Monthly round-up

The American pianist Craig Taborn is an elusive character. Unlike alpha improvisors such as Keith Jarrett or Cecil Taylor, Taborn seems to haunt the jazz scene rather than tower over it. An active collaborator, he rarely makes solo albums like this. His aptly titled Shadow Plays, produced by Manfred Eicher, was recorded live in the Mozart-saal at the Wiener Konzerthaus. It’s an ethereal tour de force. Across seven pieces, tart phrases are expanded on through insistent repetition; meandering lines look anxiously for a direction; the left and right hand do call and respond, but then agree to differ. Sometimes he gives the impression of playing backwards. It’s sonic poetry in its purest form. (ECM 2693) ★★★★★

A seductively rich baritone that can extend over four octaves combined with a daring improvisor’s ear means that Kurt Elling can and does bring a new dimension to any line-up, from radio big band to angular modern jazz quartet. Yet his new album Superblue,a programme of greasy, groove-based tunes, is a surprising proposition even for him. It shouldn’t work: but it does. Teamed with producer and hybrid guitarist Charlie

Hunter, hip-hop drummer Corey Fonville and bassist-keyboardist DJ Harrison he makes the sort of neon-lit music that might be heard in a mid-21st century take on the 1960’s supper club, one with Teslas on charge outside rather than big finned Chevrolets. (Edition

EDN 1174) ★★★★★

US guitarist Matt Stevens is known for his electric guitar work in ‘nu jazz’ and more abstract settings but this new record is a first for him. Pittsburgh is a solo acoustic programme of studied original compositions that is more like a recital. Eleven short but concentrated pieces, with intricate and carefully delineated lines, tumble from Stevens’s small-bodied vintage Martin 00-17 guitar, its mahogany body accentuating the dark woody timbre of the music. The sound, close and resonant, is outstanding. (Whirlwind Recordings WR4779) ★★★★

Some great jazz recordings have been produced by unscripted sessions (think Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue). Hoop is the latest in the ‘Secret Sessions’ series curated by tenor saxist Paul Booth, where he invites a group of like-minded players into the studio without telling them who else will be there when they turn up. This time he’s picked jazzers who also happen to be top rock session players, including guitarist Chris Allard and bassist Laurie Cottle. It’s a fusion album naturally – and it burns with the bright energy and intensity you want from the genre. (Ubuntu Music UBU0092) ★★★★

It’s not easy to get people’s attention when mainstream jazz is your chosen metier. But rising multi-reeds star Hannah Horton’s convivial sound is turning heads in London. Her latest album,

Inside Out, is a tight-but-loose swinging affair, Horton leading a relaxed quartet through a mix of well-chosen standards and catchy original pieces. ‘Keep Walking’ is a jaunty piece that hums along, while Mary Poppins’s ‘Feed The Birds’ is given the Sonny Rollins treatment. But Horton’s beautiful reading of Jimmy Rowles’s wistful ‘The Peacocks’ and her take on Miles Davis’s ‘Nardis’ reveal a deeper dimension to her art. Sidemen John Crawford (piano), Rob Statham (bass) and Nic France (drums) are on the money, while singer Ian

Shaw is a welcome guest. (CD Baby HH001) ★★★★