My immediate response, when listening to this record for the first time, was “oh, this is fun stuff!”. There are many tributaries in confluence here, with influences as varied as Rhumba, various forms of Classical music, Jazz, a certain ECM Records/Third Stream aesthetic, and of course Congolese music combining into an organic and many-sided whole. While Niwel Tsumbu’s music can sparkle with impressive intellectual and technical prowess, it is at once music with much honestly and at times raw emotional content, moving seamlessly though moments of joy and introspection.

Born in the Congo and long-time asset of the Irish music community, Tsumbu will be familiar to many listeners of Jazz and Jazz-adjacent music. For many decades he has been performing with some of the best musicians on the island and abroad; Sinead O’Connor in Ireland for one, and Buena Vista Social Club abroad for another. Not content with triumph in the real world, he has also mastered the not-so-real world of the internet, becoming quite a success on Instagram with hundreds of thousands of people viewing his educational content. Currently, he can be caught in the act performing with Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi, touring pretty much everywhere on Earth.

Read more: Album Review - Niwel Tsumbu "Milimo"

Steve Welsh - saxophones, flute, clarinet
Darragh O'Kelly - keys
Sean Maynard Smith - bass
Brendan Doherty - drums and percussion

Bassist Sean Maynard-Smith is following up the 2021 recording Eh, No and his more confidence-inducing title Actually, Yeah in 2023, with a release by the Pizza Jazz group aptly named Home Delivery. Born by way of the lactic workshopping of Luckys’ Pizza Jazz evenings at their regular residency in Dublin, Maynard-Smith and his fellows Darragh O’Kelly on keyboards and drummer Brendan Doherty are joined on Home Delivery by American saxophone expat Steve Welsh. What follows is a record that is eccentric in all the right ways.

It isn’t easy music to provide an overview of. Some moments seem to channel the lighter shades of 70s Stanley Clarke in Venusian mode, especially so when O’Kelly’s vintage synth meets Welsh’s flute, such as on the third track Languidity. Other times we are lured more towards firmer Jazz territory, for example with their rendition of the Ornette Coleman classic Ramblin’, which is now for all intents and purposes in the standard repertoire. The enduring fascination lies in the way the ensemble is emphasising some of the more introspective sides of 60s Free Jazz and 70s Fusion, yet at the same time there is a fingerprint of individuality that means drawing too many comparisons to past styles deny Home Delivery’s unconventionality it’s due acknowledgement..

Read more: Album Review - Pizza Jazz, "Home Delivery"

Released May 2, 2023

Chris Engel - Soprano & Alto Saxophone
Bill Blackmore - Trumpet
Darragh O’Kelly - Piano
Cormac O’Brien - Double Bass
Matthew Jacobson - Drums

A collaborative Jazz group is a beautiful thing. While a certain focus that comes by way of having a leader with a strong musical vision is sometimes less present, diversity of writing styles and an eclectic mix of tunes can provoke a joyfulness when everyone is throwing different compositional ideas at a given project. The Workshop’s recent recording, simply entitled Vol. 1, has a foot somewhere in both camps. There is palpable spirit of adventure throughout the nine very differing compositions, yet the recording retains a high degree of unity, perhaps largely due to the deeply intertwined professional relationships of the five members, all of whom have long worked together in a variety of other settings.

Read more: The Workshop, Vol. 1 - Review

The Dublin Jazz scene never ceases to surprise me with its creativity, diversity and endurance. What it lacks in financial support compared to other European countries it more than compensates for with its high level of musicianship and increased cognisance of the history and traditions of the music. And so comes the EP from the quartet ÄTSCH into my inbox. I don’t know these guys, but I like what they do. Seemingly led by guitarist Matthias Winkler, the band delivers five thoughtful, well-conceived compositions that delicately but firmly push into a very personal modernity, all while maintaining a firm connection to the lineage.

Read more: ÄTSCH EP - Review

One Day In Winter is the sort of recording that keeps one on the edge of their seat throughout. The trio brings a deep empathy with European Jazz-making on one hand; the sparseness and melodicism, while keeping the tradition of Jazz music at the fore and even making space for Irish traditional elements in the inaugural piece Beata Viscera. But this is no fusion record. The trio have a singular vision, and the many influences are naturally expressed in the whole. This is a piano trio that finds a way to swing gently but stridently through a plethora of feels. No contrivances here, this is real.

Read more: Carole Nelson Trio - One Day in Winter - Album Review

This album shows how much Edel Meade’s vocal style has matured since she first appeared on the Dublin scene about six years ago. She opts for an understated approach, ethereal and with a touch of mystery. Combined with perfect diction and the sheer beauty of her voice, this puts Blue Fantasia in a class of its own.

Read more: Edel Meade – Blue Fantasia - Album Review