All Reviews

Music journalism is under threat — and those who write about experimental and improvised music are a rare and vital breed. We collect and showcase these reviews to honour their work and help you dive deeper into the sound.

Browse and search reviews below
or use the button below to submit a review

Submit a Review

Audio Review Magazine

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.

444: SYLVIE COURVOISIER – WADADA LEO SMITH. Angel Falls

NZZ am Sonntag

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.)

449: BIONDINI – GODARD – NIGGLI. Fables of Time

Jaz.In Magazine Japan

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.

452: SYLVIE COURVOISIER TRIO. Éclats - Live in Europe

Heaven Magazine

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!

437: JAMES BRANDON LEWIS QUARTET. Abstraction Is Deliverance

Bad Alchemy Magazin

„...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]

Morning Star Online

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

WAYO fm Radio / Other Aspects

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

WAYO fm Radio / Other Aspects

Other Aspects 4/26/26

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

https://wayofm.org/node/17658

453: ALEXANDER HAWKINS. No Nation but Imagination

Jazz Word

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/

All About Jazz Blog

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

All About Jazz Blog

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

All About Jazz Blog

An invitation to perform at the 2023 Guimarães Jazz Festival in Portugal gave bassist and composer Michael Formanek the perfect opportunity to explore the sonic possibilities of the organ—an instrument he first loved in the rock bands of his Bay Area youth, and later rediscovered in the visionary works of Olivier Messiaen.

Alexander Hawkins proves an ideal partner on Hammond B3, alongside two longtime collaborators from the trio Thumbscrew—Mary Halvorson on guitar and Tomas Fujiwara on drums—joined by João Almeida on trumpet, as well as John O'Gallagher—now based in Portugal—and Chet Doxas on saxophones. A newly formed septet that knows exactly when to fan the flames—as they do, with relish, on the aptly titled "aka the Stinger."

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/michael-formanek-aka-the-stinger-play-thiss

Klenkes

Die deutsche Saxophonistin Angelika Niescier präsentiert mit „Chicago Tapes“ ein tolles Projekt, das von einem Ensemble kongenialer Musiker aus Chicago getragen wird. Der Opener „Rejoice, Disrupt, Resist“ ist ein wütender Protest gegen die inhumane Politik
des Trumpismus. Hier spielt Niescier zusammen mit Dave Rempis in vorderster Reihe. Die Altsaxophonisten brillieren mit scharfen Riffs und unbändigem Feuer. Auch Bassist Luke Stewart und Schlagzeuger Mike Reed echauffieren sich mitreißend, wobei das virtuose Vibraphon von Jason Adasiewicz für das Bling-Bling zuständig ist. Als Statement für die Skater folgt „Bouncin’ The Ledge“. Das flirrende Saxophon wird von Stewarts Bass gespiegelt, bevor der Song in einem zappelnden Durcheinander endet. „E Randolph Street“ klingt so vielschichtig wie
das schillernde Kulturangebot des Szene-Quartiers. Der Song folgt einem subversiven, aber doch recht fordernden Flow und präsentiert dabei eine Fülle von Motiven und Rückblenden. Verwurzelt in der Tradition des amerikanischen Jazz unterstreichen die „Chicago Tapes“ Niesciers Verbundenheit mit den lokalen Musikanten und offenbart en passant profundes Mitgefühl mit den Locals – NO ICE!

Salt-Peanuts.eu

Den sveitsiske pianisten og komponisten Sylvie Courvoisier har vært en viktig stemme på den moderne jazzscenen i 20 år der hun, i hovedsak holder til i New York. Hun kommer opprinnelig fra Sveits, og ble nylig tildelt den prestisjetunge sveitsiske «Grand Prix Musik» for 2025. Hun har utgitt en rekke utmerkede plateutgivelser, senest soloalbumet To be Other-Wise og det flotte duoalbumet Angel Falls med trompeteren Wadada Leo Smith. Og nå topper hun det hele med et livealbum med sin trio med bassisten Drew Gress og trommeslageren Kenny Wollesen. Albumet, som ble spilt inn under en europaturné i februar 2025, presenterer selve essensen av denne fremragende trioen. Dette er den fjerde utgivelsen på trio, og etter å ha lyttet mye til de tre foregående, gledet jeg meg storligen til å høre de live.

Opptakene er gjort under JOE Festival i Essen i Tyskland, Festival Sons d’hiver i Ivry-sur-Sines i Frankrike og på Jazzclub Untherfart i Munchen i løpet av turneen i februar, og alle sporene er utmerket tatt opp og mikset, slik at det blir en helhet over platen som setter trioen helt i toppen av den moderne jazz-adelskalenderen.

Hun har gjestet Norge med trio tidligere, blant annet i 2022, da hun gjestet Vossa Jazz, den gang med Gress og med Tom Rainey på trommer (fordi Wollesen hadde blitt stoppet på en flyplass i Europa på grunn av problemer med pandemirestriksjonene).

Og å lytte til denne utgivelsen, blir som å høre en slags «best of» med trioen. For de ni komposisjonene, som alle er skrevet av Courvoisier, sammenfatter mye av det man har hørt med trioen tidligere. Og fra de åpner med «Éclats – for Ornette», til de avslutter med «Downward Dog», er dette en nesten himmelsk reise i utsøkt pianotriospill.

Dette er tre musikere som har spilt mye sammen, og som kjenner hverandres hver lille bevegelse. Det fører til at båse bass og trommer følger Courvoisiers alle bevegelser, fra det hardtsvingende og Ornette Colemanske i åpningen, via en slags videreføring av det Cecil Taylor holdt på med, til det roligere og vakre. Men det er Courvoisiers energiske og, tidvis, aggressive pianospill som gjør dette til en fantastisk opplevelse. Hun spinner rundt temaene som om det nesten dreier seg om liv og død. Hun har en enorm teknikk og en kreativitet i spillet som ofte kan savnes i dagens jazz.

Bass-spillet til Gress er akkurat der det skal være – hele vegen. Han må ha verdens største og mest lyttende ører, og Wollesens trommespill er kraftig og energisk med en rekke energiske «poengteringer» i spillet som gjør triospillet originalt og tøft.

Jeg har lyttet mye til disse tre musikerne, både i denne trioen og i andre sammenhenger. Men jeg fikk dessverre ikke hørt dem på Europa-turneen i 2025, og det er synd, for jeg er overbevist om at hver av konsertene på turneen må ha vært store opplevelser. Men nå har jeg heldigvis et nydelig utdrag på plate. Og det er en plate som kommer til å bli spilt mye framover. For dette er «pise godt» som de sier i Danmark.

https://salt-peanuts.eu/record/sylvie-courvoisier-trio-3//

Donos Kulturalny Blog

Co w jazzie piszczy [sezon 4 odcinek 15]

Graliśmy:

Amalie Dahl’s Dafnie EXTENDED “Slow motion” z albumu “Live at Moldejazz”

Jon Irabagon “Morning Star” z albumu “Focus Out”

Jon Irabagon “Sugar Rush (Radio Edit)” z albumu “Saturday child”

Sylvie Courvoisier Trio “Éclats – for Ornette” z albumu “Live in Europe” – Intakt Records

Biondini Godard Niggli “Tempi passata” z albumu “Fables Of Time” – Intakt Records

Michael Formanek “Braxes” z albumu “New Digs” – Intakt Records

Carlos Niño & Friends “Deep Bow” z albumu „Bubble Bath for Giants”

Devin Gray feat. Andrea Parkins & Frank Gratkowski “Kurkuma” z albumu “Hz of Gold” – Rataplan Records

Dave Stapleton “Quiet Fire” z albumu “Quiet Fire” – Edition Records

Gregory Hutchinson “Ah-Leu-Cha” z albumu “Kind of Now – The Pulse of Miles Davis” – Warner Music

Hugo Fernandez “Playing Chase” z albumu “Rivermind”

Brian Molley Quartet “The Man and the Lion” z albumu “Tùs / Origin” – BGMM Records

Horizon Trio “Pour des Prunes” z albumu “Oscilla”

Andrew MacKelvie’s Many Worlds “Mirror Era” z albumu „Many Worlds” – Watch That Ends The Night

https://donos.home.blog/2026/04/19/co-w-jazzie-piszczy-sezon-4-odcinek-15//