie Murray
Sarah L King: The Light Ahead
by Neil Duggan
Sarah L. King follows up her assured debut album, Fire Horse (ECN Music, 2024), with The Light Ahead. She maintains the format of the first album, mixing cover versions with eight of her own compositions. There is a clear shift in the tone of this release, with the focus being far more optimistic and celebratory. “I wanted to write something uplifting," says King. “All that matters is today -let's focus on that. Stop longing, stop wondering. Just be, and enjoy." ...
Continue ReadingAlex Hitchcock: Dream Band: Live in London
by Glenn Astarita
This is a bold expedition into the heart of progressive jazz, rendered across a vast canvas of three enthralling nights at the Vortex Jazz Club in London. This three-CD collection is not just a mere album, but a grand, audacious gathering of talents which blurs the line between a larger ensemble setup and a more intimate, modern band experience. Hitchcock's nifty approach to ensemble creation is at the core of this live recording. Rather than sticking ...
Continue ReadingAlex Hitchcock: Dream Band Live In London
by Chris May
Viewed in retrospect, the abiding memory of 2023 is that it produced too many jazz albums prioritizing technical facility over emotional engagement. In London, New York and elsewhere (but not, so it seemed, in Chicago), musicians appeared to focus on virtuosity rather than feeling. Dullsville. For the record, some of those albums that did put soul on, at the least, an equal footing with cerebralism, are to be found in the Best Albums of 2023 round-up which can be read ...
Continue ReadingEmily Francis Trio: Luma
by Chris May
Luma is the second album from Britain's Emily Francis, following 2015's Absent (Self Produced). Luma appears to have been ready to roll in 2020 and the delay has, presumably, been occasioned by you-know-what. The group's lineup has changed since the debut album, with new drummer Jamie Murray joining keyboard player Francis and bassist Trevor Boxall. Vibe and groove, however, inhabit the same techno and prog-influenced territory, with historical resonances including Frank Zappa circa Hot Rats (Bizarre, 1969) ...
Continue ReadingJZ replacement: Disrespectful (JZ Replacement)
by Vincenzo Roggero
Uno tra i più eccitanti e trasversali batteristi della nuova scena londinese,Jamie Murray, e un sassofonista di San Pietroburgo, ex enfant prodige cresciuto tra Londra e New York, Zhenya Strigalev, invitano un amico di vecchia data come Tim Lefebvre, presenza assidua in molte produzioni importanti degli ultimi vent'anni. Il risultato è Disrespectful album fresco, eccitante, divertente, significativo spaccato della nuova generazione di improvvisatori dalla mente aperta e allergica alle etichette. Che la musica proposta sia irrispettosa come ...
Continue ReadingJZ Replacement: Disrespectful
by Chris May
Visceralism and virtuosity, the two qualities which define this momentous debut album by JZ Replacement, make an unbeatable combination. They are also a necessary one. Without a degree of virtuosity, eloquence is constrained by lack of vocabulary. Without a degree of visceralism, technical facility is at worst mechanistic, at best purely cerebral. Bring the two qualities together and the result can be special. JZ Replacement--a duo comprising alto saxophonist Zhenya Strigalev and drummer Jamie Murray--achieves an ideal ...
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April
From: The Light AheadBy Jamie Murray
Displacement A
From: Disrespectful (JZ Replacement)By Jamie Murray
