This is a good one, locked and loaded with some terrific music from new releases, starting off with Fieldwork, that acclaimed trio of Vijay Iyer, Steve Lehman & Tyshawn Sorey returning after a 17-year absence. All the marvelous things they’ve done individually over that span coalesces into “Thereupon” which will thereupon be considered one of the very best releases of 2025. Two piano-led albums jump off the page – Swiss Matthieu Mazué’s Trio with the addition of alto saxophonist Michael Attias and Poland’s Aga Derlak’s Neurodivergent – totally contrasting styles yet full of originality and spirit. Bassist Dr. Emma Dayhuff assembles a four-generation group to pay tribute to the enduring creative magic of Chicago while pianist Santiago Leibson seeks to capture the magic of the ‘70s era of jazz in his own way. The acclaimed Webber-Morris Big Band brings their second release to life, while Portuguese trio The Monkious shakes up the music of Thelonious Monk. Lots more excellent music. Don’t sleep on this episode!
00:00 Steve Coleman & The Metrics * Tale Of 3 Cities – RCA-Novus * Bebop * USA
07:53 Host speaks
10:47 Matthieu Mazue Quartet * Monoliths And Screens For Quartet – Self-released * Screen: My Ghosts Are Underground * Switzerland
18:49 Lina Allemano Four * The Diptychs – Lumo * Positive * Canada
25:09 Lina Allemano Four * The Diptychs – Lumo * Negative * Canada
32:19 Host speaks
33:39 Frode Gjerstad, Alexander Von Schlippenbach & Dag Magnus Narvesen * Seven Tracks – Relative Pitch * 00:06:28:947 * Norway/Germany
40:07 Linda May Han Oh * Strange Heavens – Biophilia * Noise Machinery * USA
45:31 Santiago Leibson * Analogue Fictions – Bocha * Love Story At The Federal Circle * Argentina
54:11 Host speaks
57:27 Dr. Emma Dayhuff * Innovations & Lineage: The Chicago Project – Division 81 * Jaribu * USA
1:10:29 Tom Weeks Trio * Paranoid II – Wolfsblood * A New American Promise * USA
1:15:41 Host speaks
1:16:55 The Monkious * No Straight With Chaser – JACC * Blue Monk * Portugal/Netherlands
1:25:00 Matthew Shipp * The Cosmic Piano – Cantaloupe * Blues Orgasm * USA
1:30:03 Webber-Morris Big Band * Unseparate – Out Of Your Head * Spur 7: Metamorphosis * Canada/USA
1:39:34 Host speaks
1:42:29 Fieldwork * Thereupon – Pi * Embracing Difference * USA
1:47:40 Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith * Defiant Life – ECM * Floating River Requiem * USA
1:53:52 The Return Of Knut Thompson * Just That We Have Something So That We Have Something When We Have Nothing – Trouble In The East * Ich Will Mehr Licht Im Gesicht * Germany
1:59:28 Host speaks
2:01:29 Aga Derlak & Neurodivergent * Neurodivergent – Polskie Radio * Is It * Poland
2:10:47 Tom Skinner * Kaleidoscope Visions – International Anthem * Margaret Anne * England
2:15:36 Host speaks
2:16:46 Gard Nilssen’s Supersonic Orchestra * And It’s Yours Forever – Action Jazz * You Ain’t Gonna Know Me ‘Cos You Think You Know Me * Norway