This show is just bursting with new music – and almost all thanks to those kind folk who promote independent jazz and more, sharing that love of new sounds with us here at Cosmic Jazz. Music comes from Edition Records stars Daniel Herskedal, Slowly Rolling Camera and new signing Sultan Stevenson, along with many more. Sit back and enjoy…

1. Muriel Grossmann – Pointing Out Part II from The Light of the Mind

First up is a Cosmic Jazz favourite, saxophonist Muriel Grossmann. We’ve featured a track from her new album The Light of the Mind in a previous show – and we’re very happy to play more this time round. Grossmann is on tenor, alto, baritone and soprano saxes in addition to harp, tambura, harmonium, flutes and assorted percussion. and the music on this, her 16th album, belongs in that category of deep spiritual joyfulness that is familiar to anyone who’s explored the music of John Coltrane or Pharoah Sanders. We love this wholly convincing, authentic spiritual jazz and – as with all of Grossman’s records – this new one is highly recommended. It’s available via Grossman’s own website on vinyl or CD – and, of course, here on Bandcamp.

2. Sultan Stevenson – Unspeakable Happiness from El Roi

Pianist Sultan Stevenson, a rising talent in the UK and European jazz scenes, releases his first record for Edition at the end of March – but you can listen to the opening track right here. El Roi is Hebrew for the biblical God of Sight and so links together faith and perception. The title binds together these two themes well. ‘God’ refers to faith, and ‘sight’ refers to how one is seen and how you perceive the world around you, Stevenson explains. The album includes trio performances with Jacob Gryb on bass and Joel Waters on drums, along with guests Josh Short on trumpet and flugelhorn, and Soweto Kinch on tenor sax. Find out more via Edition Records or Stevenson’s Bandcamp page.

3. Daniel Herskedal – Civilian Casualties from Movements of Air

Movements of Air is the fifth album from Daniel Herskedal’s acclaimed trio, featuring Eyolf Dale on piano and Helge Andreas Norbakken on drums and percussion. It’s his tenth release with Edition Records and links to his foundational trio debut, Slow Eastbound Train. Herskedal’s tuba is deployed here to create a series of emotionally resonant soundscapes, often with unusual harmonies and textures. We’ve played tracks from several of his previous releases here on Cosmic Jazz and all have that layering of tuba and bass trumpet that creates (dare we say it) typically cinematic, icy Scandinavian jazz.

4. Mal Waldron – Reminiscent Suite from Reminiscent Suite

At the heart of this show is an extended piece – Reminicent Suite by American pianist Mal Waldron and Japanese trumpeter Terumasa Hino. Originally released in 1973 on the famed Victor label and was one of several Japan-only albums recorded and released by Waldron over a thirty-year period, most of which have never been available outside Japan. The album has just two extended tracks, both taking up a side each of the original LP. Mal Waldron started out in the early 1950s working extensively on the Prestige label with notable figures such as Gene Ammons, Jackie McLean and Charles Mingus but he left the US in the mid-60s, relocating to Europe where he established himself as a major figure working across many countries including France, Italy, and Germany. Terumasa Hino is one of the most important figures of post-war modern jazz in Japan. In the 1970s he began to explore a more open, freer sound, mixing psychedelic and rock elements with freeform and post-bop jazz and in the early 80s his jazz funk tracks were dancefloor smashes on the UK jazz dance scene – try Win Your Love from his City Connection album. On Reminiscent Suite, Waldron and Hino are joined by Takeo Uematsu on sax, Terumasa’s brother, Motohiko Hino on drums, and the legendary bass master, Isao Suzuki. The record was released in all three formats in 2024 by BBE in their J Jazz Masterclass series and is highly recommended. Find it here on Bandcamp.

5. Playtime – Bodran Marimba (with Corey Mwamba) from Morse Codes Through the Lights

Two tunes now from Scottish promoter Rob Adams – the first a really unique and ambitious project from a group called Playtime. They began ten years ago as a weekly session where four of Scotland’s most-established jazz musicians – saxophonist Martin Kershaw, guitarist Graeme Stephen, bassist Mario Caribe and drummer Tom Bancroft – tried out new music and new ideas together. During Covid their sessions continued via Zoom, and now included a bunch of high profile guests too – trumpeters Laura Jurd and Byron Wallen, Japanese piano-trumpet duo Satoko Fujii and Natsuki Tamura, and Dutch cellist Ernst Reijseger. Our choice features UK vibes player Corey Mwamba but the whole album is a hugely impressive set of collaborations and is well worth investigating. Access the music here on the Myriad Streams website – but go for the DL or CD to support this truly unique project.

6. Michael Buckley – Strange Taste from Ebb and Flow

New signing to Dublin-based Livia Records is the label’s first new contemporary release in nearly 40 years so this is something of an occasion. The Irish tenor saxophonist Michael Buckley (who has played with The Mingus Big Band and Septet, saxophonists Dave Liebman and Lee Konitz, guitarists Kurt Rosenwinkel and John Abercrombie, pianists Jason Moran and Jason Rebello, drummers Joey Baron and Lewis Nash) is backed here by Greg Felton on piano, Barry Donohue on bass and Shane O’Donovan on drums. Thanks again to Rob Adams for this one – and what a great find!

7. Slowly Rolling Camera – The New Way (feat. Caoilfhionn Rose) from single release

We’ve featured Edition Records’ SRC several times in previous shows and the new St Valentine’s Day single release The New Way is a collaboration with Manchester-based vocalist Caoilfhionn Rose. Noted for their trip hop electronica influenced jazz, SRC are following up their 2024 Silver Shadow record with a different kind of soundscape.  Layers of piano and synths from label founder Dave Stapleton and guitar from Stuart McCallum support the live drums of Elliott Bennett before some lyrical sax from Nicholas Kummert ends the tune. Available from Edition Records and Bandcamp.

8. Rafiq Bhatia – The Voice of Love (Feat. Chris Pattishall) from Each Dream, A Melting Door

Avant-garde American musician, composer, guitarist and producer Rafiq Bhatia has just released a new EP created in collaboration with pianist Chris Pattishall. Each Dream, A Melting Door sees Bhatia and Pattishall improvise across five tracks to create environments of sound that unfurl like a short film – perhaps not surprising given that Bhatia’s previous work was co-scoring 2023’s Academy Award-winning Best Picture Everything Everywhere All At Once with his bandmates in Son Lux, where they earned Oscar and BAFTA nominations for their innovative score. Check out this new EP here on Bandcamp. Thanks to promoter Gary Levermore at Red Sand Promotions for this one.

9. Silvan Strauss – Sky (with Joe Armon-Jones) from Flukin’

After the beat-tape jazz focus of his debut album Facing, Hamburg drummer Silvan Strauss decided to refocus on the rhythms and roots of playing with a core acoustic jazz setup – whilst still deploying various guests pairing UK hip hop, electronica, neo-soul and Moroccan gnawa with more conventional jazz expression. The result is his second album Flukin’ which sees him here with Ezra Collective’s Joe Armon-Jones on the tune Sky. Strauss says It’s not so much me being on the laptop producing, it’s more interplay, more improvising. My drumming felt more free. I search for those moments of interaction, not always the real flashy moments, but the ones where the flukes become really lucid and strong. Alongside Strauss on drums and electronics are Giorgi Kiknadze on acoustic bass and Adrian Hanack on sax and clarinet but the result still isn’t a straightahead jazz album – intriguing… Thanks to promoter Duncan at Ballantyne Communications for this one.

More from Cosmic Jazz soon.