Joe McPhee Paal Nilssen-Love
Lift Every Voice And Sing

deejay.de: ...Orbit was founded in 2016 by saxophonist Soren Lyhne Skov and pianist Peder Vind. The two had been playing together for over a decade in various groups inspired by afro-beat and ethio jazz. The idea with Orbit is to maintain the feel of certain musical traditions but to explore them through a modal jazz perspective.The ominous Orbit Bound is centered around the figure played by the bass clarinet. The time is 9/8 and with the sound of the bass clarinet you might get a Balkan feel. But the scale is more Middle Eastern making it difficult to place precisely - like an orbit constantly moving.NV is a tribute to the North Western borough of Copenhagen, which is a multi-ethnic and partly still ungentrified part of Copenhagen. The area has its struggles and social problems but at the same time it is also a place of warmth, surprises and lot of untapped talent.This song has a loose minor scale theme with some sparse piano chords and a solid bassline leading the way. The drums are constrained giving the track a feeling of unreleased energy similar of the potential energy in NV.

juno.co.uk: ...Formed in 2017, the Sokratis Votskos Quartet is fast becoming one of the leading lights in Greek jazz. Later in the year they'll be releasing a brand new album on Jazzman, from which this tasty double A-side is taken. "Almopian Etude" is a veritable humid summer breeze of a track: a loose and languid fusion of spiritual piano motifs, languid double bass, bustling drums and alternately snaking and intoxicating horn solos. B-side "Sevenates" is an altogether funkier proposition, with cyclical saxophone motifs increasing in intensity over a jumpy, piano-driven rhythm track. It's not exactly jazz-funk, but it's certainly travelling in that direction. Either way, it's ace.

Seance Centre: ...Muldrew, recorded on the northern Ontario lake by that name, is the culmination of several years of this collaborative tradition. Resisting their penchant for composition and arrangement, the duo embarked on this project with only an open framework that encouraged restraint. The result is a sparse and improvisational album, hung on enough structure for each song to evoke a distinct, albeit ambiguous mood. Space is paramount and even the most digital elements breathe with the resonance of the room and mingle with creaking floors. The resulting album is steeped in the placid stillness and northern ambience of a lake at dawn, and the emotive expanse of a forest at dusk. Imagine an ECM cottage-series, or Jon Hassell, Hiroshi Yoshimura, and John Martyn scoring a Bela Tarr film set in rural Canada. This is the future-proof music of metropolitan polyglot minds invigorated by nature’s mute refusal to follow a click-track.