Category: Album Reviews – Archive

November 29, 2019 / Album Reviews - Archive

TRIPLE HELIX (Anzic/Birdland) 8/10 This one tears up the rule-book. Forget all preconceptions of what a large jazz band sounds like, and listen to the sonic vistas that New York’s Anat Cohen Tentet opens up, including on the title track, a 22-minute Concerto for Clarinet and Ensemble. Composed by musical…

November 26, 2019 / Album Reviews - Archive

THE BUTTERFLY (In a Circle) 9.5/10 The greatest musicians and singers in any idiom share three qualities: beauty of sound, compelling phrasing and emotional truth. That the Irish fiddler Martin Hayes is so blessed has been quietly evident for decades, whether in his duo with guitarist Dennis Cahill or in…

November 12, 2019 / Album Reviews - Archive

BETRAYAL OF THE SACRED SUNFLOWER (JT/Planet) 9.5/10 If moonlight made a sound, this might be it. But it would be the sound of a shy moon: one who opts to cloak herself in clouds, rather than wander baldly naked through the skies; whose muted light is dappled by still trees;…