Saturday, November 3, 2018

Doré Marthouret Quartet - Spotlite (November 30, 2018)


Après plus de 12 ans d’existence et de nombreux concerts, Spotlite est le quatrième disque du Doré Marthouret quartet. 

Nous avons voulu pour cet album mettre le "projecteur" sur la musique des grands saxophonistes ténors de l'histoire du jazz tels que Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Don Byas, Lucky Thompson ou Illinois Jacquet.

Ces compositions et ces « standards » ont encore aujourd’hui un caractère intemporel et seront toujours une source d’inspiration inépuisable.

Guillaume Marthouret : Tenor Saxophone 
Xavier Doré : Guitar 
Fred Oddou : Drums 
Raphaël Dever : Double Bass 

* with Malo Mazurié : Trumpet

1. Spotlite
2. I Did’nt Know What Time it Was
3. Hey Lock !
4. Awful Lonely
5. Too Much A Good Thing
6. It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie
7. Hard Groove
8. Where are you ?
9. Hanid
10. Please Don’t Talk About Me When I Gone
11. Mister Man
12. Robbin's Nes

The Dark Impulse Trio - Daily Life (November 3, 2018)


A jazz guitar trio since late 2014. Thanos Bekas (bass), Apostolis Kyriakos (guitar), Spiros Economopoulos (drums).The group had played many live shows and in 2017 had released their first cd called A Fake Romance and in 2018 the second cd called Daily Life.


1. Daily Life 03:41
2. Hunzo 07:59
3. Little Waltz 05:20
4. Perspective 04:32
5. Basement Blues 09:16
6. Inner Urge 05:06
7. Basement Blues Reprise 03:34

Ikui Doki - Ikui Doki (November 21, AYLER RECORDS 2018)


A trio of chamber jazz who pays tribute to modern music, Ikui Doki is in search of ecstatic landscapes through refined harmonic frames in which everything becomes sound. 

Passionate about creation and articulation, between writing and improvisation, the three musicians in Ikui Doki offer a repertoire of collective compositions inspired by early 20th Century's French music. Their music is a delicate mix of free jazz and jazz aesthetics, with shimmering tones of their renowned predecessors. 

In an unprecedented audacious interpretation, Ikui Doki summons the legendary figures of French music, shattering the usual frames of this repertoire. Improbable, would you think? Not with Ikui Doki!

Sophie Bernado, bassoon, voice
Hugues Mayot, saxophone, clarinet
Rafaelle Rinaudo, harp, effects

1.Pemayangtse
2.Jingle #1
3.LSP 07:43
4.Songe Pastel
5.Chant Pastoral
6.Tiger
7.Cats & Dogs
8.Jingle #2
9.My Taylor is Reich
10.Almanita
11.Debussy l'Africain
12.Secretly in Silence

All music by Sophie Bernado, Hugues Mayot and Rafaelle Rinaudo, 
except #1 & #10 by Sophie Bernado and #4 & #12 by Hugues Mayot. 
Recorded June 11-13, 2018 by Céline Grangey 
at Studio Music Unit, Montreuil, France. 
Cover artwork by Juliette Berny & Stéphane Berland.


Cécile Cappozzo Trio - Sub rosa (AYLER RECORDS 2018)


The cross-talk of the three instrumentalists irresistibly evokes these "flaming collisions" that Lautreamont exhorted, when alternate moments, unfinished or suspended, reiterations, diffractions, flowing and broken sequences of an amazing finish, others stripped in a wilderness where the call to the dance is stealthy but omnipresent and where the flow of lyricism meets the immense story of a powerful and living tradition (Matthew Shipp, Cecil Taylor obviously: "We beat the keyboard and we penetrate the instrument ... ". 

The three musicians (plus one, and not the least: Jean-Luc Cappozzo!) have very precisely placed this recording under the call of the "duende" and Federico Garcia Lorca. They could have in parallel invoked Maurice Ravel who said about his Bolero: "I did exactly what I wanted to do, and for the listeners, take it or leave it !". 

In these musical times leading frequently to an apotheosis of the insignificant, the space of freedom offered with such determination and so much investment by Cécile Cappozzo, Patrice Grente, Etienne Ziemniak and their guest open spontaneously towards territories of sound with a radiant freshness. - Bernard Aimé


Cécile Cappozzo, piano
Patrice Grente, double bass
Etienne Ziemniak, drums
Jean-Luc Cappozzo, trumpet on #5

1.Chaos - Fragment 1 09:31
2.Chaos - Fragment 2 06:55
3.Chaos - Fragment 3 09:27
4.Chaos - Fragment 4 11:45
5.Sub rosa 07:24
6.Chaos (complete) 37:40

Recorded May 2018 at Gaël Mevel's "la Maison en Bois", 
Abbéville-la-Rivière, France


Joëlle Léandre & Marc Ducret - Chez Hélène (AYLER RECORDS 2018)


Marc Ducret, electric guitar
Joëlle Léandre, double bass

1. Observation 14:41
2. Ponctuation 07:57
3. Vibration 10:10
4. Invocation 10:51

Recorded live by Jean-Marc Foussat on May 13, 2018
at "19PaulFort", Paris, France
Produced by Stéphane Berland


David Chevallier & Valentin Ceccaldi - Zèbres (AYLER RECORDS 2018)


The gathering of two open-minded instrumentists, a generation apart from one another. A second encounter made possible by the label, after having heard a first 'on-the-fly' recording, this one recorded over a full day and lovingly edited so you get the most of these two great musicians' improvised "fireworks". 

Ignoring any dogmatism, Valentin Ceccaldi and David Chevallier create ephemeral, unclassifiable musical pieces, sometimes rough, sometimes silky. Their imagination feeds on so many soundscapes that it can not be limited to a single style.

Valentin Ceccaldi, cello
David Chevallier, electric guitar, 6 & 12-stringed acoustic guitars

1. NOIR 03:56
2. OIRN 03:38
3. IRNO 07:58
4. BLANC 13:01
5. LANCB 06:06
6. ANCBL 10:29
7. NCBLA 08:02

Recorded by Benjamin Duboc on October 6, 2017
at Théâtre "Le Grand T", Nantes, Loire-Atlantique, France
Mixed and mastered by Maïkôl Seminatore at The Border Studio
Produced by David Chevallier & Stéphane Berland
Cover artwork by Bénédicte Gallois


Naked Dance! - Something Nearby (November 6, 2018)


Naked Dance is the child of Stephen Rush which was founded with the idea of playing without a bass.This album is Naked Dance’s third attempt and includes a bass player. All compositions are by Stephen Rush and range from New Orleans street music to open graphic scores (Time Cycles). The album includes multiplae “realizations” or takes of Stephen’s piece “Time Cycles” which is a graphic score study with ovals and circles laid over staves — open to interpretations by musicians. Jeremy Edwards - drums, Andrew Bishop - clarinet and base clarinet, Tim Flood - bass, synthesizer, Davy Lazar - trumpet. Stephen Rush plays piano,rhodes, micromoog, trombone and euphonium.

Stephen Rush - piano, rhodes, micromoog, trombone and euphonium
Jeremy Edwards - drums
Andrew Bishop - clarinet and base clarinet
Tim Flood - bass, synthesizer
Davy Lazar - trumpet

1. Something Nearby
2. Time Cycle 0
3. Time Cycle 2
4. Time Cycle 3
5. Four Uncles
6. Time Cycle 5
7. Simple Subtraction
8. See Ya!
9. Time Cycle 6
10. Time Cycle 1
11. Ninth Ward From The Sun
12. Time Cycle 4

Jason Corey - Recording and Mastering Engineer
Jeremy Edwards - Mixing Engineer and layout design
Simon Alexander-Adams - artwork

Cale Brandley with Triptych Myth - Finding Fire (BIRDWATCHER RECORDS December 14, 2018)


Recorded in February of 2005, this newly-discovered album with the legendary Triptych Myth trio and multi-disciplined instrumentalist/composer Cale Brandley spirals from the past towards the future. As visions of grandeur and intimacy unfold amongst the four musicians, somewhere between the improvisations and the form one can hear a fifth element--the eternal being of Musica--gently descending into the chalice woven by the musicianers. 

Triptych Myth is one of the finest working trios of recent decades, and consists of Cooper-Moore on piano, Tom Abbs on bass, and Chad Taylor on drums. In the early 2000's, they were rehearsing and performing regularly, and through the practice of becoming a 'working band' developed a sensitive and evocative chemistry unparalleled in the realms of improvised music. 

Cale Brandley is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer, and educator who currently resides in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada mountains. He and Cooper-Moore met in New York in the fall of 2001, where Cale was a student of music, and a few years and a couple of gigs later, Cooper-Moore offered the services of Triptych Myth to work on this album. 

The results are dynamic and mercurial. Cale's expressions on tenor saxophone range from cello-like ("Goose-Berries") to evoking hummingbirds or whale calls ("Finding Fire") to mirroring the rich lament of a human voice ("Yemen"). He also brings the rare sonority of the alto clarinet and the ney flute (an ancient silk-road instrument) to the nocturnal dream sequence of "Sunset Park, After the Sun Sets." At the piano, Cooper-Moore continually catalyzes new explorations, sometimes fiercely rhythmical and provocative, and at other times with the comfort of an old familiar hymn. Tom Abbs' bass playing gives a deep, warm, stirring foundation, and a bright prismatic beacon of light. And through it all, the virtuosity of Chad Taylor's poly-rhythmical and poly-temporal drumming lift the veil of this dusty world to allow glimpses--or rather hearings--of the rhytharmonies at the intersections of celestial planes. 

Through the dramatic variances, explorations, and juxtapositions of this music, one can sense a common thread--a thread of quiet hope and trust in the power of the human experience to bring about a radical renewal. Listen closely. You may hear a world where redwood trees stand taller than skyscrapers, where the rush of the ocean waves are stronger than the rumbles of a subway, where the faint light of the sky before the dawn is brighter than any array of flourescents, where the shouting of a legion of angry people is silenced by stillness of the sound inside a spiral sea-shell. Hold it close. 


1. Goose Berries
2. Finding Fire
3. Sunset Park, After the Sun Sets
4. Yeman
5. And Snow Began to Fall
6. Morning Star
7. River Otter





Cale Brandley lives, works, and plays in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada. The music on this site is a roughly hewn mosaic of different times, different places, different people, and different styles--humble draughts from the stream of Eternity. Through it all, there winds a silver thread of Hope, Faith, and Love in the future of humanity and the beauty of the human tone.

Autumn Offer - 30% off all titles (EDITION RECORDS)


AUTUMN OFFER - 30% OFF ALL TITLES

Please enter the code: edition30 when checking out to receive 30% off all titles


Music from // Aki Rissanen, Alexi Tuomarila, Ant Law, Daniel Herskedal, Denys Baptiste, Dinosaur, Django Bates, Elliot Galvin, Enemy, Eyolf Dale, Gary Husband, Girls In Airports, Hess Is More, Ivo Neame, Jason Rebello, Jasper Høiby, Julian Argüelles, Malija, Mark Lockheart, Misha Mullov-Abbado, Morten Schantzl, Nicolas Kummert, Oddarrang, Pablo Held, Per Oddvar Johansen, Phronesis, Rob Luft, Roller Trio, Slowly Rolling Camera, Snowpoet, Stuart McCallum, Tim Garland, Tom Barford and Verneri Pohjola

Ant Law - Life I Know (EDITION RECORDS November 9, 2018)


Ant Law’s astonishing long awaited 3rd album ‘Life I Know’ draws on a depth of musical and life experience into a career defining album, uniting some of the finest players in British Jazz

Life I Know is the third and much anticipated album from British guitarist and composer Ant Law. Utilising some of the finest musicians in British Jazz today, Ant Law has crafted a masterpiece, merging wide-ranging stylistic and genre influences, virtuosic musicianship and melodic accessibility into one career-defining album. Abounding in warmth and energy, Life I Know is a deeply experienced musical expression of all the influences that surround Ant: his sense of community, culture, human interaction and creative spirit. It’s these influences that inspire Ant’s ambition and motivation to create.

Ant Law musical journey hasn’t followed the traditional path. A BSc in Physics with Music at Edinburgh, a summer semester at Berklee and a further two years gigging and Ant threw himself into the London scene a decade ago, playing with contemporaries, listening and learning. Two albums of his own, and three with Tim Garland’s band, much touring and hundreds of gigs later, he’s finally ready to release his new recording.

Although there had been a period of four years since his last album, there was never a rush to release Life I Know. As Ant explains:

‘When I moved to London a decade ago, I needed to establish myself. The first two albums helped me say “I am here” and to start working more. I reached out to artists I admired and developed my compositional approach. The resulting four tours as a leader were tremendously enlightening, but I knew I had to develop my instrumental approach and my sound world.

I became much busier as a sideman, recording and touring with groups like Partikel and artists like Tim Garland, but all the while I was composing, “charging up”, for this new recording project. Drawing new experiences and music together is what this album is about. I wanted to make it count – so I began exploring the new music in live contexts with my group.

Immortalising music in a recording environment is not to be taken lightly – choosing takes, mixing, mastering – these things have taken time – after all, they are the audio manifestation of self-realisation. Now, the timing is right, you can hear it in the music!’

And as for the music, Ant describes the album, track by track…

“This album draws together many aspects of my life. In some cases this is a literal thing – for the closing track I invited Tim Garland to play a soprano solo on a framework that really suits his aesthetic. In other cases this is more metaphysical and involves my imagination.

Each piece in the collection is inspired by a different experience.



I wanted to have an exciting opening track, and I chose Movies – inspired by, well, a trip to the movies. Whilst many guitarists playing jazz steadily shed all their non-jazz influences, I haven’t, yet. This is an exciting rock piece with a rock guitar solo.

Searching is a piece inspired by natural beauty – in particular riding the train up the east coast of England/Scotland, south of Edinburgh. As the railtrack gets progressively nearer to the sea on that bit of coastline, the drama and infinity of the North Sea’s expanse becomes more apparent. The piece reflects this as it builds in scale and dynamic. It is based around an unusual 6 bar harmony – this uneven phrase correlates to the beautiful (but uneven) natural landscape.

Aquilinus begins in a similar fashion (the word means Eagle-like). It eventually settles into a jazz-style form with heads and solos. Tim Garland joins on this piece, reinforcing the soaring melody and taking a solo.

Pure Imagination – by removing nearly all the chords in this piece I wanted to leave more to the imagination of the listener. The arrangement is  vast and spacious. In fact the lyric “There is no life I know, that compares to pure imagination” is what inspired the title of the album.

Angular rhythmic frameworks (such as that forming the basis of Laurvin Glaslowe) are shared by South Indian music and contemporary jazz styles. This was the perfect piece to mesh together those influences and draw on my extended musical community. I invited Asaf Sirkis to compose and perform the konnakol introduction.

The Act Itself is the darkest piece, a long-form contemporary classical type thing. The title refers to the psychological relationship between thoughts and actions, and which of those defines us. Some of the aspects of the music are fantastic and imagined, others are more realistic and literal.

Credits emerged out of a solo guitar piece I wrote and the arrangement was done very spontaneously in the studio, including a rare example of me playing the piano. I wanted to have a euphoric and warm piece to finish on, reflecting the resolution of the album, and an antidote to some of the more dissonant and dark music in the preceding track. This piece plays as the credits roll…

With a new home at Edition Records, Ant Law is entering into a new and exciting stage of his career, one where his talents will be recognised internationally – as an extraordinarily innovative guitarist, and as Life I Know proves, a fine composer, arranger and band leader.


MIKE CHILLINGWORTH alto saxophone
IVO NEAME piano
TOM FARMER double bass
JAMES MADDREN drums

1. Movies 4.54
2. Searching 2.40
3. Aquilinus 7.45
4. Pure Imagination 2.50
5. Introduction to Laurvin Glaslowe 2.59
6. Laurvin Glaslowe 3.24
7. The Act Itself 12.37
8. Credits 4.16

Hey! This week's Canterbury fusion CLASSIC $5.00 album is...