Shinken Shobu marks the dawn of an exciting new era for harpist Stina Hellberg Agback. Having immersed herself within Sweden's jazz contingent for years now, Agback's affections for the genre have long benefited from numerous creative and collaborative avenues that have showcased her indelible talent and vision. Groups and ensembles including SHA3K, Hexabit and Trilobit have demonstrated creative takes on contemporary jazz, and while the quartet Alice, John och jag pays tribute to classics by John and Alice Coltrane, her duo project with Leo Svenson Sander, Namna, carves out a new and distinctly unique direction. As a project that finds inspiration from Japanese ideologies ('Sou Makuri' meaning 'full resolution'), Shinken Shobu strives to represent the vast array of Agback's musical make-up, pulling everything together for a more unhindered perception of her artistry as opposed to perhaps distributing characteristics and styles amongst the various aforementioned groups. It's an incredibly bold and imaginative position that lovingly exists within contradiction - while 'Shinken Shobu' translates to 'dead serious', the album conversely thrives from its free-spirited approach, and while the album falls within an Agback-composed and helmed project, it is still one that inspires interplay and creative freedoms from its performers.
'Impermanence' marks the third full-length release from harmonica player Yotam Ben-Or. Now based in New York for over ten years, having moved over from Jerusalem as part of his studies, Ben-Or has become ingratiated within the city's thriving hot-bed of innovative and contemporary jazz. Renowned for his soulful and intimate playing, Ben-Or can boast a litany of awards, accolades and distinctions to his name that continue to see his star rise notably since the release of his debut album 'Sitting on a Cloud' back in 2018. With pianist Gabriel Chakarji and bassist Alon Near having served as long-standing collaborators to Ben-Or's quartet from the debut project to today's 'Impermanence' - a quartet now rounded-out with drummer Alon Benjamini - much of Ben-Or's music revolves around connections. From Ben-Or's personal connections with the music he composes and performs to the interpersonal connections he forges alongside his band members enabling them all to freely create together within a trusted collaborative space. 'Impermanence' is brought to loving life by a series of fantastic pieces from the playful 'Milonga Gris' to the spirited 'René' and the lush album closer 'Trying' featuring vocalist Esther Quansah.
Cecilie Strange has become incredibly skilful at creating profound and deeply personal relationships through her music - intimate snap shots that invite listeners to see the world and, in many ways, her own self through the lens of her beautiful compositions and performances. While Strange's previous offering 'Beyond' (2023) marvelled at the divinity of our existence and conceptualized the capricious journey we each undergo from our first day to our last, 'Beech' regards the relationship between "nature and memory". A storyteller at heart, the six tracks that comprise 'Beech' serve as a selection of elegant aural recountings of places and experiences of personal significance. Continuing Strange's long-running association with April Records - who have housed projects from the saxophonist dating back over the last yen years - 'Beech' once again finds Strange in familiar and flawless company alongside pianist Peter Rosendal, bassist Thommy Andersson and drummer Jakob Høyer who have consistently served as the core unit for past projects 'Beyond', 'Blikan' (2021) and 'Blue' (2020). Vocalist Josefine Cronholm who also provided sublime support for 'Beyond' once again wows with vocal contributions on three of the album's tracks including the exquisite 'On the Tip of Sólheimajökull'.
Spearheaded by revered drummer and band leader Michala Østergaard-Nielsen, 'The Cave' represents a trio of top-tier and international jazz talent coming together to release their debut collaborative project, released through ILK Music. Østergaard-Nielsen creates some undeniable magic alongside her cohorts for this project including US pianist Marilyn Crispell and Swedish bassist Thommy Andersson (marking his second entry into our article following on from his contribution to Cecilie Strange's aforementioned 'Beech'). Much of this project's brilliance rests within its seemingly diametrically opposed ideologies - conceived as an album that showcases the players' incredible compositional talents while also wholly embracing the freedom of improvisation that each of the artists are afforded as well. It's a fascinating concept to grasp, the idea that two things that would naturally appear on differing ends of a scale can actually be more intertwined that it may appear - one could consider the idea of "order" and "chaos" as opposing entities but in reality, you need one to actually achieve the other. 'The Cave' doesn't just explore the tension between organisation and fluidity — it transforms that very tension into sound with each track becoming its own conversation where composition lays the groundwork and improvisation brings it to life. It's in this space that the trio's music resonates most profoundly resulting in a compelling listen that reimagines the consequences of when design and chance meet on equal terms.
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