Fred Grand, Author at Jazz Journal

Reviewed: Kjetil Husebø | Kali Trio | Egil Kalman & Hans Hulbækmo | Adam O’Farrill | Alex Zethson & Johan Jutterström

Fred Grand — Sat, 24 May 2025 08:12:12 +0000

Kjetil Husebø: Piano Transformed – Interspace (Optical Substance Productions OSP010) My reviews of Kjetil Husebø’s recent ambient jazz projects have spoken of the Norwegian pianist-composer’s solid grounding in classical techniques, something which his Piano Transformed project brings into even sharper focus. This double-album is the third volume in the series, following Piano Transformed (2017) and […]

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Reviewed: ECHT! | light.box + Tom Challenger | Jo David Meyer Lysne | Nicolas Masson | Ingi Bjarni Skúlason

Fred Grand — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 11:04:56 +0000

ECHT!: Boilerism (SDBAN Ultra SDBANULP42) In recent times I’ve written extensively on the new Scandinavian ambient-jazz, a free-floating music which for the most part incorporates electronics and signal processing into an established vocabulary. Brussels-based electro-jazzers ECHT! take a rather different approach, fusing instrumental jazz with dominant hip-hop beats. Both of their previous albums have seen […]

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Reviewed: Benjamin Boone | Krokofant | Prepared | Tuomo & Markus with Verneri Pohjola

Fred Grand — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 10:50:52 +0000

Benjamin Boone: Confluence – The Ireland Sessions (Origin Records 82904) American saxophonist, composer and educator Benjamin Boone is a virtuoso performer equally at home in the worlds of jazz and contemporary classical music. A series of recordings with leading poets, including the late Philip Levine, revealed a keen interest in social justice, while extended overseas […]

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Reviewed: Inge Weatherhead Breistein | Sigurd Hole | Spinifex | Alexi Tuomarila

Fred Grand — Sat, 01 Feb 2025 17:12:41 +0000

Inge Weatherhead Breistein: Rust (Jazzland Recordings 3779671) Bergen-based saxophonist and composer Inge Weatherhead Breistein first came to my attention through his collaborations with Jazzland label-mate John Derek Bishop (aka Tortusa), their 2022 album Ro revealing a lyrical player with a penchant for long melodic lines and circular breathing. It turns out that he’s also a […]

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Reviewed: Nik Bärtsch Ronin | Erik Honoré | Russ Lossing | Daniel Sommer with Arve Henriksen and Johannes Lundberg

Fred Grand — Sun, 05 Jan 2025 13:43:04 +0000

Nik Bärtsch Ronin: Spin (Ronin Rhythm Records RON 040CD) Celebrating their 20th anniversary with a new album, new line-up and a documentary film created by BAFTA and Emmy award winner Julian Phillips, Ronin are also returning to Bärtsch’s own label after many years recording for ECM. This collection of live recordings is their ninth album, […]

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Reviewed: Mike Chillingworth | Felix Henkelhausen | Kjetil Møster | Marius Neset & Leif Ove Andsnes

Fred Grand — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 13:28:47 +0000

If there’s a common theme linking this month’s releases then it must surely be rhythm. The first two come from composers experimenting with complex polyrhythms, Møster’s beats are rather more rudimentary but devastatingly effective, while Neset’s percussion-less chamber quartet play with the kind of gusto that generates its own momentum. Mike Chillingworth: Friday The Thirteenth […]

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Reviewed: Kjetil Husebø | Lampen | Pericopes+1 | Jenny Scheinman

Fred Grand — Sun, 17 Nov 2024 14:14:31 +0000

Ever since the first jazz musician entered a recording studio or found the need for amplification, the music’s long and sometimes controversial relationship with technology was sealed. This month’s quartet of recordings is fairly representative of the ways in which today’s musicians are harnessing its potential, and even an ostensibly traditional work such as violinist […]

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Reviewed: Jessica Ackerley | Orson Claeys | Joe Sanders | Superposition

Fred Grand — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 15:53:28 +0000

Given my longstanding appreciation of jazz that traverses the genre boundaries, it’s perhaps not surprising that each of the albums I’ve reviewed this month is open to external influences. Enriched but not engulfed by the absorption of other dialects, each to a greater or lesser degree provides testament as to jazz’s extraordinary ability to evolve […]

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Phil Merriman Trio: The Roots Beneath

Fred Grand — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 12:45:22 +0000

Classical grad influenced by Messaien and Bartók and tutored by John Taylor plays in trio, variously suggesting Paul Bley and Alice Coltrane

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Olli Ahvenlahti: Euro Visions

Fred Grand — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 13:13:30 +0000

The holy trinity of melody, harmony and rhythm has underpinned the Finnish veteran's work, whether in jazz or a certain song contest

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