The Listening Guide
🎶 The listening guide: five albums, released during the past twelve months, chosen around a weekly theme 🎶
This week, we have five albums recorded in Aotearoa, or created by artists based in or hailing from New Zealand. The Wellington-based Kiwijahzz label’s Jazz from the Underground Nightclubs of Aotearoa series contains some incredible recordings, including vol. 4, a set of six tunes from Jeff Henderson and Eamon Edmundsen-Wells’ group Trioglodyte. Amongst the six tracks are experimental renditions of Milestones and The Girl From Ipanema, with fantastic playing from Henderson on alto, baritone, and soprano saxophones, J.Y Lee on tenor, alto sax, and flute, Jonathan Crayford on Fender Rhodes, Edmundsen-Wells on bass, Julien Dyne on drums, and Paul Taylor on percussion and electronics. Another pair of Wellington-based artists: saxophonist and composer Jasmine Lovell-Smith, and alto sax and bass clarinet player Jake Baxendale, join forces with a large cast of musicians for their studio album, Sanctuary. Featuring a suite and stand-alone composition from each composer, the album was recorded at Massey Studios and mastered at Calyx Studio, Berlin. Pianist and composer Ben Stewart’s quintet album Irresolute was recorded at his parent’s home in 2019. It features three evocative piano and guitar-led compositions, with contributions from Stewart on piano, Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa on drums, Louisa Williamson on sax, Hamish Smith on upright bass, and Brad Kang on guitar. Having relocated to London in 2019, drummer, composer, and beatmaker Myele Manzanza has connected with London-based musicians—including fellow Kiwi’s now based in the UK and Europe—laying the groundwork for his project, Crisis & Opportunity. Volume 2, entitled Peaks, contains a number of tunes that originated from a studio jam, as well as ‘pre-composed’ pieces by Manzanza. He plays drums, drums, percussion, and programming, with Ashton Sellars on guitar, Aron Ottignon on piano, synths, and vocoder, Matt Dal Din on bass, Jay Phelps on trumpet, Lewis Moody on synths, and Andre Marmot on percussion. The Rodger Fox Big Band are joined by pianist Michael Houstoun and vocalist Erna Ferry on their recent live album. Recorded at the Bruce Mason Centre in 2020, it features four lively tunes, including a big band arrangements of Gino Vannelli’s Brother to Brother. You can support all of these releases on Bandcamp!
Jake Baxendale & Jasmine Lovell-Smith – Sanctuary
Myele Manzanza – Crisis & Opportunity, Vol​.​2 - Peaks
Michael Houstoun​/​Rodger Fox Big Band - Live at the Bruce Mason Centre 2020
Album of the Week
Our NQ Jazz album of the week is drummer Charlie Rumback’s seventh LP as a leader, entitled Seven Bridges. Rumback is joined by ten musicians on the album, including Ron Miles on cornet, Jim Baker on analogue synthesizer, and Macie Stewart on violin and voice, amongst others. The album has been described as a ‘departure from his recent work’ and was produced by John Hughes at HFT Studio. You can support the project on Bandcamp!
Classic Album
Our NQ Jazz classic album this week is vocalist Norma Winstone’s debut solo album, Edge of Time. Recorded in 1971 and released the following year, it features musicians such as Kenny Wheeler on trumpet and flugelhorn, Art Theman on saxophones, flute, and bass clarinet, John Taylor on piano, and Tony Levin on drums, amongst many others. There’s plenty of arrangement variety across the eight tracks, with duo, quintet, and large ensemble numbers. Physical reissues of the album have been released in the last decade, and you can track the album down on streaming services.