Europe Jazz Media Chart July 2025

Dick Hovenga, Written in Music:

GOGO PENGUIN Necessary Fictions
XXIM Records

writteninmusic.com

Dick Hovenga:

"Of course, it was to be expected that Everything Is Going To Be OK would not immediately become the changing album that pianist Chris Illingworth and bassist Nick Blacka would make after the departure of drummer of the first hour, Rob Turner, and the arrival of new drummer Jon Scott. Before that, simply too much had happened, including in their personal lives. That the more introspective album was nevertheless a fine go-around indicated their decisiveness yet again.
After touring the album extensively worldwide, the time finally came for the three of them to sit down and discuss their musical directions. It initially came down to Illingworth and Blacka rearranging the GoGo Penguin studio in Manchester and the two of them began making music there freely. Scott, the only one living in London, joined them after a few weeks. At a relaxed pace, actually throughout 2024, the three musicians took time to work on new pieces.

Necessary Fictions has become the album on which Illingworth, Blacka and Scott invent their version of GoGo Penguin. Of course, their sound is recognizable (those strong piano lines, those powerful and cool bass parts and those atypical drum parts) but their seventh album (not counting remix album GGP/RMX for the moment) dives full into adventure again. Illingworth has discovered synthesizers and uses them glowingly in the new tracks and Blacka and Scott are in blood form."

Nuno Catarino, jazz.pt:

MYRA MELFORD Splash
Intakt

BANDCAMP

Nuno Catarino:

"Inspired by the expressionist Cy Twombly, Myra Melford, together with Michael Formanek on double bass and Ches Smith on drums, delivers Splash — a captivating musical work that beautifully balances intricate sonic details with abstract, thoughtful exploration."

Henning Bolte, freelance:

BEIGGJA Morning
Hubro

YOUTUBE
BANDCAMP

Henning Bolte:

"Kika Sprangers found her musical kindring and her musical dream partners: pianist Kjetil Mulelid, bassist Mats Eilertsen and drummer Per Oddvar Johansen … and they, they found a strong amalgamating transformative voice. It lead them on a trace to give shape to a shining common breathing ground.  Light, space, sonority - the slope tothe Nordic, to the width of space, to immersive drifting into melancholy - it offers a lot in different moods, modes and tempos with “Love Cycle” with its Dowland tinge as highlight in a seizing flow of music. A promising new group."

Tony Dudley-Evans, UK Jazz News: 

LARRY STABBINS & MARK SANDERS Cup & Ring
Discus

Tony Dudley-Evans:

"Saxophonist/ flautist Larry Stabbins (b.1949) returned from a 10-year retirement from music a few years ago and is currently very active, especially in the area of free improvisation.  On this album he works in duo with the always inventive drummer Mark Sanders.  The CD has 11 improvisations with Stabbins playing alto flute or concert flute on the tracks that come under the heading of "Cup".  On those under the heading "Ring", Stabbins plays either alto saxophone or bass clarinet. It's an album of great charm."

Lars Mossefinn, Dag og tid: 

BRIOTRIO Voyage
Losen Records

Patrik Sandberg, Orkesterjournalen: 

ALBERTO PINTON Allt Större Klarhet
Moserobie

BANDCAMP

Patrik Sandberg:

"Alberto Pinton is an important part of Swedish jazz, as a solo artist, as a permanent member of the Bohuslän Big Band and as a sideman in a number of exciting contexts. On the solo album Allt større klarhet he switches between baritone saxophone, alto and bass flute and selected parts of the clarinet family - Bb, Eb and contralto clarinet. This of course gives tonal variation, but Pinton's compositions are also varied and shifting in style. Pinton handles all his woodwind instruments with great authority. With him are Konrad Agnas, Vilhelm Bromander and Alex Zethson."

Cim Meyer, All That ...:

JACOB YOUNG/MATS EILERTSEN/AUDUN KLEIVE
Eventually
ECM

Cim Meyer:

"The title track in seven eights is a strong and yet gentle opening with the theme delicately played by the bass. Loops and multi-layered guitars do not crowd – there’s plenty of space for bass and drums. With titles like One For Louis (presumably Armstrong) and The Dog Ate My Homework Young also demonstrates an important historic reference and his sense of humor. 

Recorded 2021 in midland Norway EVENTUALLY presents guitarist Jacob Young’s fourth leader-recording for ECM. Young, bassist Eilertsen and drummer Kleive explore a wide range of temperaments and styles. EVENTUALLY oozes gentle lyricism, while Audun Kleive’s groovy infusions add counterpoint and edge to Jacob’s spiraling compositions and more rhythmically overt elaborations. The trio play thoughtfully, reflectively and with a tad subdued melancholy. Like gazing out the window on a cloudy day letting your thoughts wander – and time disappear. Before you know it the CD ends after 42 minutes."

Matthieu Jouan, citizenjazz.com:

DARRIFOURCQ, HERMIA, CECCALDI
Unicorn And Flexibility
Hector

BANDCAMP

Matthieu Jouan:

"Since their first record, God at the Casino, the trio has been exploring rhythmic and melodic elements connected to the rhythm of the body, heart, and time. For 13 years, the three musicians have developed a fascinating language of listening and seeing that is almost telepathic. This third album confirms all of that without losing the freshness, humor, and swing that are essential to the trio."

Axel Stinshoff, Jazz thing:

ARVE HENRIKSEN/TRYGVE SEIM/ANDERS JORMIN
/MARKKU OUNASKARI Arcanum
ECM

Luca Vitali, Giornale della Musica:

PAOLO ANGELI Lema
Anma Productions

BANDCAMP
YOUTUBE

Yves Tassin, JazzMania:

JEROEN VAN HERZEELE & STÉPHANE GALLAND
Songhan
Challenge

YOUTUBE

Yves Tassin:

"A strange object that oscillates between dance, trance, meditation and improvisation." (Jacques Prouvost)

Jos Demol, jazzhalo.be:

BRAD SHEPIK Human Activity
Dream of the Possible
Shifting Paradigm Records

BANDCAMP 
YOUTUBE 

Jos Demol:

"Brad Shepik's 'Human Activity Dream of the Possible' is a ten movement meditation on the climate challenges we face, aiming to inspire people to take any action they can to preserve and adapt in a sustainable way for future generations. 

Shepik composed and premiered the work in 2021 as response to that year's climate report and his previous composition Human Activity Suite (2007). The concert length work weaves stringed instruments and rhythms from around the world with jazz into a narrative of hope."

Kaspars Zavileiskis, jazzin.lv:

THE THIRD STREAM QUARTET Deja Vu
Jersika Records

BANDCAMP

Kaspars Zavileiskis: 

"This is an atypical jazz and classical music or so-called third stream project with a tendency towards a cool jazz atmosphere. It is made even more atypical by leaving the drums outside the studio, emphasizing the vibraphone and clarinet and supplementing the sound with guitar and double bass. In the vinyl format, the album contains only original music – on the A side, vibraphonist Ēriks Miezis’s dreamy and three-movement Third Stream Suite plus a tribute to Brazilian master Heitor Villa-Lobos, while on the B side, clarinetist, the founder and head of the Latvian Music Academy Jazz department Indriķis Veitners’ more nostalgic retro-oriented pieces. The digital version is accordingly supplemented with the uplifting Benny Goodman hit Slipped Disc. This is also an international quartet, as the three Latvian musicians are joined by a Lithuanian guitarist, the head of the Jazz department of the Lithuanian university Vilnius Kolegija Pranas Kentra. The fourth member, double bassist Andris Grunte, is also an experienced jazz musician, so Deja Vu is a nuanced, easy-flowing record to be enjoyed with a light smile, outside of time and rules."

Jacek Brun, www.jazz-fun.de:

OLIVIA TRUMMER Like Water
Warner Music

jazz-fun.de
YOUTUBE

Jacek Brun:

"Olivia Trummer plays and sings solo – and in doing so, she touches the heart deeply. The songs on Like Water are performed and sung in a way that is both subtle and intimate. You can truly feel how much Olivia Trummer loves sharing her stories with us. What emerges is a musical soundscape full of mystery – one that consists of poetic, moving songs on the one hand, and impresses as brilliantly played and improvised music on the other – all carried by her beautiful, expressive voice. Every note is deliberate, every word meaningful, and yet everything feels completely natural, like a seamless whole. It is a profoundly emotional album that shines through its delicate balance between jazz, art song, and improvisation – and one that absolutely deserves to be heard."

Bega Villalobos, In&OutJazz:

SAVINA YANNATOU/JULIUS GABRIEL/AGUSTÍ
FERNÁNDEZ/BARRY GUY/RAMÓN LÓPEZ
In The Light of the Current Myth
Fundacja Sluchaj

inandout-jazz.es
BANDCAMP

Bega Villalobos:

"The studio session that shapes In The Light Of The Current Myth consists of seven free improvisations that form a kaleidoscope of a thousand different textures and continuous mutations.

There is a sense of freedom, of play, even of fun, that runs through the album from beginning to end, allowing the band to deploy a vast palette of creative and technical resources in a continuous display of telepathy acquired through years and years of camaraderie and collaboration."

Mike Flynn, Jazzwise: 

COLIN STEELE The Blue Nile
Marina Records

YOUTUBE
Marina Records

Paweł Brodowski, Jazz Forum

MOŻDŻER/PRIVAT/RANTALA/WOLLNY
Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic XVI –
Piano Night II
ACT

Paweł Brodowski:

"So this is already the 16th volume in a series with live recordings of concerts organized yearly by ACT at the famed Berlin Philharmonic, focusing on various themes and different instrumental combinations. The first „Piano Night” of some ten years ago featured three piano stars from different European countries, all closely associated with the German label: Iiro Rantala (Finland), Michael Wollny (Germany) and Leszek Możdżer (Poland). On “Piano Night II” they are joined by the new find from France, the Martinique born Grégory Privat.

They are playing alternately solo, in various duets, and closing as a quartet. The music is mostly classically inspired, moody and introspective. There are eleven tracks, each pianist contributing an original composition, with the exception of Leszek Możdżer who chose Chopin instead (“Etude in C Minor  Revolutionary”). In “Enjoy the Silence” (Depeche Mode) his duet partner is Michael Wollny, who comes to the fore in the second part of the album. Iiro Rantala appears to be most jazzy in the traditional sense (stride piano in “Singing in the Rain”). All four get together for the final display of showmanship in Ellington’s “Caravan,” getting a thunderous applause."

Krzysztof Komorek, Donos kulturalny: 

SZYMON MIKA Agma
selfpublished

donos.home.blog
BANDCAMP
YOUTUBE

Krzysztof Komorek:

"Szymon Mika’s latest album, Agma, reveals a new side of the artist. After several intimate [solo and duo] projects, the guitarist’s music now resonates in a quintet format. The nearly hour-long album features nine tracks, most of them extended in duration to allow space for each instrument—including the voice—to shine. The vocalist is part of this equation: unlike 'Cosmic Sand' with its standard lyrical delivery, 'Agma' treats the voice as an instrumental layer. This time, Mika focused on precise arrangements to highlight each musician’s strengths while leaving room for improvisational freedom. Listening to Agma is a breathtaking experience. This is a brilliantly conceived album, flawlessly executed by the ensemble—filled with intriguing melodies, inventive improvisations, and the quintet’s extraordinary unity. Perfection."

Jan Granlie, salt-peanuts.eu: 

MISHA MENGELBERG/SABU TOYOZUM
The Analects Of Confucius
Nobusiness Records

Jan Granlie:

"The Analects Of Confucius is a good look back to 2000, on the great pianist and improviser Misha Mengelberg. And the interaction with the japanese drummer Sabu Toyozumi is, roughly, like hearing Mengelberg together with Han Bennink. And throughout the release they serve excellent free jazz that will stand as a stellar example of good communication and excellent improvisation."

Christine Stephan, JAZZTHETIK:

SHARON MANSUR Trigger
ACT

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