Tradition meets experimentation in this fascinating collection of new releases. Beginning with the eclectic endeavours of Brandon Seabrook, via a mix of latin jazz, European exploration , free improvisation from the UK, a musical statement about the climate crisis, and closing with Thelonious Monk in concert in 1965.
AUDIO
PLAYLIST
Brandon Seabrook “Name Dropping is the Lowest Form of Conversation (Waltz)” from Hellbent Daydream (Pyroclastic Records) 00:00 1
Mark Lockheart’s Shapeshifter “Come On Over” from Shapeshifter (Edition Records) 05:18 2
Yelena Eckemoff “Ruins of Älvsborg” from Rosendals Garden (L & H Production) 10:00 3
James Fernando “Unlikely Animal Friendships” from Philly 3 (Spring Garden Records) 17:25 4
Ben Rosenblum Nebula Project “Merengue x Fantasy” from The Longest Way Round (One Trick Dog Records) 24:12 5
Evan Parker, Paul Rogers, Louis Moholo-Moholo “U-begot” from Tebugo (Jazz In Britain) 29:506
Compro Oro & Bouton Kalanda “Kukieda” from Lamellomania (W.E.R.F. Records) 44:337
Emilio Solla & La Inestable de Brooklyn “Miles Tango” from Handmade (Club del Disco) 48:048
Gabriel Vicéns “Niebla” from Niebla (Clepsydra Records) 55:209
Kris Davis and Lutosławski Quartet. “Degrees of Separation” from The Solastalgia Suite (Pyroclastic Records) 1:03:19 10
Kelsey Mines “Staying with the Trouble” from Everything Sacred, Nothing Serious (OA2 Records) 1:14:10 11
Thelonious Monk “Just You, Just Me/I’m Getting Sentimental Over You/Criss Cross” from Bremen 1965 (Sunnyside Records) 1:22:25 12
NOTES
Set for release on February 20, 2026 via Pyroclastic Records, Hellbent Daydream arrives on the heels of two equally daring but wildly different releases for Pyroclastic: the 2023 octet album brutalovechamp and the acclaimed 2024 solo outing Object of Unknown Function. The new album marks the debut of an unconventional new quartet, with Seabrook joined by bassist Henry Fraser, violinist Erica Dicker and Elias Stemeseder on piano and synthesizers. The line-up offers Seabrook an expansive and curious palette and collaborators who share his inquisitive instincts. It is an elaboration of a trio that Seabrook has led for the past few years with Fraser – a longtime collaborator in a variety of contexts – and Dicker. This music pushes the jazz envelope to its limit, it is difficult to put in a specific genre box as it is stands alone as something utterly unique.
Shapeshifter is a new trio featuring three very special creative voices of the UK scene: Mark Lockheart (saxes), Huw V Williams (bass) and Jay Davis (drums). Creating a unique sonic experience this new trio shifts moment to moment, gracefully and spontaneously stitching together sound landscapes and grooves. The three members share the writing credits alongside a few carefully chosen works by Bill Frisell, Joe Henderson and Paul Motion. Taking the exploratory spirit of groups like Polar Bear and Malija the band move together through a common language of jazz, rock, classical and free improvisation exploring dark textures and dramatic musical shifts as they revel in the unexpected! Shapeshifter’s debut album will be released on Vinyl and CD on March 6th 2026. Two singles will precede the album release - the first is the featured track. All crucial musicians and composers on the UK music scene, between them Shapeshifter have played with a glittering array of artists including: Dave Holland, Django Bates, Jim Black, Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone, Laura Jurd, Rob Luft, Elliot Galvin, Polar Bear, Perfect Houseplants, Loose Tubes and Radiohead.
Pianist/composer Yelena Eckemoff describes some of her favourite spots of Sweden on her new album, Rosendals Garden, due for a March 27, 2026 release on her own L&H Production label. The album teams Eckemoff with Sweden’s own Svante Henryson on cello, double and electrical basses, and Morgan Ågren on drums and percussion. On “Ruins of Älvsborg,” pianist and composer Yelena Eckemoff evokes the ghostly aura of this historic Stockholm fortress—its echoes of conflict, strength, and resilience. Yelena commands the group’s haunting musical dialogue as it moves in and around structure and silence. Oscillating electronic effects, a marching pulse, and compelling compositional shifts conjure a distinct image of this once-mighty stronghold. The third single from Rosendals Garden—Yelena’s 23rd album as an independent artist — this track reveals her extraordinary ability to turn place and emotion into musical montages, where composition and improvisation intertwine seamlessly.
James Fernando, the prodigiously talented pianist-composer known for equal parts mischief and mastery, releases Philly 3—his sixth album overall and powerful debut recording with his working trio. The nine-track suite of original compositions, plus a single nod to Erroll Garner, finds Fernando at the intersection of virtuosity, humour, and a serious compositional voice that pushes the piano-trio tradition forward while keeping listeners both on their toes and unable to stop tapping them. The album is released on Spring Garden Records, a boutique label run through the Community College of Philadelphia that highlights the city’s music community and provides real-world learning opportunities for students. The trio—Fernando on piano, Dan McCain on bass for most tracks (with Sam Harris guesting on “The Parisian” and “Like It Is”), and the incandescent drummer Kyon Williams—first came together in 2023, when Fernando received a call to assemble a project for a Kennedy Center performance on just three days’ notice. After meeting onstage that day, they quickly became one of the most dynamic groups emerging from the region, appearing at venues and universities across the country. After five leader albums and years of touring and collaborations, Fernando felt compelled to document the trio that had gelled so quickly and emphatically. He wrote with their individual voices in mind while advancing compositional ideas he had been developing: metric modulation as a narrative device, multi-section forms that unfold like short films, and an approach that borrows as readily from classical counterpoint as from bebop. The album is both a laboratory and a love letter: a testing ground for technique and a celebration of the stories that inspired the music.
“Merengue x Fantasy”, is the first single from pianist, accordionist and composer Ben Rosenblum’s upcoming album. Rosenblum finds resonant truth in a quote from James Joyce’s impenetrably insightful masterpiece Ulysses: “Longest way ‘round is the shortest way home.” So much so that he’s adopted them as the title of The Longest Way Round, the third and most venturesome release to date by his globally influenced ensemble, the Nebula Project. A world traveler both literally and musically, Rosenblum has discovered that the most direct way to find yourself is to journey far from home. Set for release on February 27, 2026 via One Trick Dog Records, The Longest Way Round is full of such revelations. Rosenblum’s compositions find deeply personal introspection by way of a spiritual globalism. In the members of the Nebula Project, the composer has surrounded himself with traveling companions who share his restless curiosity and bring their own diverse influences and backgrounds into this explorative mix. Returning from the band’s previous outings are trumpeter Wayne Tucker, saxophonist Jasper Dutz, guitarist Rafael Rosa, bassist Marty Jaffe and drummer Ben Zweig, joined for this outing by percussionists Gustavo Di Dalva and Brad Dutz.
Andy Isham’s notes on this release “This is special for me. Evan Parker and Paul Rogers have given their permission for this release. I asked Evan if he would write some notes but he wants me to do it – my memory of the gig. That was 33 years ago (1992), so I don’t remember much. It was at the old Vortex on Stoke Newington Church Street; I must have been sitting with Candy on a little table in front of the low stage. A Marantz cassette recorder in front of me and a cheap mic stand with a single stereo mic in front of that. The magic of tape recording has meant I have re-lived in greater detail what surely must have been memorable but not rememberable, if that’s possible. The music: I could trot out well worn phrases like ‘no pre-planning’, ‘close listening’, ‘instant reactions’, ‘repays repeated listening’ – all of which apply, but it doesn’t need explaining. All I can say is I have been listening to this recording a lot, especially in the last few months, and I think the music is phenomenal. I love it very much. I’d go as far to say this is my favourite Evan Parker album – but that’s just my opinion. What to say about Evan and Paul? Their idiosyncrasies, symbiosis, and dovetailing here are both remarkable and EXCITING!! I was not that familiar with Louis Moholo (1940-2025) but the more I listen I hear how his under-stated drumming style is crucial to the open, transparent landscape of this set”.
Compro Oro has been travelling the world for more than ten years. The Ghent-based collective bases its unique sound palette on jazz and psychedelia, invariably coloured with influences from global sounds from all corners of the globe. Previous albums have taken them to Havana (“Transatlantic”, 2015), Mogadishu (“Suburban Exotica”, 2019) and Istanbul (”Simurg”, 2020) and the electronic worlds of synths and crypto (“Buy The Dip”, 2022). For their new project, the band collaborated with the Congolese likembe player and singer Bouton Kalanda. The EP “Lamellomania” — out January 30th via W.E.R.F. Records — is a first outing of this unique artistic alliance, with single ‘Kukiedi’ nicely showcasing their blend of different musical ideas, influences and backgrounds. Sung by Bouton in Kikongo, one of the local dialects in Kinshasa, the tune is groovy and swinging and bears the distinctive Compro Oro stamp thanks to the fusion of the (electronically manupulated) vibraphone, electric guitar and lots of percussion.
Latin GRAMMY winner and six-time GRAMMY nominee, Argentina-born and New York-based pianist, composer and bandleader Emilio Solla returns with Handmade, his 15th album, from his acclaimed Grammy-nominated nine-piece ensemble, La Inestable de Brooklyn, set for release on March 13, 2026, via Club del Disco. The record is a profound tribute to the human touch in music-making, blending tango, Latin American traditions, jazz, and classical influences in Solla’s signature forward-looking compositions. Handmade is a celebration of craft, human connection, and the tactile art of music. “Handmade is an apologia of the tactile,” states Solla. “We are moving further away from the act of grabbing a pencil to write music, a brush to paint, a book to read. I celebrate the lives of the artists, my peers, who spend endless hours in search of their own sound by playing, blowing, hitting. This is the life of the shoemaker, the farmer, the dancer, a midwife, an oarsman. We are what we do, and what we make.” Musicians involved in this impressive collection are Alejandro Aviles (soprano, alto, flute), Tim Armacost (tenor, clarinet, bass clarinet), David Smith (trumpet, flugelhorn), Mike Fahie (trombone), Rodolfo Zanetti (bandoneon), Sara Caswell (violin), Emilio Solla (piano, conductor), Edward Perez (double-bass), Rogerio Boccato (drums, percussion)
New York City-based, Puerto Rican-born guitarist, composer, and visual artist Gabriel Vicéns releases his fifth studio album, Niebla, a boundary-defying work that merges the vibrant rhythms of Afro-Puerto Rican folklore with the harmonic richness of modern jazz and the fearless spirit of avant-garde experimentation. Niebla (which translates to “fog”) is a sonic journey through the cultural and emotional depths of identity, tradition, and innovation. Rooted in the rhythms of bomba and plena, the album pulses with ancestral energy while venturing into new territory through complex jazz harmonies, spontaneous improvisation, and experimental textures. The result is a sound world at once grounded and exploratory, reverent and radical. Featuring the same core band that recorded on Vicéns’ third studio album, The Way We Are Created (Inner Circle Music, 2021), this new release brings together Roman Filiú on alto saxophone, Rick Rosato on bass, E.J. Strickland on drums, Victor Pablo on percussion, and Vitor Gonçalves, who replaces Glenn Zaleski on piano. Together, they form an ensemble of daring musicians who move fluidly through propulsive rhythms, burning solos, shifting time signatures, dissonant sonorities, textural improvisations, and moments of meditative stillness. The record invites listeners into a sonic landscape that is as fascinating as it is diverse.
Confronted by the global-scale damage that climate change has wrought, the philosopher Glenn Albrecht coined the term “solastalgia” to define, “a form of homesickness while we are still at home.” Grammy Award-winning pianist and composer Kris Davis viscerally captures those feelings of yearning, dread and desperate hope on her striking new work, The Solastalgia Suite. Her first piece for piano and string quartet, the album features Davis with Poland’s world-renowned Lutosławski Quartet. Alternately elegiac, bracing, defiant and warily optimistic, the music of the eight-movement suite grew directly out of the fears that Davis has harbored in light of the increasingly dire environmental crisis. Set for release on January 9, 2026 from Pyroclastic Records, The Solastalgia Suite further expands the broad scope and incisive exploration of Davis’ compositional vision.
With a wealth of wide-ranging experiences in jazz, classical and experimental music, it’s no surprise that Seattle bassist, composer & vocalist Kelsey Mines’ first recording in the modern jazz tradition would offer an interesting perspective, with evocative textures and surprising, inspired orchestrations. Between flutist Elsa Nilsson, trombonist Beserat Tafesse, pianist John Hansen, and Kelsey on bass and voice, melodic statements arrive in unpredictable combinations, creating a fluid momentum, helped along by the dynamic drumming of Machado Mijiga, with appearances from Danilo Silva on guitar and Jeff Busch on percussion. Rich harmonies and hard-hitting melodies are balanced by plaintive bass / flute duets or lush soundscapes, welcoming listeners into moods of reflection and peace. Produced with the assistance of her mentor, the renowned bassist/producer Steve Rodby, Mines has created an intriguing and special listening experience on this contemporary jazz debut.
By the mid-1960s, European touring had become a routine familiar to many of jazz’s most well-known practitioners. Piano/composer Thelonious Monk was already over two decades into his career when he began to visit Europe in earnest. Europeans were excited to experience Monk and his storied personality, often focusing as much on his appearance and idiosyncratic behaviour ahead of the music. The release of Bremen 1965 finds the legend on his second tour to feature stops in Germany with his seasoned quartet featuring his longtime saxophone foil, Charlie Rouse, along with bassist Larry Gales and drummer Ben Riley. Bremen, Germany was the second stop on the quartet’s world tour, which would include much of Europe, Australia, and Japan. The recording was made on March 8, 1965, in Radio Bremen’s storied Sendesaal / Studio F in front of an anticipative audience. Bremen 1965 is the first official release of the concert, mastered from the original tapes held in the Radio Bremen vaults under the guidance and blessings of Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), Radio Bremen, and T.S. Monk. Three tracks from the concert are featured.
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