JazzMatters: Best New Jazz and Creative Music – April 2022
Jazz critic Will Layman has been listening to classical piano and Afro-Cuban music in various forms. The best new jazz this month is also strong and extensive.
stephan crump
Liberty Ellman’s ‘Last Desert’ Is Unafraid to Charm You and Challenge You
Guitarist Liberty Ellman's compositions for this brilliant sextet on Last Desert demand that you pay careful attention, but not that you tolerate harsh tonalities.
Jazz’s Stephan Crump Creates Thrilling Interaction with His Rosetta Trio on ‘Outliers’
Stephan Crump's Outliers sounds like a great ECM record that forgot to lull you into too much easy beauty. It earns its loveliness from thrilling interaction.
Vijay Iyer Sextet: Far From Over
The everywhere-at-once pianist has recorded with his sextet, using a bank of horns for the first time and touching several different modes. An album of surprise, tradition, and exploration. But it grooves too.
No Piano, Please!
Four recent releases demonstrate the stylistic range and power of jazz that isn't hemmed in by chords.
Liberty Ellman: Radiate
Liberty Ellman's first album in nine years makes the case that he should be composing and recording more often.