Improvisierte Musik:
Alexander Hawkins
Er zählt zu den überraschendsten
Avantgardisten der Gegenwart.
Alexander Hawkins (45)
aus Oxford ist ein Pianist
mit
offenen Ohren für Vergangenheit,
Gegenwart und Zukunft.
Er ist ein Meister der Improvisation,
dessen Musik aber
stets verständlich bleibt. Nun
mischt er mit Flötistin, Harfenist
und Electro-Tüftler Traditionen
zwischen Jazz, afrikanischer
Urmusik und Playstation
auf. Welch aufgeweckte Musik!

Ci sono dischi che sono pianeti a sé stanti, anche se i pianeti a sé stanti, sono sempre parte di un tutto che potremmo definire “l’universo musicale”. Il nuovo disco di Alexander Hawkins (Intakt Records) è una creatura piuttosto complessa dal punto di vista musicale, ma anche da quello semantico. Basta dare un’occhiata alla cover del disco e provare a leggerne il titolo ovvero No Nation But Imagination: per leggerlo però occorre ruotare di 180 gradi la copertina poiché No Nation è scritto in un verso e But Imagination al contrario, in modo da far coincidere parzialmente la parte finale del termine “imagi/nation” con il termine “nation”. Una raffinatezza grafica e di lettering di non poco conto e che, a mio modo di vedere, mette sull’avviso l’ascoltatore che il percorso che lo attende è di un certo impegno. Concettualmente poi il titolo espone già un programma musicale, ma forse anche una visione del mondo, e non solo del mondo musicale. Mi voglio sbilanciare intuendo, nella lettura di questo titolo, anche una dichiarazione non casuale in questi tempi di prepotenti nazionalismi e sovranismi.

Dopo la (non) doverosa premessa, lasciamoci andare all’ascolto. A far compagnia ad Alexander Hawkins al pianoforte ci sono la flautista Nicole Mitchell, il genio dell’elettronica Matthew Wright, l’arpista gallese Rhodri Davies e il batterista Hamid Drake. Chi conosce Alexander conosce bene la sua innata curiosità per le sonorità non stereotipate, sia del suo strumento, sia delle possibilità che hanno strumenti diversi e sonorità diverse nell’interagire con un pianoforte. Il quintetto che ha messo insieme, con strumenti tanti e diversi lo dimostra anche prima di pigiare il tasto “play”. Non è un caso che Peter Margasak nelle note di copertina, definisca Hawkins “eterno studente”, una definizione tanto bella e fresca, quanto azzeccata per il grande musicista britannico. E proprio come per un attento studente, una conversazione casuale con Drake ha convinto Hawkins ad approfondire la musica africana e in particolare la kora, ovvero uno strumento formato da cassa di risonanza costituita da una mezza zucca svuotata e ricoperta di pelle di animale e 21 corde fissate su di essa: infatti questo disco è pieno zeppo di scoperte che afferiscono non solo alla musica etnica, ma anche a poderose dosi di improvvisazione e ad iniezioni di sostanza musicale elettronica. Non inganni il quieto inizio del gracchiare di una puntina in un solco di vinile nel brano di apertura, Solo Way Far Gone che già di per sé, almeno per gli ascoltatori non più giovani, suscita un feticistico brivido di piacere che però sembra già, da fin dall’inizio, essere turbato da un inserto elettronico che ci avvisa che il volo musicale presenterà non poche turbolenze. Se passiamo infatti a Resolution Each and Every, le “risoluzioni” ci sembrano diventare “problemi” e qui sta il bello della musica, come dell’arte, se sono vere le parole (e lo sono) di Karl Kraus che affermava che “l’arte fa delle soluzioni un problema”. Il brano è infatti ricchissimo di una suggestione di difficile definizione e che porta in grembo tutto il colorismo della musica africana e tante “cime abissali” (per usare il paradosso di Zinov’ev) del jazz contemporaneo e dell’elettronica. Da un minuto e delicato primigenio caos ad una materia pastosa ricca di infiniti colori musicali, dove il pianoforte sembra contrastare e ribattere tutti gli altri strumenti in una estasi orgiastica di suoni; è proprio ciò di cui si compone il secondo travolgente brano dal titolo Mirror No Border, forse un invito a guardarci come siamo nella nostra ricchezza di popoli diversi e non a dividerci con confini che esistono solo sulle carte geografiche (e non per nulla la magnifica copertina elaborata da Jonas Schoder e realizzata da un’immagine del satellite Copernicus Sentinel, processata poi dall’ESA, riproduce il Delta del Mahakam Rivern Africa). La dolcezza dell’arpa di Rhodri Davies e del flauto di Nicole Mitchell sono l’elemento portante di Circles in the Celestian Garden il cui titolo dice tutto e, quello che non dice, è tutto nel brano di una incantata bellezza che concede un momento di pura rilassatezza a metà del lavoro che prosegue poi con Lullaby Much Further, ovvero ninna nanna molto più lontana: ma lontana da dove? Occorrerebbe chiederselo mutuando il titolo di un celebre romanzo di Joseph Roth: forse è un lontano estremo, magari una ninna nanna per chi sta su un’altra galassia, visto l’impegnativo uso dell’elettronica di Matthew Wright che rimanda a spazi siderali. Ma in fondo gli “al di là infra-galattici”, altro non sono che i futuri confini che non avranno più ragion d’essere, un po’ come i confini geografici di oggi che regolano i commerci ma non fermano le migrazioni, che impediscono le promiscuità, ma non fermano i virus. Davvero un brano impegnativo che invita ad una ulteriore riflessione, mentre il seguente Hocket Fierce Paceful corposo, multiforme e intenso sembra preludere all’esplosione d...

North Star Sounds 5.19.26

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Hamid Drake helps elevate the proceedings here, and everybody shifts into a higher gear when he kicks in on these improvisations. There’s Nicole Mitchell’s searching and spellcasting flute, Rhodrie Davies’ harp, but also Matthew Wright’s turntables and live sampling to add some grit with Hawkinss’ synths and sampler. No Nation But Imagination is out on Intakt today.

https://jonmgreenbaum.substack.com/p/north-star-sounds-51926

Swiss native Sylvie Courvoisier has not escaped notice. She began her recording career in the 1994 and moved to New York four years later. Since then, judging by her faculty page at the New School College of Performing Arts, she has had no difficulties finding either work or fame.

Courvoisier received numerous awards including the United States Artist Fellow (2020); the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists (2018); Swiss Music Prize (2018); Switzerland SUISA’s Jazz Prize (2017); and Switzerland's Grand Prix de la Fondation Vaudoise de la Culture (2010). She received commissions to compose new works from The Shifting Foundation (2019) and the Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works (2016).

This recording documents two performances in Germany during a 2025 European tour. The trio features the superb bass of Drew Gress and Kenny Wollesen on drums and “Wollesonics.” The latter are instruments invented by Wollesen. You can see some of these fascinating creations at this link: https://www.15questions.net/interview/kenny-wollesen-about-drumming/page-1/ .

Éclats presents a series of compositions built around fairly simple lines. Courvoisier’s piano work ranges from heroic to sparkling. The pieces are coherent and, in many places, dramatic, or even romantic. “Requiem d’un songe” comes closest to telling a story, albeit in a variety of traditional accents. It reminds me of the compositional strategies (though not the sound) of Thelonius Monk.

“Imprint Double” begins with a thumping drive that would make a good soundtrack for a stagecoach scene in a Western. This action is broken periodically by short conversations between the piano and whoever is riding shotgun at the time. This gives way to a pensive conversation with enough space to let each instrument precisely define each moment. Then we are back to riding across the uneven landscape.

“Big Steps Toward Silence” is a lovely piece that might be the place to start if you want to appreciate what each member of the trio brings to the stagebut the percussion creates a soft mood just as effectively as the piano.

For much of the recording, I am never sure where the drums leave off and the Wollesonics begin. “Free Hoops,” however, begins with a very aromatic rattle that doesn’t sound like it comes from any drum kit I am familiar with.

This is a fine album. It makes for excellent background texture whether you are driving or washing the dishes. It also richly rewards careful attention. If it meets your approval, you might check out the Trio’s studio album D’Agala. Both recordings are available from Bandcamp or Amazon Music.

https://www.freejazzblog.org/2026/05/sylvie-courvoisier-trio-eclats-live-in.html

No Nation but Imagination is an album by British pianist and composer Alexander Hawkins, recorded with a quintet featuring Rhodri Davies on harp, Hamid Drake on drums, Nicole Mitchell on flute, and Matthew Wright on turntables and live sampling. Released May 22, 2026, as Intakt Recording #453, the album was recorded on February 3, 2025, at Fish Factory Studios in London by Ben Lamdin, with additional material recorded live at Café OTO on February 2, 2025, by Billy Steiger.

The title of this album is, if needed, a perfect introduction to what awaits within it.

No ‘nation’ for this quintet, first of all. Welsh, British, and American musicians come together here with a shared language, certainly, but above all for who they are and what they are able to offer in this very moment, beyond any other consideration. It even seems that the same applies to Hawkins and his own discography: yes, it is part of him, but today, without nation or borders, does he really need to follow a specific line? Clearly not.

And without ‘nation’, too, in style. Jazz, yes, but as part of something broader. Is it a foundation or a reference point here? Surely. But perhaps more simply, something that belongs to them and lies within reach of their imagination, just as much as the entirety of their experience and potential.

And this is precisely what the second term, ‘imagination,’ presents here. Once freed from borders and barriers, most often artificial ones, imagination can take shape, soar, become true creativity, and offer itself to us as much as to them.

The result, in this sense, is remarkable. The album, in its entirety, surprises — within Hawkins’ discography, in its style, compositions, and arrangements — and genuinely moves through its complete dedication to creative openness. The record gives us, as listeners, a kind of access to that imagination and seems to help dissolve some of the barriers within ourselves. The openness this music proposes emerges precisely through what it reveals: what exists, and what becomes possible once the limits that sometimes simply need to be ignored are set aside.

No Nation but Imagination
Alexander Hawkins: piano, synthesizer, sampler; Rhodri Davies: harp; Hamid Drake: drums; Nicole Mitchell: flute; Matthew Wright: turntables, live sampling

Tracklisting
1. Solo Way Far Gone (2:26); 2. Resolution Each and Every (5:03); 3. Mirror No Border (4:45); 4. Circles in the Celestial Garden (3:49); 5. Lullaby Much Further (8:16); 6. Hocket Fierce Peaceful (9:21); 7. Joy Beyond Blazing (4:37); 8. Open Sea, Boat’s Land (4:39); 9. Coda over the Fence (3:21)

https://bestofjazz.org/alexander-hawkins-no-nation-but-imagination//

Since Carla Bley's passing in 2023, the growing fascination with her songbook—which had already been steadily building for years—has increased exponentially, as more and more musicians turn to her unique blend of melodic clarity and emotional ambiguity. And so, by now, pieces such as "Ida Lupino" and "Lawns" have cemented their place in the pantheon of modern standards, embraced by artists drawn to Bley's knack for memorable themes that feel at once simple and mysteriously open-ended.

With its suspended melody, slow-moving sustained bass lines and low-simmering groove, the openness of "Lawns" lures improvisers into a vast landscape—one explored in recent years by musicians ranging from Kurt Elling and Rachel Eckroth to Walter Smith III, the Ben Allison—Steve Cardenas—Ted Nash Trio and the Pierrick Pedron—Gonzalo Rubalcaba duo—ideal for creative reinterpretation.

Among the most original renditions of "Lawns" is the version by the trio of Luciano Biondini, Michel Godard and Lucas Niggli—three musicians equally fluent in Renaissance music and contemporary improvisation, and gifted with the kind of storytelling instinct that allows Bley's composition to unfold like the soundtrack to a late-summer open-air meditation. One can easily imagine Carla Bley raising an amused and approving eyebrow at the thought of her music being reimagined by a trio featuring accordion, serpent and percussion.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/luciano-biondini-michel-godard-lucas-niggli-lawns-play-this

This new album of omnipresent Oxford musician Alexander Hawkins with its sharply shaped title holds quite some challenges for listening and food for reflection and taking positioning. It contradicts the widespread PR rhetoric that gives the impression that musicians primarily work with anything that is readily available for mixing. That is an extremely distorted image of the artistic creative process leading from the given status quo to new frontiers. It is not only a question of finding an itinerary but also a question of but also a question of dissolving existing concepts, immersing oneself in … yes what … . it seems the currents and flows of a large river … from which new things emerge, arise, spring forth. Its this process AND some of its results that both manifests here and became apparent to me upon first listening to the album. What you hear is not only ‘new’ music bit a a new way, a new floating form to get into it as an experience beyond a lot of known. I'll leave it at that. The listening flow will evoke a lot more for everybody.

https://www.europejazz.net/index.php/news/europe-jazz-media-chart-may-2026

Nous quittons les rivages de l’improvisation libre (ou encadrée) en compagnie du singulier trio italo-franco-suisse, Luciano Biondini (accordéon), Michel Godard (tuba, serpent) et Lucas Niggli (percussions), qui ne s’était pas retrouvé derrière les micros d’Intakt depuis 2013. Leurs retrouvailles devraient être appréciées par tout amateur de “bonne musique”, qu’on l’appelle jazz ou musiques du monde lorsque ces termes se conjuguent dans la création, le rythme intérieur, l’ouverture d’esprit, la fraîcheur et l’improvisation. L’auteur du texte de livret place ce disque “Flames of Time” sous le patronage de Monteverdi, lequel a fortement marqué la vie musicale de Michel Godard, comme on peut l’entendre parmi les cinq compositions ou arrangements personnels. Luciano Biondini, avec la sensibilité de son jeu d’accordéon, Radiohead, Carla Bley et Steve Swallow sont également sollicités dans l’élaboration de cette musique “baroco-contemporaire” lumineuse qui s’affranchit des catégories et rejoint par là les musique “alpines” de John Wolf Brennan (Pago Libre). Superbe.

https://www.culturejazz.fr/spip.php?article4556#luciano_biondini_michel_godard_lucas_nigglii

Parmi les nombreuses personnalités que la Suisse, “petit pays”, (a) produit, peu franchissent la frontière qui sépare nos deux pays comme Samuel Blaser – je ne parle pas des figures historiques comme Pierre Favre et Irène Schweizer, mais des musiciens et musiciennes de notre époque – surtout s’ils ne sont pas Romands ou francophones.
Une musicienne qui a vu s’ouvrir les portes de quelques festivals et concerts hexagonaux est la pianiste Sylvie Courvoisier, figure de proue du catalogue Intakt. Son installation à Brooklyn a-t-elle joué sur ses tournées européennes en en faisant une artiste internationale ? Ce sont précisément des extraits de plusieurs concerts, dont un en France au festival Sons d’Hiver, qui ont été choisis pour l’édition de ce disque rétrospectif. La pianiste se présentait en trio avec deux de ses accompagnateurs favoris, Drew Gress et Kenny Wollesen dont la souplesse, le répondant et la musicalité parfois échevelée ne sont plus à démontrer. Ce disque un peu patchwork, qui présente la pianiste dans un contexte où domine la spontanéité, autant pianiste que compositrice, n’a peut-être pas la résonance et la cohérence de son duo avec Wadada Leo Smith (Cf.Culturejazz, L’Europe résiste..., 21/03/2026) mais il a l’avantage de nous la montrer en public dans toute l’étendue d’un talent de très haut niveau.

https://www.culturejazz.fr/spip.php?article4556#sylvie_courvoisier

In ogni musica d'avanguardia, per parafrasare il pensiero di Claudio Magris, si incontrano e si scontrano due tendenze antitetiche e complementari: quella a un raffinato tecnicismo linguistico, che lavora sul suono per strapparlo al suo logoramento sociale e renderlo così capace di poesia, e quella a procedere al di là o di rimanere al di qua del suono stesso, per ritrovare la poesia pura nella vita ancora non contaminata dalla falsità. La musica di Wadada Leo Smith e Sylvie Courvoisier si può ascrivere alla prima, benché il loro operare contempli anche tracce della seconda. I due artisti hanno modi di suonare diversi - più contorto e fluido quello della cinquantacinquenne pianista, più essenziale quello dell'ottantaquattrenne trombettista - che si combinano perfettamente anche grazie a una collaborazione pluriennale: si erano conosciuti nel 2017 in un concerto organizzato da John Zorn e già l'anno dopo avrebbero suonato insieme in un trio.
Negli otto brani di "Angel Falls", scaturiti dal metodo della composizione istantanea che volutamente non prevede alcuna partitura scritta, la Courvoisier orna con una ragnatela geometrica di suoni sempre educati le note spesso lunghe e lancinanti di Wadada, che si fanno pulsazione nitida, pausata, vivida e piena della massima tensione. Le linee astratte, che fanno però sentire la concretezza del loro essere pienamente parte del mondo, si accampano a piacimento, rispettando principi di equilibrio e di musicalità interni alle leggi dell'opera stessa. I brani respirano, si espandono, si contraggono e scivolano verso risoluzioni inaspettate; la musica si dispiega come una danza, alternativamente melodica e intricata, giocosa e solenne, rivelándosi infine luminosa, limpida e maestosa. Raggiungendo vette di alta poesia.

EN
In all avant-garde music, to paraphrase the thinking of Claudio Magris, two antithetical yet complementary tendencies meet and clash: one toward a refined linguistic technicalism, which works on sound to wrest it from its social wear and tear and render it capable of poetry, and another that moves beyond or stays on this side of sound itself, to rediscover pure poetry in a life not yet contaminated by falsehood. The music of Wadada Leo Smith and Sylvie Courvoisier can be placed in the first category, although their work also contemplates traces of the second. The two artists have different ways of playing — more intricate and fluid that of the fifty-five-year-old pianist, more essential that of the eighty-four-year-old trumpeter — which combine perfectly, also thanks to a long-standing collaboration: they first met in 2017 at a concert organised by John Zorn, and already the following year they would play together in a trio.
In the eight tracks of "Angel Falls", born from the method of instantaneous composition that deliberately requires no written score, Courvoisier adorns Wadada's often long and piercing notes with a geometric web of always refined sounds, turning them into a pulse that is clear, measured, vivid and full of the utmost tension. The abstract lines, which nonetheless convey the concreteness of being fully part of the world, settle freely, respecting principles of balance and musicality internal to the laws of the work itself. The pieces breathe, expand, contract and slide toward unexpected resolutions; the music unfolds like a dance, alternately melodic and intricate, playful and solemn, ultimately revealing itself as luminous, limpid and majestic. Reaching the heights of great poetry.

Michael Formanek has never been content to anchor a bandstand and call it a career. Over decades of work—from sideman stints with Stan Getz and Joe Henderson to the long-running Thumbscrew trio with Mary Halvorson and Tomas Fujiwara—he has operated as a composer and architect, building rooms rather than merely inhabiting them. New Digs recorded over two days in Torres Vedras, Portugal, stands as an ambitious project via this seven-piece trans-Atlantic ensemble shaped by a precise sonic design.

The personnel choices signal intent before a note sounds. Halvorson and Fujiwara return from Thumbscrew, supplying deep rapport and elasticity. A three-horn frontline—John O'Gallagher on alto saxophone, Chet Doxas on tenor, and João Almeida on trumpet —brings sharp contrast and collective force. Most decisive is Alexander Hawkins, a pianist within the Anthony Braxton orbit, here stationed at the Hammond B3 organ. Its presence reshapes the ensemble, functioning as a rhythm engine, harmonic bed, and unruly catalyst. Formanek does not simply add color; he alters the ensemble's internal logic, allowing the group to pivot between density and openness with remarkable control.

The opener, "New Old World," drops the listener into shifting terrain. Horn lines braid and fracture while Halvorson tilts the harmony off-axis. Hawkins treats the B3 as both anchor and disruptor, threading dense comping through linear passages and fractured solos. Formanek guides from within, redirecting momentum with quiet authority. "Prequal" leans harder into abstraction, propelled by Hawkins' gritty pulse and surging horn figures that crest and scatter with intent, the ensemble sounding both combustible and tightly organized.

"Aka the Stinger" offers a grounded counterweight. Formanek's early immersion in Bay Area soul-jazz surfaces in a groove that struts without settling into cliché. The band rides it with restraint, allowing small deviations to keep the tension alive while maintaining a sense of forward motion.

The album's most affecting moment arrives with "Gone Home / Interlude for Susan Alcorn," written in memory of the late pedal steel guitarist. Formanek's arco bass sets a solemn tone, answered by Almeida's poised trumpet line. The ensemble resists excess, favoring space, angled phrasing, and understated interplay that carries emotional weight without sentimentality. Subtle off-centered accents and carefully measured dynamics deepen the piece's quiet gravity.

"Quinze" gathers the threads into a forceful statement. The septet locks into a unified surge, Doxas delivering a searing tenor passage while Hawkins expands the B3's palette beyond expectation. Almeida's closing statement balances lyricism with a touch of steel, sealing the album's emotional arc.

Formanek has long trusted instinct, yet New Digs reflects something more measured: a fully realized vision of ensemble interplay. Each voice contributes with purpose, and the music rewards attentive listening, revealing new structural details and shifting perspectives with each return.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/new-digs-michael-formanek-intakt-records

Warme Klänge, südliches Licht
Ist das Jazz? Oder eher Weltmusik? Egal. Wenn man sich dem
Klangzauber ergibt, den dieses Trio entfaltet, verlieren
Kategorisierungen jede Bedeutung. Hören wir da nicht eine
Melodie aus Monteverdis «Orfeo», dort nicht einen
mediterranen Dorftanz? Fest steht: Der Akkordeonist Luciano
Biondini, der Tuba-, Serpent- und E-Bass-Spieler Michel
Godard sowie der Schlagzeuger und Perkussions-Poet Lucas
Niggli schaffen eine unwiderstehliche Musik. Körperhaft
ist sie, sinnlich, melodiös. Ob die Musiker improvisieren oder
nahe an den Vorlagen bleiben: Stets ist ihr Spiel von
Aufmerksamkeit, Wärme, Esprit und Phantasie erfüllt. (pap.)

About five years ago, I reviewed Free Hoops, the latest release by the Sylvie Courvoisier Trio. I also commented on a fine, pandemic-era livestream of the trio in concert at Roulette in New York.

>Pianist Courvoisier has been busy since then, releasing sterling duet recordings with the likes of Wadada Leo Smith (Angel Falls) and Mary Halvorson (Bone Bells). But the 57-year-old Swiss native is now back with the trio disc Éclats — Live in Europe, a session that features her partners of a dozen years, Drew Gress on bass and Kenny Wollesen on drums and “Wollesonics,” the latter a technique which, alongside the leader’s audible forays inside the piano, produces intriguing atmospheric moments.

The all-original Courvoisier pieces selected for Éclats were drawn from three live European performances in 2025. Most of the nine compositions have previously appeared on studio recordings, but the threesome’s interactive (and unpredictable) musicality continues to have its special virtues. The group’s ability to introduce shards of free playing into implied structures (and vice versa) is consistently intriguing—and satisfying.

“Big Steps Toward Silence” starts with a bit of agitation before the piano undertakes a series of pensive lopes. Gress is particularly impressive throughout this release, here dancing with the pianist, who at times supplies a quiet, lyrical center. A heavier pulse eventually inserts some drama, with a Wollesen solo elevating the interplay via start-and-stop episodes. A pervasive quality of searching underlies this composition, leading to a quiet finish.

“Just Twisted” is an avant-garde burner that walks you into an imaginary joint jumping with deconstructed rhythms and pianistic onslaughts. “Downward Dog” resonates with a simmering restlessness à la the late Chick Corea (a musician you may think of occasionally as you hear Courvoisier pick a melody apart). Wollesen’s solo caps off a risky/frisky piece that might have gone on a while longer.

“Éclats for Ornette” carries the free-bop flag into blues territory. Courvoisier has carefully studied the master. “Imprint Double” portends an eruption: Courvoisier mingles a down-and-dirty riff with splashes of high notes that hover above a Gress solo. The payoff is the arrival of a marching passage that treats the piece’s opening motif in a more swinging manner. Another important release from this brilliant, longstanding threesome.

https://artsfuse.org/328123/may-short-fuses-materia-critica-6//

De Zwitserse pianiste en componiste Sylvie Courvoisier scoorde in 2025 hoog op nagenoeg alle eindejaarslijstjes wereldwijd met de albums Bone Bells (met Mary Halvorson) en Angel Falls (met Wadada Leo Smith). Of ze dat succes dit jaar zal evenaren met haar livealbum Éclats – Live in Europe is op dit ogenblik nog onzeker, maar het zou me niet verbazen. Het album bevat opnamen van drie concerten die Courvoisier speelde met haar oude getrouwen, bassist Drew Gress en drummer Kenny Wollesen, tijdens haar laatste Europese tournee in februari dit jaar. Courvoisier combineert in haar spel Europese kamermuziek, vrije improvisatie en New Yorkse avant-jazz. Ze beweegt zich heel vrij tussen compositie en improvisatie, heeft een sterk gevoel voor textuur en klankkleur, en hanteert een ritmische vrijheid zonder de groove te verliezen. Ze gebruikt daarnaast ook het binnenwerk van de piano (onder meer snaren strijken, dempen, prepareren met objecten en op het hout kloppen), niet uit effectbejag, maar als kleuren binnen dezelfde muzikale taal. Het livealbum telt negen composities van Courvoisiers hand en steekt van wal met ‘Éclats – For Ornette’. Het Franse woord ‘éclat’ betekent ‘splinter’ of ‘fragment’, maar ook ‘flits van genialiteit’. Het nummer is opgedragen aan Ornette Coleman, maar tegelijk zegt het ook iets over Courvoisiers eigen composities en improvisaties. Die doen vaak fragmentarisch aan, alsof het om collages gaat van verschillende muziekstukken. Soms lijkt de muziek ook dissonant te klinken en in gecontroleerde chaos te verzeilen. Maar dat is slechts schijn, want Courvoisier weet perfect waar ze mee bezig is. Haar muziek zit vol onverwachte wendingen en is erg dynamisch: nu eens haalt ze furieus uit op de piano, dan weer maakt ze plaats voor stilte en ruimte en pingelt ze wat in het hoge register. Soms klinkt ze lieflijk, dan weer abstract. Of ze gaat de swingtoer op. Hoe dan ook, om letterlijk elke hoek van elke track wacht je een verrassing, en dat maakt dit album zo fris en avontuurlijk. Courvoisier speelt niet op veilig, maar durft risico’s te nemen, en dat geldt ook voor haar begeleiders. Éclats – Live in Europe is een album dat flink wat inspanning vraagt om er ten volle van te genieten, maar eens je die hindernis hebt overwonnen, wacht je een album dat je telkens opnieuw in de lade van je cd-speler wilt schuiven. No pain, no gain!

Sylvie Courvoisier (p), Drew Gress (cb), Kenny Wollesen (d)

https://jazzandmo.be/%C3%A9clats-live-in-europee

Et le trio (Michael Formanek, Mary Halvorson, Tomas Fujiwara) devint septet (John O’Gallagher, Joao Almeida, Alexander Hawkins, Chet Doxas).

Et ils purent ainsi s’amuser à créer des joutes amicales tout en faisant fi de l’encombrement.

Et ils ne furent pas surpris par un étrange orgue Hammond de glace et de feu.

Et ils brisèrent quelques idées reçues sur les textures harmoniques, les structures convenues (le contrebassiste n’a pas fait partie du BloodCount de Tim Berne pour rien !)

Et les cuivres s’ouvrirent en unissons de velours.

Et ils impulsèrent même un blues aux angles rugueux.

Et quelques lignes répétitives nous rapprochèrent des œuvres de Philip Glass.

Et quelque soyeux solo de trompette firent s’ouvrirent aux paix célestes (Gone Home / Interlude for Susan Alcorn : magnifique et inoubliable ballade).

Et ils s’inspirèrent les uns aux autres et créèrent New Digs.

https://www.jazzin.fr/michael-formanek-new-digs//

Éclats - Live In Europe / Sylvie Courvoisier Trio
① Éclats - for Ornette ② Just Twisted ③ Requiem d'un songe ④ Imprint Double ⑤ South Side Rules ⑥ Big Steps Towards Silence ⑦ Free Hoops ⑧ Lulu's Dance ⑨ Downward Dog

Intakt Records CD 452

A live work from a Swiss-born New Yorker's American trio

The Courvoisier Trio, which has been documenting its achievements on record since the 2010s, presents recordings from three venues on their European tour in February 2025. On ①, an irregular theme gives way to a bass solo, with free-spirited piano and busy drums trading off in a kind of self-introduction. ② features a decisive unison phrase shared by all three; ③ reveals a surprisingly melodic side; ④ offers an engaging dialogue among the members anchored by the bass; and ⑤ sees arco bass acting as a catalyst — throughout, the intuitive interplay as the musicians develop the leader's compositions is deeply satisfying.

De Amerikaanse saxofonist Lewis is uiterst productief. Daarbij is hij wat je noemt een rasmuzikant met een zeer eigen geluid. Zijn gevarieerde werk wordt voor alles gekenmerkt door kwaliteit en originaliteit. Hij werkt steevast per album met verschillende muzikanten. Het min of meer ‘klassiek’ klinkende album Abstraction Is Deliverance maakte hij met zijn eigen kwartet. Curieuze titel, maar geen wonder: Lewis is redelijk thuis in de (continentale) filosofie! Het album biedt acht eigen composities en een cover. Ik noem hier ter illustratie van dat klassieke de openingstrack Ware, een tribuut aan saxofonist David Ware waarop we vooral ook de invloed van Coltrane horen. Op de track Mr. Click gebeurt iets vergelijkbaars, al was daar Sonny Rollins de inspiratie.
Behoorlijk anders is de sound op het tweede album dat Lewis dit jaar maakte met de postpunkers van The Messthetics, zo’n twee jaar na hun eerste samenwerking. Dat ‘post’ kun je overigens gerust schrappen. De ritmesectie staat hoe dan ook als een huis. Bas en drums creëren op schitterende wijze ruimte voor de sax van Lewis, iets dat toch net wat beter lukt dan op hun eerste album. Zoveel is duidelijk: de freejazz van Lewis, in welke bezetting dan ook, is weergaloos!

„...wird sich in die Geschichte dieses Zeitalters für schwarze Frauen jenseits des Atlantiks einprägen.“ Hm. Schön wär's. Doch zwischen der nach eigenem Dafürhalten weltbewe­genden Macht von Musik und ihrer totalen Kommerzialisierung und ihrer Ohnmacht be­steht doch eine gewisse Diskrepanz. Dennoch schenken NITE BJUTI und Minwi (Intakt #450) Hoffnung und Trost. Candice Hoyes: Vocals, Pedals, Lyrics, Mimi Jones: Bass, Vo­cals, Pedals und Val Jeanty: Beats, Electronics sind in New York City als „musikalische Alchemistinnen“ verbunden in Caribbean lineage. Hoyes als Hija jamaikanischer Eltern hat als Stimme bei Sadah Espii Proctors "adrift" und mit Rotary Connection 222 in Chicago Erstaunen hervorgerufen. Jones, aufgewachsen in der Bronx, lehrt an der Berklee School of Music, spielt im Leap Day Trio und offeriert ihre Musik auf Hot Tone Music. Jeanty stammt aus Haiti, verbindet in ihrem 'Voodoo-Electro' Sound und Spiritualität, spielte mit Ravish Momin als Turning Jewels Into Water und vermittelte schon mit „KāFOU“ [Cross­roads] und der Harfinistin Cassie Watson Francillon „true musical alchemy of the Black American experience“ – 'Minwi' bedeutet Mitternacht in Kreol. Hier erklingt ein lustvolles Crawling & Crying im Dank an Octavia Butler ('Ode to Octavia'). Sapodilla als 'Madeleine' weckt die Erinnerung an ihre Roots und ihr Erbe ('Roots Legacy'). Sie erinnern als 'Blaxk Mermaids' mit „kinky afro“ an jene, die lieber ertranken, als sich versklaven zu lassen. Zu noch kleinen Trompetenkaskaden von Milena Casado schwärmt und kichert Hoyes von Chefchaouen, der 'Blauen Perle' Marokkos ('Chefchauen Blu'). Sie ruft „Let's find the joy that only we deliver“, reimt graditude auf sacred negritude ('Piezoelectricity Girl'), erinnert sich an „The first words I ever read“ ('Hijas'), visioniert Sterne, repetiert „I cannot be cor­rected / I cannot be rejected / I am naturally perfect“ ('Burf Myself'). Sie verkündet zu Clap­ping: „I’ll birth myself“, sie stöhnt und genießt Hibiskus als Midnight Drink ('Choeback'). Bei 'Wombfire' flötet zuletzt noch Nicole Mitchell mit Nite Bjuti. Mich erinnert das an die Negrophilia und den Nu Sound auf Thirsty Ear in den jungen Jahren des Millenniums. Der Bass als Schlagader inmitten von Myriaden Beats und Noises, mit Hoyes als Tochter, als Medium, als Nixe, als Mama, die in sich Leben mit Feuer und mit Candies nährt. Toll! [BA 133 rbd]

Contrebassiste très demandé dès les années ’80, Michael Formanek a joué dans des contextes aussi différents que celui du pianiste Fred Hersch, Freddie Hubbard et Dave Liebman. On le trouve comme contrebassiste régulier avec Tim Berne, aussi dans le quartet de Craig Taborn sur le label ECM, mais il sort aussi de nombreux albums en tant que leader. Sous le nom de « Thumbscew », il forme un trio régulier avec la guitariste Mary Halverson et Tomas Fujiwara aux drums qu’on retrouve tous deux sur ce nouveau projet, augmenté d’une solide équipe de souffleurs : John O’Gallagher au sax alto, Chet Doxas aux sax-ténor et clarinette et Joao Almeida à la trompette. Un septet créé lors d’un festival au Portugal en 2023. Avec l’orgue Hammond de Alexander Hawkins, le septet ouvre de nouvelles voies dans les sonorités d’une formation de type classique, mais dont l’énergie et l’intensité du jeu à la limite parfois du chaos sont passionnants à découvrir, dans des climats qui naviguent entre l’esprit coltranien de Chet Doxas et la subtile créativité de Mary Halvorson. Quant à Formanek, ses explorations sonores à la contrebasse, son engagement dans les voies de l’avant-garde, l’intégrité de sa musique font de lui un des musiciens les plus excitants à écouter.

https://jazzmania.be/michael-formanek-new-digs//

Pubblicato da Intakt Records, New Digs è stato presentato al Guimarães Jazz Festival in Portogallo dove, Michael Formanek, compositore e bassista di eccelso livello nel panorama del jazz contemporaneo, (e che ben ricordo in Splash con una straordinaria Myra Melford al pianoforte) ha convocato, intorno a questo nuovo ambizioso progetto, Alexander Hawkins che, abbandonata momentaneamente la tastiera del pianoforte, si cimenta su un organo Hammond B3. A tal proposito è opportuno ricordare che Hawkins ha una solida preparazione musicale anche sull’organo tradizionale. Attorno a Formanek, anche Mary Halvorson alla chitarra e Tomas Fujiwara alle percussioni, già facenti parte in passato della formazione denominata Thumbscrew, ed infine John O’Gallagher al sax alto, Chet Doxas al sax tenore e clarinetto e João Almeida alla tromba. Inutile cercare nel disco quello che nel disco non c’è, ovvero una omogeneità di composizioni, volte a produrre una materia sonora unica. Qui sembra un po’ tutto il contrario, ovvero una matassa intrecciata di tanti materiali sonori e stilemi diversi che, come in un canestro di frutti prelibati sembrano provenire da latitudini diverse: questo naturalmente, non toglie che l’insieme sia perfettamente mirabile, proprio per questa estrema diversità e versatilità delle sonorità. Ad ascoltare l’attacco di New Old World, brano di apertura dell’album, sembra di andare incontro ad un groove dolce e sinuoso, tanto che l’ascoltatore è in attesa dell’ingresso di altri fiati e di un percorso musicale rilassato e in qualche modo prevedibile. Ma non è così, poiché dalle prime timide note della chitarra, ecco prospettarsi un percorso diverso, condotto dal sax e sostenuto dall’Hammond di Hawkins, e tutto fila liscio per un paio di minuti, ma poi il benigno e salutare demone dell’improvvisazione e della ricerca sembra prendere per mano i musicisti per portarli in un altrove fatto di sonorità più instabili. Ma i colpi di scena non finiscono qui, poiché, alla metà del pezzo, bruscamente tutto s’interrompe e si torna ad inseguire il fantasma di una melodia sfuggente condotta dal sax di John O’Gallagher che, per tutta la parte centrale dirige le danze, per poi di nuovo spegnersi, riaccendersi e confluire nello sbriciolamento finale dove tutti gli strumenti disintegrano qualsiasi suono intero in un pulviscolo di sonorità. In Prequel, dopo un insinuante intro d’organo, il cuore del brano è lasciato alle meditazioni su corde di Michael Formanek, “contrabbasso in purezza con disturbi d’organo” e al quasi contrappunto dei tre fiati, che si fanno eco a vicenda, costituendo un brano dei più interessanti dell’intero album. È dolce ascoltare l’inizio di It Was, un po’ malinconico e dal taglio decisamente più classico che, come un Yellow-cab, sembra procedere su una avenue newyorkese deserta. Stesso discorso per For My Consideration, benché a turbare l’idillio di fiati e batterie ci pensi il sussulto continuo dell’organo di Hawkins. Anche Aka the Stinger scorre via veloce con ritmo e senza troppe sorprese, subito incalzata da Gone Home_Interlude for Susan Alcorn, (dedicato alla grande musicista statunitense pioniera della pedal steel guitar), con la tromba di João Almeida e l’Hammond di Hawkins ad evocare i glissanti suoni di Susan: paradossi e poesia del jazz, pianeta dalle infinite atmosfere, brano che per raffinatezza, originalità e poesia, vale tutto l’album. Ma dimenticatevi subito queste atmosfere rilassate, perché con Braxes ecco una sferzata di vento fatta di tromba e sax che liberamente si inseguono e si rincorrono con vigore. Molto originale l’attacco d’organo Hammons in Quinze, così come il suo dialogare con la tromba nella parte centrale del lungo brano, con un ammiccamento più che esplicito all’elettronica nella parte conclusiva. Successivamente si viene immersi nel buio pesto di Night Total, in una di quelle notti dove però si intravedono piccoli bagliori intermittenti, luci di lontane città, aloni di neon che sembrano scorrere dal finestrino di un’auto in corsa e sembrano condurci su strade ignote. Tutto questo, elaborato però col suono, e non con le immagini, non è cosa da poco. E che durante l’ascolto mi torni alla mente qualche viaggio sulle corde dei Kronos Quartet, non mi sembra nemmeno poi un caso… Del resto musicisti così non potevano deludere!

https://offtopicmagazine.net/2026/04/28/michael-formanek-new-digs//

THE Otherlands Trio are an engrossing threesome. Anyone who hears the Virginia-born alto saxophonist Darius Jones is likely to be frazzled by the scintillation of his outrageous sonics. In a trio context with the subtle, multisonic drums of New Yorker Eric McPherson and the earthen Memphis bassist Stephan Crump, the collective waxened messages are even more intense.

When Jones grips a theme, as in the opener Metamorpheme, he holds onto it and won’t let go, as if it were crucial to his musical existence. McPherson and Crump pick up his prolonged determination and the three create rhapsodies of riffs, sirens and sometimes agonised instrumental voices as if they were heralding a new age of sound.

Hear the brief track, Instared. McPherson rustles and rattles, Crump plunges and Jones howls and implores. It is a music of sublimated, emotive speculation, setting the listener’s mind on the very edge of knowing.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/jazz-album-reviews-chris-searle-april-27-2026

Other Aspects 4/26/26

Feature: "The Eerie Glow of Jellyfish" performed by LDL (2024).

John Tchicai - Frisk Baglaens
Claude Lawrence Trio - The Clock
Nite Bjuti - Wombfire
Walt Shaw & Jim Tetlow - Smudging the Tundra
Alexander Hawkins - Lullaby Much Further
Marilyn Crispell & Anders Jormin - For the Children
Satoko Fujii & Myra Melford - Pairs
LDL - The Eerie Glow of Jellyfish
The Group For Contemporary Music - Chamber Variations
Robert Fripp - ICA Loop I & Solos
McPhee/Edwards/Kugel - Song For Cecil
McPhee/Edwards/Kugel - Just To Wait
McPhee/Edwards/Kugel - Images in Mind
Lazro/Leandre/Lovens - Temps du Corps 3
Goal Weight - Pyrex Messiah
Amanda Irarrazabal - Illustraciones
Jeff Lederer - Forms & Sounds, Mvt. 2

https://wayofm.org/node/17658

Other Aspects 4/26/26

Feature: "The Eerie Glow of Jellyfish" performed by LDL (2024).

John Tchicai - Frisk Baglaens
Claude Lawrence Trio - The Clock
Nite Bjuti - Wombfire
Walt Shaw & Jim Tetlow - Smudging the Tundra
Alexander Hawkins - Lullaby Much Further
Marilyn Crispell & Anders Jormin - For the Children
Satoko Fujii & Myra Melford - Pairs
LDL - The Eerie Glow of Jellyfish
The Group For Contemporary Music - Chamber Variations
Robert Fripp - ICA Loop I & Solos
McPhee/Edwards/Kugel - Song For Cecil
McPhee/Edwards/Kugel - Just To Wait
McPhee/Edwards/Kugel - Images in Mind
Lazro/Leandre/Lovens - Temps du Corps 3
Goal Weight - Pyrex Messiah
Amanda Irarrazabal - Illustraciones
Jeff Lederer - Forms & Sounds, Mvt. 2

https://wayofm.org/node/17658

Unheralded before now, the debut disc by pianist Alexis Marcello reveals a fully formed stylist whose 12 solos create something unique from an amalgamation of Jazz, improv, hip-hop and Latin inflections. Now 40-something, Marcello, who has a Panamanian mother and a Dominican father is an Afro-Latino from New York’s outer boroughs whose playing reflects formal studies, mentorship by Yusef Lateef and gigs with the likes of Daniel Carter, James Brandon Lewis and rappers.

One strand of Marcello’s playing blends the rhythm and romanticism of Caribbean-Central American sounds on tracks such as “Break Bread” in such a way that the result is not only emotional and expressive but also contains the germ of what could be a familiar ballad. In contrast other tunes – all of which except two are originals – move through march tempos, hard stops and pressurized accents, as power chords as on “1010 Wins” amalgamate stop-time gallops into even speedier shudders leading to timbral crescendos. Then there are pieces like the introductory “Boogieminish Bop” that in its clattering evocation of both styles manage to encapsulate the evolution from Swing to Modern Jazz in fewer than four minutes.

Tellingly Marcello concludes this recital with a reading of Thelonious Monk’s “Eronel” played in a non-Monkish manner, substituting the expected angularity for Stride and early Bebop chording. Caito Soto’s “A Saca Camote” the other non-original, uses antiphony from keyboard stretches and two-handed motifs to suggest Latino roots with a gradually ascending prestissimo pulse.

All these strands are united in the mini-concerto that is “Amargado”. Among the cascading dynamics and energetic glissandi, light and dark timbres are exposed as the piece moves from proffering chanson-like lyricism to exaggerated flowery pattern to carefully outlined notes with a dip into pressurized emphasis and a reprise of the initial lyricism.

Seemingly a musician whose time has come, with this powerful a debut, it will be worth watching to see what Marcello next creates.

https://www.jazzword.com/reviews/alexis-marcello/

Sylvie Courvoisier has never been easy to pin down, which is exactly the point. The Lausanne-born pianist moved to New York City in 1998 and spent the next two-plus decades making herself indispensable to the downtown avant-garde, working alongside John Zorn, Evan Parker, Wadada Leo Smith, and Mark Feldman, among others. She received the Swiss Grand Prix Music and an American Academy of Arts and Letters Music Award in 2025, recognition that felt overdue rather than surprising. Her long-running piano trio with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen has been one of jazz's most formidable units for years. Éclats: Live in Europe, recorded during a February 2025 tour, makes a strong case that the group has never sounded better.

The opener, "Éclats -for Ornette," comes out swinging. Courvoisier does not genuflect at Ornette Coleman's altar so much as tear the door off it. "Just Twisted" is knotted and physical, a theme the trio seems to be assembling and dismantling in the same breath, a form of controlled chaos that never tips into self-indulgence. The pianist's circular and staggered bop maneuvers ride atop a rock-like riff, while Gress provides a steady undertow, leading to a complex rupture and a regenerative stream of ideas within the trio's engaging improvisations.

The album's emotional center settles around "Requiem d'un songe," featuring Courvoisier's brisk voicings and rapid post-bop bursts. Shifting currents eventually guide the band toward a voice that is striking in the way that unsettling things sometimes are. "Imprint Double" breaks that spell with a relentless, tumbling drive, blending rock grooves with boogie-woogie inflections, reflective passages, and generous doses of absorbing improvisation.

"Big Steps Towards Silence" is patient in a way that demands attention rather than rewarding distraction, unfolding as a dense three-way call-and-response exchange that converges toward near silence, followed by rising mini-motifs that alternate with quieter passages. Here, Wollesen steps forward with a series of polyrhythmic conversations, steering the band back to the primary melody. "Lulu's Dance" carries a stalking, muscular quality, guided by the pianist's imagery of climbing a ladder, accented by the rhythm section's sweeping sound sculptures and several false endings that return the group to the subtle state introduced at the outset.

Courvoisier has always played as if the stakes are high. Here, they feel even higher, and Gress and Wollesen meet her at every turn. This is a trio firing on all cylinders with no interest in easing up.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/eclats-live-in-europe-sylvie-courvoisier-intakt-recordss