It’s hard to believe summer is at an end! A few weeks ago, I did part of my late summer album round up, and now here’s part two. These are just a few of the many albums that have been filling my days with interesting listening. At the end of the “spotlight” albums that I am writing about, I’ll provide links to other albums of interest. It’s all great music, but I only have time to write about a few releases. I hope you enjoy these – next month at TNB, I’ve promised a post focusing on one artist, and I may have some live music reviews as well. See you soon!
Malaby / Dumoulin / Ber – Trees On Wheels
(released June 13, 2025)
Tony Malaby – saxes
Jozef Dumoulin – keyboards
Samuel Ber – drums
Belgian drummer Samuel Ber has released one of the most fascinating records of the year, and the title Trees On Wheels captures how unusual and surrealistic this one is. I would love to read an interview with Ber about his process, but as hinted at in the notes by Michaël Attias, Ber took live performances by the trio and with post production, creates a riveting, fractured-mirror world of keyboard washes that flow up against intense saxophone lines. My only quibble is that there’s not a lot of uplift to this intense and compelling music, but as a moody kind of late night listening, it’s perfect.
ICP Orchestra: HAPPY BIRTHDAY –> NAAR ZEE Z.O.Z. (ICP213, 2025)
(released July 2, 2025)
Michael Moore – alto saxophone, clarinet, voice
Ab Baars – tenor saxophone, clarinet
Tobias Delius – tenor saxophone, clarinet
Thomas Heberer – trumpet
Joost Buis – trombone
Mary Oliver – violin, viola
Harald Austbø – cello
Ernst Glerum – double bass, announcements
Guus Janssen – piano
Han Bennink – drums
I have really fallen in love with all of the recent releases by the ICP Orchestra, and this one may be the best of the recent crop of from this iconic European collective.
This Bandcamp-only album captures a June 5, 2025 performance at BIMHAUS in Amsterdam, for what would have been Misha Mengelberg’s 90th birthday. The band sounds spirited and they play wide-ranging repertoire ranging from Mengelberg originals, such as his classic “Alexander’s Marschbefehl,” to Mengelberg’s arrangements of Duke Ellington and Herbie Nichols, to original compositions by members of the bands’ orbit.
The ability of this band to authentically play classics of jazz repertory, and then dive head first into European classical harmony, or simply into free wheeling chaos, is just breathtaking. Plus as a bonus, the detailed recording captures both the music and the spirit of this band and a totally engaged audience. Certainly one of my favorite albums of the year.
Jason Moran x Trondheim Jazz Orchestra & Ole Morten Vagan – Go To Your North
(released July 14, 2025)
Jason Moran – piano
Ole Morten Vågan – bass, arrangements
Sofia Jernberg – voice
Henriette Eilertsen – flute
Mette Rasmussen – alto saxophone
Jonas Kullhammar – tenor saxophone, flute
Karl Hjalmar Nyberg – tenor sax, bass clarinet
Eirik Hegdal – baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet
Eivind Lønning – trumpet
Josefin Runsteen – violin
Hans Hulbækmo – drums
Anja Lauvdal – synth/electronics
Peder Simonsen – tuba
Joel Ring – cello
For years I’ve been a fan of Jason Moran’s music, which embraces jazz history along with abstraction, much in the fashion of his mentor, Jaki Byard. But Go To Your North, a collaboration with Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, changes and expands that music through a wondrous collision between Moran’s deeply rooted jazz aesthetic and a more European sensibility. The transformation is apparent right away on the album opener, “Foot Under Foot,” which was also was the lead off track of Moran’s 2001 collaboration with Sam Rivers, Black Stars. There, the looping circular theme was a perfect parallel to Rivers playing style, and the tune was essentially used to frame the saxophone and piano solos. Skip forward two decades to this collaboration with the Tronheim Orchestra, and we get a much different interpretation. Here, the wonderful arrangements of bassist Ole Morton Vagan bring tons of color, fully using the deep instrumental resources at hand. The music very is so full of life, abruptly shifting in tempo, mood, color and dynamics. Also, the album gains an otherworldly air from the wordless vocals of Sophia Jernberg. The rest of the Moran’s compositions on Go To Your North undergo a similar transformation. They also perform a stunning cover of Johann Brahms Intermezzo Op. 118 No. 2 – not to be missed! All in all, this is a much different, and rewarding, approach to Moran’s music – a departure, or maybe it’s a new chapter?
Exploding Star Orchestra – Holy Mountains
(released June 27, 2025)
Link to Apple Music
Rob Mazurek – trumpet, cornet, percussion, music direction
Chad Taylor – drums
Damon Locks – vocals, electronics
Guilherme Granado – sampler, keyboards, percussion
James Brandon Lewis – tenor saxophone
Luke Stewart – contrabass
Mikel Avery – electronic drums
Pasquale Mirra – vibraphone
Philip Somervell – piano
Rodrigo Brandão – vocals
Thomas Rohrer – rabeca, soprano saxophone
I love Rob Mazurek, and every album of his holds special interest, from solo trumpet recitals, small group outings, electronic and ambient records, to the expansive Exploding Star Orchestra. The latest from this group, Holy Mountains, contains more of their exuberant Sun Ra-influenced rave ups, with evocative spoken word interludes. Especially welcome is the tenor saxophone of James Brandon Lewis, who “ups the ante” with every track he’s on. Check out “Afterburner (Parable 400” for a great example. Another items of interest: I believe Mazurek quotes Charlie Hayden’s “Song for Che twice in his playing, which gives me an idea where he’s coming from. This is music of liberation, uplift hope and freedom in every bit as joyous as previous albums from Exploding Star Orchestra.
Zeena Parkins – Modesty Of The Magic Thing
(released August 15, 2025)
Link to Apple Music
Zeena Parkins – acoustic harp
William Winant – percussion
On Modesty of The Magic Thing, Zeena Parkins sticks with acoustic harp and eschews the feedback-drenched noise from her electric harp – just quiet, spare duets with tuned percussion played by William Winamp. Inspired by a drawings of artist Jay DeFeo, and finding freedom in the limitations, the music does not have overdetermined themes or clear demarcations between composition and improvisation. Yet, that music flows intuitively from one set of simulating ideas to the next, revealing the creativity of two musicians who make so much out of simple elements. I recommend checking out Steve Smith’s write up at For the Record (and following Smith in general). Modesty of the Magic Thing has been one of my go to discs to find a place of serenity over the past month.
Jack Campbell- Liam Murphy- Arthur Bull- Hank Bull- John Brennan – PLANETS
(released July 20, 2025)
Jack Campbell – violin
Liam Murphy – tenor saxophone
Arthur Bull – guitar, bass harmonica
Hank Bull – piano
John Brennan – drums, whistle
First of all, let’s celebrate Scatter Archive, because I don’t know how this tireless record label is able to keep up its torrential pace of releasing the music of free improvisers, noisemakers, and creative musicians from Europe (and occasionally beyond Europe too). All with complete artistic freedom, and – most incredible of all – made available on Bandcamp at “pay what you wish” prices, where all proceeds go to the artist! So by all means, spend some time checking out the entire Scatter Archive and purchase whatever strikes your ear, for whatever you can afford.
One of these releases that I’ve been loving is the album PLANETS from a quintet of improvisers that I’ve never heard before. Recorded in January in Vancouver Canada, PLANETS is beautifully paced, building from the opening “Fona,” to the wailing free jazz of the appropriately named “Pyra.” The liner notes state it’s their first recording together, but these musicians clearly know each other well, and it’s a world class group, so I certainly hope either Scatter or other record labels keep on documenting them.
Other recent albums of note (in alphabetical order):
Noël Akchoté – Of Albert (Complete Plays Ayler, 2025)
Rodrigo Amado & Chris Corsano – The Healing
Gregg Belisle-Chi – Slow Crawl: Performing the Music of Tim Berne
Chicago Underground Duo – Hyperglyph
Jacob Garchik – Ye Olde 2: At the End of Time
Francesca Gemmo, Magda Mayas – Tides In The Mirror
Vinny Golia Chamber Quintet – New Chamber Idiom
Joe McPhee & Strings – We Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Aruán Ortiz Piano Solo – Créole Renaissance
Miguel Zenón Quartet – Vanguardia Subterránea: Live at The Village Vanguard
