Back catalogue: All genres

Review: 'Salty Road Dogs Victory Anthem' by Alabaster DePlume, composed live during a Vienna soundcheck and later recorded in London, emerges as a brilliant show to the resilience and creativity of the group. This track was birthed amidst the intense schedule of a demanding tour following the success of DePlume's album Gold. The piece opens with a robust, swirling saxophone, leading into a triumphant four-minute crescendo. DePlume is joined by a dynamic ensemble, featuring Rozi Plain on bass, Momoko Gill on drums, and Conrad Singh on guitar. Together, they craft a rousing homage to the sheer act of living, celebrating the victory of existence. This anthem resonates with a profound message of self-permission and triumph, regardless of external recognition. The music, much like his sentiment, is bold and unapologetic, encouraging listeners to embrace their victories, no matter how small.

Review: Angus Fairbairn may split his time between London and Manchester, but his music as Alabaster dePlume speaks to a kind of old-world romanticism that takes him out of time and place. Affiliated with Total Refreshment Centre, this mightily talented artist unfurls the kind of strikingly fresh twist on jazz we've come to expect from the London-based studios. His saxophone flutters in a most unusual of ways, while around it the mood and mode varies from Americana wooze to African spiritual and on to Middle Eastern mysticism. This is music of the Earth undoubtedly, but it celebrates the ability of distinct cultures to transcend the trappings of terra firma through song.

Review: Alabaster DePlume's latest album is a meditation on self-worth and healing, drawing from his poetry book Looking for My Value: Prologue to a Blade, he crafts 11 tracks that feel deeply personal yet universal. His saxophone, sometimes fluid, sometimes jagged, acts as both voice and emphasis on the likes of opener 'Oh My Actual Days' swells with sax and Macie Stewart's ghostly strings, a slow march toward reckoning. 'Thank You My Pain' turns its mantra-like refrain into a rhythmic meditation on discomfort. 'Invincibility' lifts into choral release, a breath after holding under water. The instrumental 'Prayer for My Sovereign Dignity' is an anthem for self-possession, while 'Form a V' channels the discipline of jiu-jitsu, inviting confrontation. Unlike his past, more improvisation-led works, this is tightly composed, arranged and produced by DePlume himself - and the result is direct, unflinching and deeply felt.

Review: Since turning up in the Windy city a few years ago, spiritual jazz singer, clarinetist and composer Angel Bat Dawid has become a stalwart of Chicago's vibrant avant-garde scene. Here he delivers a debut album that should, if there's any justice at least, propel her towards international superstardom. Both her melancholic clarinet lines and distinctive singing feature prominently throughout, alongside sparse percussion, occasional Afro-futurist synthesizer motifs, harp and guitars - all of which Dawid plays herself. It's a virtuoso display that more than confirms her status as one of the spiritual jazz scene's most authentic voices.

Review: After making some low-key waves with his Panama 77 LP, Daniel Villarreal is back with a unique document which pulls from the same era and mindset, but offers something very different. When in October 2020 he invited Jeff Parker and Anna Butterss to record in the backyard of Chicly Outpost in LA, it was the first jam the three had experienced post-lockdown. Some results from the session made it onto the last record, but now Villarreal has decided to focus squarely on these poignant sessions and pull out some of the finest material for our listening pleasure, and what a pleasure it surely is. Dusky, scratchy and honest, this is stripped down jamming jazz at its best.