JAZZ COLLECTOR

In April 1957, saxophonist JOHN COLTRANE experienced both the worst and best of times. The month began badly with him being fired from the Miles Davis Quintet for his drug addiction – a watershed event that would make the saxophonist take stock of his life and initiate a personal as well as creative rebirth – but ended on a brighter note with Prestige Records offering him his first solo contract. His debut session for the label was The Cats (★★★★ Craft Recordings), an all-star session on which he was jointly credited alongside pianist TOMMY FLANAGAN (who would later play on Coltrane’s Atlantic debut Giant Steps), trumpeter IDREES SULIEMAN, and guitarist KENNY BURRELL. Impeccably mastered by Kevin Gray for a long-overdue vinyl release as part of Craft’s Original

Jazz Classics series, The Cats is undoubtedly an overlooked jewel in Trane’s back catalogue. Highlights of this enjoyable, high-quality release include the fast-swinging opener, Minor Mishap, the hard bop-style Tommy’s Time, and the Caribbean-flavoured Eclypso, all solid Flanagan originals.

Now considered the go-to man for optimum-quality vinyl mastering, Kevin Gray of Cohearent Audio must be working round the clock given the number of jazz reissues he’s worked on recently. His renown for stunning audio clarity is why New Land, a highly regarded London-based reissue label, hired him to oversee Jazz Contrasts

(★★★★ New Land), a 1957 outing by trumpeter KENNY DORHAM featuring saxophonist supreme

SONNY ROLLINS. It’s a 24-carat hard bop session where the two hornblowers, both in scintillating form, are supported by pianist Hank Jones, bassist Oscar Pettiford, and bebop drum maven Max Roach.

Gray’s genius for freshening up and breathing new life into time-ravaged old master tapes is also apparent on a more obscure jazz record, THE JOHN WRIGHT TRIO’S Nice ‘N’ Tasty

(★★★★ New Land), a forgotten gem first issued by the Prestige label in 1960. Originally from Kentucky and raised in Chicago, Wright’s recording career blossomed briefly in the early 60s before economic necessity saw him become a librarian in the Windy City’s Cook County Jail in the 80s and 90s. Wright’s engaging hard bop style is imbued with pronounced gospel music leanings, especially in his own compositions.

Better known than Wright but still an unfamiliar name to many is the Tennessee ivory tickler PHINEAS NEWBORN, JR, a jaw-droppingly virtuosic pianist who fused Bud Powell’s bebop argot with Oscar Peterson’s ostentatious pianistic pyrotechnics. 1962’s A World Of Piano! (★★★★★ Contemporary/ Craft Recordings) was the first of four albums for Lester Koenig’s Contemporary label and now gets the audiophile vinyl treatment thanks to Bernie Grundman’s AAA mastering. A dynamic showcase, the album finds Newborn leading two different trios, including one comprising Miles Davis alumni, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer, Philly Joe Jones, who help light up the album’s killer cut: a driving, percussion-powered retread of Dizzy Gillespie’s Latin classic Manteca.

Piano jazz to die for.

Also from Tennessee, tenor saxophonist CHARLES LLOYD, a pupil of Newborn’s, continues to impress at 85. His latest album, The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow (★★★★

Blue Note) is an expansive affair that finds the Memphis-born jazz mystic backed by a stellar rhythm section comprising pianist Jason Moran, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Brian Blade. Highlights include the angular Monk’s Dance and a haunting ballad called Ghost Of Lady Day, both heartfelt homages to jazz icons who deeply impacted Lloyd’s music.

Lloyd formerly recorded for ECM, the iconic German label home to the British saxophonist JOHN SURMAN since 1979. Six years after his last album, the 79-year-old Devonborn reed maestro releases Words Unspoken (★★★★ ECM), his 21st long-player for Manfred Eicher’s label. A quartet session, it’s comprised of impressionistic tone poems that range from the lively Pebble Dance to the more meditative textures of Graviola, highlighting Rob Waring’s mesmerising vibraphone and Rob

Luft’s lyrical guitar.

More deeply atmospheric and ruminative is Touch Of Time (★★★

ECM) by Norwegian trumpeter ARVE HENRIKSEN, noted for his distinctly flute-y horn timbre, and Dutch pianist HARMEN FRAANJE. The duo’s musical dialogues are beautifully intimate and lowkey throughout, conjuring visions of wintery landscapes and picturesque fjords.

Henriksen guests on Reading The Air (★★★ Jazzland/punkt Editions) by Scandi noir-jazz maestro JAN BANG, who serves up an unexpected pop-tinged vocal album featuring singers Anneli Drecker, Simin Tander, and Benedikte Kløw Askedalen as well as noted guitarist Eivind Aarset. The David Sylvian-esque title song, spotlighting Bang’s mellow voice punctuated by ethereal horn sounds, is the standout cut.

Different, again, is Compassion

(★★★ ECM) by South Asian

American pianist VIJAY IYER, who reunites with bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, who both played on his previous album Uneasy. Iyer’s new project is an explorative record highlighting the trio’s highly intuitive and nuanced musical interactions. Though mostly featuring original Iyer compositions, the album includes an intriguing remake of Stevie Wonder’s Overjoyed.

Though he made his debut solo recording as recently as 2019,

Chicago vibraphone maven JOEL ROSS, 28 later this year, already has the stature of a long-established master. Nublues (★★★★ Blue

Note) is his fourth Blue Note outing and shows that even though Ross’ aesthetic is rooted in straight-ahead jazz, the vibraphonist, who offers fresh interpretations of Coltrane and Monk tunes alongside original material, is not afraid to experiment and push the jazz envelope.

Ross’ label mate, virtuoso guitarist JULIAN LAGE, also releases his fourth outing for Blue Note. A refreshing departure from his previous oeuvre, the Joe Henry-produced Speak To Me (★★★ Blue Note) includes ramshackle rock-tinged jams (Northern Shuffle) alongside countrified acoustic tracks (Omission). Daringly diverse.

Three commendable piano-led recordings come in the shape of former Bad Plus member ETHAN IVERSON’S Technically Acceptable

(★★★ Blue Note), which includes an eerie configuration of Thelonious Monk’s ’Round Midnight featuring Rob Schwimmer’s operatic theremin; ESPEN BERG’S The Hamar Concert (★★★ Stunt), a stupendous Keith Jarrett-like solo recital full of melodic and harmonic surprises; and the LYNNE ARRIALE TRIO’S Being Human (★★★★

Challenge), a suite of ten selfpenned meditations celebrating the more positive aspects of the human condition. By turns elegant and wistful, defiant and celebratory, the album is an affirmation of Arriale’s sublime musicianship.

Finally, Brazilian songbird

FLORA PURIM’S three out-of-print late 70s albums for Warner Bros are reissued as The Complete Warner Recordings (★★★★

Wounded Bird), a fantastic doubledisc package containing 1977’s Everyday, Everynight, ’78’s Nothing Will Be As It Was …Tomorrow and ’79’s Carry On. Though more commercial and pop-inflected than her early 70s Milestone albums, they include some great tracks, such as the addictive Love Lock.