Drummer, composer and producer Jake Long announces the release of his debut solo album City Swamp via New Soil on 17th May. Conceived as a soundtrack to a film that doesn't exist, City Swamp is a dystopian suite of meticulously reconstructed jazz improvisations from some of the UK's finest instrumentalists. Drawing on the hypnotic groove of electric-era Miles Davis, the album announces the Maisha founder as an artist in his own right, breaking new ground on what is a heady and conceptually adventurous debut.

In January 2023, Tom Skinner and his ensemble performed material from his recently-released album 'Voices of Bishara' (Brownswood, IARC & Nonesuch, 2022) at London club “mu”— a venue founded by the curators at Brilliant Corners and named after the seminal Don Cherry live album. Their performance was augmented by three pieces by Abdul Wadud, whose 1977 self-released solo cello album, By Myself, was a primary inspiration for Voices of Bishara.

The title of Tom Skinner’s first release under his own name is a reference to cellist Abdul Wadud’s ultra-rare 1978 solo album ‘By Myself’, which Skinner listened to repeatedly during lockdown. Wadud’s album was privately pressed on his own label, Bisharra, and whilst Skinner’s title uses the more conventional spelling of this common Arabic name, they both have the same intention or meaning: it translates as ‘good news’, or ‘the bringer of good news’.

As the name suggests, the album en casa veglia was created in an old house in the village of Gün. The former farmhouse is surrounded by picturesque landscapes, unspoilt nature, mountains, streams, forests and meadows. With your eyes closed, the surroundings are no less intoxicating. If you listen instead of just looking, you will be rewarded with a vast variety of sounds. This modern jazz quartet, led by double bass player Vito Cadonau, does not discriminate against "noise" as such, but appreciates and uses it as a musical treasure. After all, the Romansh word "ramur" means nothing less than "noise".

With their self-titled debut album, IRIS looks to make their mark on the current sonic landscape of improvised music. Featuring Arman Sangalang, Kirby Fellis, Austyn Menk, Morgan Turner and Paul Barrllies, the album is “a beautiful representation of jazz music in its current attire,” as described by guitar virtuoso Bobby Broom. The album allows each member of the collective to shine individually through carefully crafted compositions and solos, while still acting as a cohesive unit.

CRAFTING QUINTET is a modern jazz group that presents original, rich and diverse music. The five performers have patiently built a creative bond over the course of their concerts and residencies. On the score, we will always find a strong melody that captures the attention or a mixture of bold timbres that shape the sound of the group. On stage, it is the pleasure of interactive play and the management of authentic energy in the service of the reliefs of their music that makes this group so relevant and endearing.

Technicolor Ghost Parade plunges into the unmediated terrain that opens up in the absence of the usual guidelines, the trio revels “in a situation where there’s no bass and no chords." The band is a volatile combo that draws on a vast continuum of jazz practices, from traditional jazz polyphony and ambient soundscapes to funk and free jazz. The trio can generate fierce grooves and render through-composed pieces with the textural acuity of a chamber ensemble. The canny use of electronics expands their sonic palette to the horizon.

Amy Aileen Wood is unaccustomed to the spotlight, which is very much by design. A calming presence in any room and a force behind the drum kit, Wood meshes her astute listening skills with an undeniable ownership of the music at hand, as illustrated in her work on Fiona Apple’s 2020 record Fetch The Bolt Cutters, which Wood co-produced.

Transcendental outernational funk and psychedelic jazz from mystery L.A.- based collective Sun Atlas.

Kamasi Washington releases his new album, Fearless Movement, via Young. Washington calls Fearless Movement his dance album. “It’s not literal,” Washington says. “Dance is movement and expression, and in a way it’s the same thing as music—expressing your spirit through your body. That’s what this album is pushing.” Dance as an embodied form of expression signals a shift in focus for Washington. Where previous albums dealt with cosmic ideas and existential concepts, Fearless Movement focuses in on the everyday, an exploration of life on earth. This change in scope is due in large part to the birth of Washington’s first child a few years ago.

INTERDEPENDENZEN is a selection of 11 solo improvisations that evolved during Maria Reich’s solo impro research. All pieces are uncut and were recorded in different places over 6 months on an iPhone. The situation, the material becomes audible, the wood, the bow hair, the room, the recording device, the musician. "There is no part of me that is alone…."

The Swedish quartet Goran Kajfeš Tropiques share their new music We Jazz Records on May 3rd. Tell Us, an album consisting of three long pieces composed by the group, is "slow music" to the bone, a deep body of work utilising the language of jazz as its core mode of communication but echoing way beyond. The quartet is expanded with strings, adding wings to the music and helping it lift off the ground in a personal, highly engaging manner.

Unknown Rivers is bassist Luke Stewart’s debut for Pi Recordings. An omnipresent and galvanizing force on the music scene, Stewart is a leader or co-leader of such bands as Irreversible Entanglements, Exposure Quintet, Blacks’ Myths, Heart of the Ghost, and Remembrance Quintet. He is also among the most in-demand collaborators, having performed with the likes of David Murray, Nicole Mitchell, Moor Mother, Jaimie Branch, Nate Wooley, Ken Vandermark and countless others. Stewart is also a curator and presenter of multiple concert series in New York and Washington, D.C., a writer, activist, producer and D.J.

An extraordinary outing brought the Verheyen-Thys-Pierre trio to the Ardennes for an entire evening. That night there was magic in the air. They immediately connected to the energy of this beautiful place surrounded by nature. They lead the way for you to explore and travel with them.

This is the most ambitious project of Tim Garland's stellar career, with a celebration of Lighthouse Trio's 20th Anniversary (Gwilym Simcock and Asaf Sirkis), along with a stunning display of Tim's prowess as a composer and arranger with the Britten Sinfonia, featuring violinist Thomas Gould, along with trumpet ace Yazz Ahmed performing as a special guest on one track.