Dodie – Old Devil Moon

This weeks Fresh Juice is like a visit to the Jazz Club with half a dozen new offerings from the cool world of vibes, improvisation and musical excellence. First up is a cover version by Dodie who might just feel like two worlds colliding with her current career trajectory. She gained attention, and continues to, via a prolific release schedule of original songs and interpretations on YouTube but here she is brilliantly contributing to an album available in the traditional vinyl format through the jazz classic Blue Note label (in the US, it is on Decca in the UK). The record in question is ‘Chet Baker Re:imagined’, released to mark the 70th anniversary of ‘Chet Baker Sings’, it features fifteen re-workings by various newer artists in a modern context of Baker classics.

Manon Mullener – Nostalgia

Heard here playing a piece from her new album ‘Stories’, Mullener seems to work the piano with a rare ability to both lead and explore her instrument simultaneously. Her style is melodic and easy to appreciate but it can bare multiple repeated listens and highlight many a nuance in her flourishes with each revisit. Manon is a Swiss player and composer who, with this new album, has released her most cohesively concept driven work to date and it impresses as a record that frequently imagines real life scenarios as breath taking musical presentations.

Brad Mehldau – Better Be Quiet Now

Jazz pianist supreme Brad Mehldau’s appreciation of the late Elliott Smith’s music is nothing new, there is film footage available of him playing with Smith on TV some twenty five years ago. Even then they seemed a good match, Mehldau coming across as an understanding foil for Elliott’s introspective singer-songwriting and his mastery of what Brad describes as the “dark/light admix”. Neither is this new work the first time the piano man has honoured Smith on record but his latest release does represent a proper step towards paying a full, album length, affectionate tribute to the man and his music. And, as you would expect if his previous recordings have ever moved you, Mehldau does a fantastic job on new release ‘Ride Into The Sun’, capturing Elliott’s wondrously potent blend of major / minor ornate compositional elegance. An essential, piano led orchestral jazz work awaits.

Amina Claudine Myers – Solace Of The Mind

The latest album by pianist Amina features this emotional centrepiece song as its title track, it is a record that she describes as a “balm, a mirror, a space to sit with your thoughts”. Released this year on Red Hook Records, it finds the now 83 year old trailblazer exploring music that touches base with jazz, blues and spirituals. Although she did not start recording music until the late 1970’s, Myers is widely recognized and appreciated in jazz circles as one of the masters of improvisation and is highly regarded for her musicianship on Hammand B3 organ and piano, not to mention that resonant, expressive voice. Long may she run.

David White Trio – Close The Door

Playing a simmering electric guitar led tune from their latest album ‘While You Were Sleeping’, this is a sublime live studio rendition from the guitarists combo who have been favourably compared to top jazz guitar names like John Scofield and Pat Metheny. Still, as you can witness here, they are not a group inclined to sit still on structure, showing a perpetual inclination to explore and innovate whilst holding firmly onto the listeners ears. There is much to enjoy on this new record, especially in the groove driven backbone that locks in some of the tunes, add to that the top drawer playing and this is a new jazz album that rewards taking a deep dive towards.

Joshua Redman – A Message To Unsend

This soothing yet seductively mournful piece is taken from Joshua’s latest album ‘Words Fall Short’ released on Blue Note Records and it proves that the label, this far into its history, remains a hallmark of jazz quality. Now in his mid-fifties, Redman has a hard won reputation as one of the finest saxophonists of his time thanks to an intangible mix of intuition and fervor in his playing. This is a record that Joshua reports was largely composed during the pandemic and the reflective mood that permeates certainly enhances that impression. However, the real magic is in the way the recordings come alive with organic warmth, displaying the kind of stunning results that can only come out of a group naturally feeding off each other to bring their music alive in the studio and then, fantastically, on record.