How to Listen to Jazz

It's not the first time I listen to an album with pleasure, on the cover of which the name Nicole Zureitis appears. A very strong American vocalist, who is currently in the top group of jazz singers, has released a new album, which is certainly a milestone on her creative path. The fact is that for the first time, Nicole managed to work on How Love Begins with such a bright personality as Christian McBride. They have known each other for a long time and highly appreciate each other's work, but whimsical work schedules have only now given them the opportunity to meet in one project. Christian not only participated in the recording of the album as a bassist, but also co-produced the project as a whole. Of the other participants in the recording, one cannot fail to mention the very strong Israeli guitarist Gilad Gekselman, and, of course, the constant participant in all projects of Nicole, her husband, also an Israeli, drummer Dan Pugach.

What makes the music of the Wasserfuhr brothers so extraordinary is their love for fascinating simplicity, their absolute trust in melody and their sense of lyricism and drama.

It all began with a postcard. Drummer/composer Guilhem Flouzat was busy planning his next album of carefully crafted songs along the lines of his previous Sunnyside release, Portraits, when he received a letter from his longtime friend and collaborator, Laurent Coq: “Why don’t you record your trio with Sullivan? Just an informal session of standards and easy pieces? I’d love to listen to that.” This meant a complete gear shift. Instead of showcasing original compositions, Flouzat would bare himself in arrangements and preparation, picking songs that he loves and playing them with the two musicians he trusts the most. But how to create a standards album that one would really want to listen to among all the already existing totems of the genre?

Four CD set containing eight albums from the Jazz greats: 'Introducing The Three Sounds' (1958), 'Branching Out' (With Nat Adderly) (1958), 'Introducing The Three Sounds Vol. 2' (1958), 'Bottoms Up!' (1959), 'Moods' (1960), 'Hey There' (1961), 'Here We Come' (1960) and 'Blue Hour' (1960).

Like so many of the best adventures, the transatlantic trio of Irish drummer Stephen Davis and American trumpeter and pianist Ralph Alessi and Kris Davis grew organically out of a series of happy accidents. Steve Davis explains: ¢01CThe group started with me writing some music originally for trumpet and piano. I had written other stuff for my London based group Human, which had a similar vibe but this music was more introvert, had lots of little hidden things within it .I won an Arts Council grant which enabled me to work on my writing and travel a bit, so I headed for NewYork.

Keeping your own band together is no small thing, but the Nuremberg alto saxophonist Markus Harm has been able to do this for the past ten years. His quartet, Foresight, is now releasing their third album, following the first two: “Dig It” and “As It Is”. Harm and his fellow musicians, Christoph Neuhaus on guitar, Jens Loh on bass and Dominik Raab on drums, have consistently further developed their specific ensemble sound. Harm composed nine new pieces for his musicians, from the fluffy opener "One Way Out" to the beautiful ballad "You" – dedicated to Harm's wife Alex – to "Iaen's Mess", in which the saxophonist grapples with the French composer Olivier Messiaen.