January and February used to be fairly quiet months for new releases back in the day when record labels ruled the world, but that’s not the case anymore with so many indies, digital releases and all the music platforms. There are a bunch in this episode: New Orleans poet Don Paul is back with “Louisiana Stories”, filled with his vital poetry and backed by a very funky band; guitarist Dan Phillips leads the Chicago Edge Ensemble on their fourth album; the other Booker T. (Williams from Seattle) hooks up with the Mahakala Music crew in a real slugfest of improvisation; the Jessica Jones Quartet keeps rolling along with “Edible Flowers”; German piano great Joachim Kuhn has a new solo release for Intakt Records; Two of my favourite Finns (Mikko Innanen & Simo Laihonen) improvise freely on their new “Laikku”; Australian pianist Paul Grabowsky joins some of the jazz students at Monash University in Melbourne; The Exu, an English/Norwegian trio makes a startling debut; and there’s more poetry from Lisa Marie Simmons in the midst of stellar piano by Marco Cremaschini. Lots of great music for you.
00:00 James Brandon Lewis Trio * Apple Cores – Anti- Records * Prince Eugene * USA
04:46 Host speaks
07:28 Don Paul * Louisiana Stories – Irresistible Revolutionary * The Dreamers And The Believers * USA
17:26 Kris Davis Trio * Run The Gauntlet – Pyroclastic * Coda Queen * Canada
22:01 Billy Mohler Quartet * The Eternal – Contagious * Tsunami * USA
28:09 Host speaks
29:29 Chicago Edge Ensemble * Paradoxes In Freedom – Lizard Breath * Semi Monistic Views * USA
38:52 Dan Phillips Trio * Sound Energy In Space – Lizard Breath * Empathic Resonance * USA
45:59 Joachim Kuhn * Échappée – Intakt * Soundmotiv * Gemany
51:15 Host speaks
54:46 Booker T & The Plasmic Bleeds * Ode To BC / LY . . . And Eye Know BO . . . . da Prez – Mahakala Music * Last Of The Tribesmen * USA
1:05:04 Marilyn Crispell & Harvey Sorgen * Forest – FSR * Garden * USA
1:08:23 Joe Fonda * Bass Of Operations – FSR * Deja Vu For DC * USA
1:14:24 Host speaks
1:15:49 Jessica Jones Quartet * Edible Flowers – Reva * Little Melonae * USA
1:23:33 Paul Grabowsky & Monash Jazz Ensemble * Monash Session – Monash * Ticket To Ride * Australia
1:31:04 Simo Laihonen & Mikko Innanen * Laikku – Fiasko * #2 * Finland
1:37:57 Host speaks
1:40:22 The Exu * The Exu – Discus * Bug Glass * England/Norway
1:43:22 The Exu * The Exu – Discus * That’ll Do It * England/Norway
1:47:49 Ohad Talmor * Back To The Land – Intakt * Seeds (based on an untitled draft by Ornette Coleman) * USA
1:54:42 Host speaks
1:56:52 Lisa Marie Simmons & Marco Cremaschini * Spoken Standards – Self-released * Crepuscule With Nellie * USA