jazz2love

  New Release:   Songs and Quartets from Owen Underhill and Quator Bozzini Label:  Collection QB Release Date:  June 27, 2025 Websites:  https://quatuorbozzini.ca/fr/discographie?filtre=collectionqb https://collectionqb.bandcamp.com/album/owen-underhill-songs-and-quartets From Collection QB, Quatuor Bozzini's in-house label, comes a body of work from their longtime collaborator, the Vancouver based composer Owen Underhill, entitled Songs and Quartets .  The recording pairs two separate string quartets, String Quartet No. 2 and String Quartet No. 5.  Sometimes performing pure instrumentals and sometimes supporting vocals performed by countertenor Daniel Cabena, alongside Jeremy Berkman on tenor sacqueboute/trombone and Quatuor Bozzini on violin cello.   The lyrics are taken from the poetry of seventeenth century authors Henry Vaughan and Sir Walter Raleigh.  On the recording, chamber music strings are fastened to operatic vocals and ...

  New Release:  Elle a son Mot à Dire from Joane Hétu Label:  Ambiances Magnetiques Release Date:  June 27, 2025 Websites:  https://joanehetu.bandcamp.com/album/elle-a-son-mot-dire https://actuellecd.com/en/album/6703-elle-a-son-mot-dire https://ambiances-magnetiques.bandcamp.com Elle a son Mot à Dire from vocalist, saxophonist, innovator, and composer Joane Hétu presents so much more than merely a listening experience but more precisely she brings together a vast exhibition of life-size art set to sound passages.  Her theatrical performance integrates a mixed cacophony of elements including operatic vocals, eclectic effects, molten wails, fiery histrionics, free-style jazz of an otherworldly dimension, and both chamber music and extraterrestrial sounds.  Her project is reminiscent of avant garde artists, who illustrate the point where art meets music, where chaos meets melody exhibited by the likes of Laurie Anderson and David Byrne of Talking Heads....

  New Release:  Zero Point from Hadar Noiberg and Katia Toobool Release Date:  August 29, 2025 Websites:  https://hadarnoiberg.com https://www.katiatoobool.com Award-winning flutist, composer, arranger, and producer Hadar Noiberg and pianist/composer Katia Toobool announce the release of their first collaborative outing, Zero Point.   Performed live, the album showcases a mixture of intimate duo pieces, in addition to full ensemble works with the Finale String Quartet, blending original compositions by Hadar and Katia with a wide range of influences, including classical music, Brazilian rhythms, improvised excursions, and ambient jazz.  Toobool's keys emote a sense of serenity throughout the title track as sprigs of luminous tweets from Noiberg's flute dot the melody, soaring with an elegance that incites meandering reflections.  The melodic musings of the pair engage the listener, producing an inviting harmony that people welcome into their homes....

  New Release:  Cursed Month from Lingyuan Yang Label:  Chaospace Records Release Date:  August 15, 2025 Websites: https://www.lingyuanyang.com  https://lingyuanyang.bandcamp.com Dramatic, emotive, and inflamed, Cursed Month , the debut recording from guitarist-composer Lingyuan Yang, enshrouds the listener in a raging delirium.  The oblique signatures, jarring shrills and fierce dissonance produce a tension and polarization that touches the listener's psyche, vibrating at the frequency of the subconscious.  Segments of "Moondial" create an agitated spinning that mirrors feral currents and uncontrollable anxiety, while intervals of pounding and raging keys, performed by Shinya Lin across "Song of the Mist," whip up a maelstrom that sweeps over the resonating drum strikes of Asher Herzog.  Reflected in the recording's title, Cursed Month refers to Chinese astrology, according to the press release, "whereby each of the Zodiac's constituent animal si...

  New Release:  Self-Titled from Arid Landscapes Label:  Signal Chain Records Release Date:  September 19, 2025 Websites: https://www.dan-pitt.com https://www.noahfranche-nolanmusic.com https://aridlandscapes.bandcamp.com/album/arid-landscapes Toronto-based guitarist Dan Pitt and Vancouver pianist Noah Franche-Nolan come together to form Arid Landscapes.  Their self-titled CD demonstrates their commitment to curious-minded music-making, generating a body of work that probes the realm of abstract electronica.  Combining elements of sci-fi imaginings and atmospheric aesthetics, the pair delve into ghost-like textures and floating apparitions, prompting the listener to sink into the celestial soundscapes.  The charismatic gait and caressing fluidity of the sonic passages move like astral bodies, shimmering and gliding in a random schematic.  Sparse and roomy, the compositions produce an intimacy with the listener as though the music speaks to the min...

  New Release:  Stars, Engines from Harrison Argatoff's Valley Voice Label:  Elastic Recordings Release Date:  October 10, 2025 Websites:  https://harrisonargatoff.com https://harrisonargatoff.bandcamp.com/album/stars-engines Toronto-based tenor saxophonist and composer Harrison Argatoff leads jazz quartet Valley Voice into an ever-changing prism of harmonic forms and melodic trimmings in their debut CD Stars, Engines.   Comprised of vibraphonist Michael Davidson, bassist Dan Fortin, drummer Ian Wright, and Argatoff on saxophone, the quartet travels through an assortment of tropes from the soothing emanations of "Analemma" to the cryptic verses of "As Though I Knew" adorned in gyrating flares and undulating trickles, before coursing into the myriad of fluctuations across "Sun Patch," ribboned in percolating ringlets, oscillating motions and fluxing patterns.  Valley Voice experiments with enigmatic fissures and chimerical raptures, exploring abstract i...

  New Release:  Life Got in the Way from Heather McKay Label:  Self-Released Release Date:  September 26, 2025 Website:  www.heathermckaymusic.com Guitarist-composer Heather McKay's latest offering, Life Got In The Way , is a collection of Latin jazz compositions written over the past twenty years.  Each piece is inspired by a place, a person, or a moment in McKay's life that affected her profoundly.  The arrangements flow without being restrained by conventional time signatures.  The varying rhythms cause the instruments to sound disjointed like in "Boo," as the musicians move in harmony with one another, exchanging complementing remarks and lively responses at their own time signature.  The soothing atmosphere of "Narraguagus Bay" is spiked by McKay's searing guitar riffs, giving the track depth and character, and singed by Peter Fraize's churning sax as it moves through the melodic progression.  The samba groove underlining "The Playg...

  New Release:  For the Record from Pete Mills Label:  Mighty Ernie Records 1002 Release Date:  September 5, 2025 Website:  www.petemills.com Toronto-born saxophonist Pete Mills fuses traditional bebop with modern swing and blues on his new release For the Record .  Comprised of original compositions by his quartet, which features Jon Eshelman on Hammond B3 organ, Tom Davis on electric guitar, Zach Compston on drums, and Mills on tenor saxophone, the recording effectively creates a synergistic performance, putting each instrument up front.  No musician takes a backseat in these performances and is heard bold and clear.  The rattling beats of Compston's drums form tremors along "Kenny, Ken," a track written by Tom Davis as a tribute to guitarist Kenny Burrell.  Interfacing with the ruffling motifs of Davis's guitar and frothy ripples of Eschelman's organ, Mills's tenor courses a serpentine path across the melody.  Switching to a relaxing...

  New Release:  Laguna Road from Haerts Release Date:  October 3, 2025 Websites:  haertsmusic.com music.apple.com/us/album/laguna-road/1819112843 Laguna Road , the fourth recording from Haerts, a sonic pop duo that gels ambient jazz, blues, folk, and acoustic rock, emerge with a poignant compilation that resonates with audiences far and wide.  Founded by vocalist Nini Fabi and keyboardist/guitarist Ben Gebert, Haerts give listeners music that evokes deep contemplation and introspection about life choices, experiences met along the journey and the outcomes that unfold.  The ethereal textures and soothing atmospherics produce fantastical dreamscapes, moving with the fluid tranquility of a free-flowing stream.  Gebert's breezy guitar riffs piping through "Brighter Day" contour Fabi's meditative vocals with a tenderness that vibrates of chimerical warmth, as the dirge-like sonorous of his keys boost Fabi's soul-examining, introspective musings driving "Wom...

  New Release:  The Litteral Truth from Paul Litteral Label: Outrageous8 Records Release Date: August 15, 2025 Artist Website: www.plitteral.com Label Website: Outrageous8.com Leader and trumpet player Paul Litteral garnered fame in the rock 'n' roll arena but his latest release The Litteral Truth moves beyond the pop/rock palette, incorporating hues of soul, R&B, funk, reggae, and smooth jazz.  His work embodies a union of warm flavors that simmer, sizzle and soak the listener in frothy undulations.  The reggae accents sewn into the funky grooves of "Ghostown," penned by Jerry Dammers, drench the arrangement in exotic bubbles.  The blend gives the track a psychedelic aura reminiscent of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, as the penetrative tone of James Orbison's timbres brandish a haunting voicing.  The sultry vocals of Angela O'Neill firmly grip and caress the lyrics through "Use Me," written by Bill Withers, as the billowy ripple...

  New Release:  Return of the Light from Joe Elefante's Wheel of Dharma Label:  Self-Released Release Date:  October 25, 2025 Website: www.joeelefantemusic.com A prolific and articulate pianist, saxophonist, vocalist, composer, arranger, and bandleader, Joe Elefante is joined by his band Wheel of Dharma for Return of the Light.  The offering demonstrates the nimbleness and imaginative narration rooted in their creativity, scrolling improvised musings and layering them in pulsing drumbeats and rustling horns.  The laid-back swells sashaying along "Cromwell" are landscaped in the thrusting beats of Sameer Shankar's bass, underscored by the storytelling strokes of Erena Terakubo's saxophone and Freddy Hendrix's trumpet, as Elefante's keys twinkle fluidly and delicately in the shadows, anchored by David Heilman's shimmery cymbals.  Each track moves the listener into an endless meadow of radiating tones, whittled into luminous scrolls and emoting storytelli...