#NowPlaying #MusicSky #jazzsky SKRUK & Mahsa Vahdat - I Vinens Speil Norwegian choral group meets Persian/Iranian singer/songstress mediated by ace jazz trio led by Tord Gustavson. This one's a lost gem. Highly recommended. I mean, really really highly recommended.

#MusicSky Kaneko Ayano, Manning Bar, Sydney 8/5/2026 Very different set to last year, really concise and tight. Textbook case of how a band doesn't have to rely on technique histrionics but instead it's all great songs and arrangements. Touring UK 2-4 June and Europe 6-17 June HIghly recommend.

#MusicSky Bridge Dog at Manning Bar, Sydney 8/5/2026. Five piece Sydney band, vaguely shoegazery, some really good songs but will be interested to see how this band grows and develops. They could do worse than be inspired by the headliner. It was worth it to turn up early to catch them.

Remember when being Goth was about being really enthusiastic about something but having a lisp?

#NowPlaying #NewMusic #jpop Yorushika - Abuku (Bubble) Catchy track. Clever video. youtu.be/OHAjc-ayhus?...

#NowPlaying #jazzsky #NewMusic Miho Hazama & Danish Radio Big Band - Frames I'm a big fan so coming to this with some level of expectation and I'm enjoying it a lot. DRBB are great players, it sounds terrific and MH's compositions are as twisty and interesting as ever.

#MusicSky #NowPlaying Discovering some fascinating new music (new to me anyway) thanks to these Song Bar playlists. Collated from contributions made by many participants in the spirit of the old Guardian "Readers Recommend" column. www.song-bar.com/song-blog/pl...

#NowPlaying #MusicSky

#musicsky This week on Song Bar, music featuring banjo (and antecedents). For an instrument which is, maybe, a bit typecast, the final playlists are quite varied- as were the original nominations. Enjoy the #MusicChallenge threads? Song Bar might be for you. www.song-bar.com/song-blog/pl...

This week at Song Bar- songs about blossoms While the Guardian makes occasional half-hearted efforts at song-based lists, the spirit of Readers Recommend lives on.... www.song-bar.com/song-blog/pl...

#nowplaying #jazzsky Art Hirahara - Peace Unknown (2021) Hirahara on piano with a four horn front line. Several of the players contribute a set of fine arrangements, straight ahead jazz with great players playing great.

#newmusic #jazzsky Jesper Thorne - Stille (2026) Danish double-bassist led group with tenor sax, trumpet, violin and piano. Some electronic/ ambient bits. Low key but not all slow tempo. The liner notes describe the vibe: music symbolising the need to find hope and purpose in disconsolate times.

#NowPlaying #NewMusic #jazzsky Flea - Honora I actually.... quite like this.... Jeff Parker's on it and he's good as ever, Flea has a good trumpet sound if not the broadest improvisational range. But it feels coherent; there were a few moments that didn't grab me but on the whole a lot to like.

It's a shame my tinnitus isn't pitched down by four or five octaves, it'd be like having a Morton Feldman piece playing on a loop.

#NowPlaying #NewMusic #jazzsky Marius Neset / Bergen Big Band / Anton Eger - Time To Live I'm always partial to a big band album and this has the kaleidoscope of sound I'm looking for. MN on tenor and soprano sax. Soprano sax can be annoying in the wrong hands but sounds great here.

#NowPlaying #NewMusic #jazzsky Ben Wendel - BaRcoDe Ben joined by four vibes players! Well vibes, marimba and "EFX." Inevitably I thought, oh it'll sound a bit Steve Reichy, and occasionally it sort of does, but everyone's personality shines through. This one's a keeper!

#NowPlaying #NewMusic #jazzsky Vadim Neselovskyi + Ysaye String Trio - Perseverantia VN is a jazz pianist but this album has a strong compositional component and probably more fits the "modern classical" label. Cannot recommend highly enough. Musically superb and I found it deeply affecting.

This week on Song Bar, lyrical zeugmas. I must confess, "zeugma" was a word previously unknown to me... would have gotten me out of a few Scrabble tight spots I suspect. www.song-bar.com/song-blog/pl...

#NowPlaying #jazzsky Michael Wollny Trio - Living Ghosts. Piano trio with Tim Lefebvre on bass and Eric Schaefer on drums. Listened to it when it came out and did not like it. Giving it another spin and do not know what my problem was. Maybe the balance of out/in didn't appeal at the time?

#NowPlaying #jazzsky Holland / Winstone / London Vocal Project - Vital Spark (Music of Kenny Wheeler) Gorgeous and unsurprisingly reflective, the choral sound just works so perfectly with Wheeler's music. Holland and the band are great, and Winstone's voice, as ever, is perfect for the music.

#NowPlaying #jazzsky Walter Smith III - Twio Vol 2 Great choice of covers (and one original). Joe Sanders on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums, Branford Marsalis joins on two tracks. Straightforward, straight ahead, no manifesto other than "play with your soul." Like it a lot.

#NowPlaying #JazzSky Meg Okura - Isaiah Kaleidoscopic and all over the place (in a good way). I'm a fan of larger ensembles so 10 piece with some guests players def works for me. M.O playes violin and ehru and there's a harpist on board so the textures and arrangements are really interesting.

I'd guess that Philip Larkin is not a well known poet in the USA.

ㅤ My daughter is a high school art teacher. Recently she worked with the kindergarten art teacher and she had her kindergarteners draw monsters. My daughter had her high school students sew plushies of the kindergartners’ creations img/txt: Matt Dawson [SaintRPh] ㅤ

As mentioned already, really enjoyed her album from last year.

#nowplaying #jpop Figure skating is in the limelight right now so why not this theme song from an anime about figure skating which has Yuzuru Hanyu in the video? My hot take- this was Kenshi's 2nd best song from last year (Jane Doe the best) Kenshi Yonezu - Bow And Arrow youtu.be/M-Eyhjkepy0?...

#nowplaying Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba – I speak Fula (2012) Discovered this thanks to Song Bar a few weeks ago. My knowledge of African music is minimal so may as well jump in at Mali. Some really great arranging on this, the song writing is terrific.

This week's Song Bar featured clarinet as the theme. Lots to like in the curated lists. The spirit of "Readers Recommend" lives on... www.song-bar.com/song-blog/pl...

In the "good old days", The Guardian used to have a column called "Readers Recommend," where a guest columnist would make a playlist about a topic based on reader's suggestions. It's sadly been canned, but the idea lives on at the Song Bar. www.song-bar.com/song-blog/pl...

Some rapid response on jazz at the 2026 Grammys. (More news than commentary, but I snuck a little in.)

kotringo - Video Killed The Radio Star Imagine if someone actually covered this song with a vaguely prog sensibility. Occasionally feels almost Canteburyesque. youtu.be/HWjAFMhPYcU?...

#nowplaying Material- Seven Souls (1989) This got remixed and redone apparently but the original release is the one I know and love. Sly Dunbar on drums. RIP.

Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42, post the second sentence. "Hadn't she heard him honking?"

#jazzsky Enji 16/1/2026 at Pier 2 for the Sydney Festival Intimate, captivating show with River Adomeit on upright bass and regular collaborator Paul Brändle on guitar. This lineup really suited Enji's intonation and inflections, she even roused us into a Mongolian singalong. Enjoyed it a lot.

#nowplaying #jpop TOMOO - Sonare strong mid 70's / early Billy Joel vibes on this one. The new album (which I liked) only came out in November and already a very fine entirely new song. youtu.be/uYsWMFGHszg?...

#jazzsky 4 favourite live albums Bill Evans Trio - Village Vanguard Miles Davis Quintet - Blackhawk Keith Jarrett Trio - Whisper Not Dave Douglas Quintet - Brazen Heart At Jazz Standard could change on a whim, ask again tomorrow.

#jazzsky It just goes to show how rich and deep the scene is that I've listened to about 30 of the top 64 and don't feel like in any way I have my finger on the pulse. Also loads of albums I loved down in the triple figures. So much great new music out there.

#nowplaying #jpop Hitsujibungaku - Don't Laugh It Off (2025) Wider instrument palette (piano! cello! loops!), and big hooky choruses as you'd expect, doesn't quite have the compositional depth of "Our Hope" which for me remains their masterwork.

#jazzsky #nowplaying Albert Vila Trio - Reality Is Nuance (2023) Doug Weiss on bass and Rudy Royston on drums are top tier players and Vila doesn't waste the opportunity. Good original tunes and some great playing. He has his own thing but is clearly influenced by the modern greats (eg Sco, Pat).

#jazzsky #nowplaying Mendoza Hoff Revels - Echolocation (2023) Ava Mendoza on guitar and Devin Hoff join with James Brandon Lewis (sax) and Ches Smith (drums) to make high quality bedlam. If you remember those "X,Y & Z" supergroups from the late 90's this is like a really great one of those.

#jazzsky No "Ten Favourite Guitarists" from me, instead an incomplete list of guitarists who have released great albums in the last few years. Tunico Mary Halvorson Julian Lage Jacob Young Nels Cline Ant Law Ava Mendoza Albert Vila

#NowPlaying Prokofiev Symphony No 5 Bb op 100 SNO / Neeme Jarvi Possibly my favourite symphony, though my obligatory New Year's resolution is to listen to more symphonies, so ask me again next year. Love the big climaxes in the 1st and 4th mvts. Hot take: clarinet is MVP.

#NowPlaying Tatsura Yamashita - Christmas Eve Like any good Christmas song, dosed with a large dash of kitsch. Great chords, great vocal harmonies. For those who think Wham's "Last Christmas" is a bit too austere.... youtu.be/1-xwxyHOyVw?...

#NowPlaying Boyzvoice - Let Me Be Your Father Christmas Possibly in questionable taste. youtu.be/UiZZRGmMH8I?...

#NowPlaying #MusicSky Bielefelder Kinderchor - Das Weihnachtskonzert Des Bielefelder Kinderchores I would guess many people have the "treasured Christmas album" they grew up with. This is mine. 16 carols (8 per side) with organ segues between the hymns.

#NowPlaying #jpop AiScReam - AI♡SCREAM！ Earworm of the year. You might reasonably be concerned at possible corporate exploitaion and female infantilisation but on the flip side, the song (as they probably no longer say) slaps. youtu.be/8Yy7Jzle338?...

#NowPlaying I have the Supersonic Orchestra "Family" album, which is a blast. This is a somewhat different beast but shares that sense of "loose and tight at the same time."

#nowplaying #jpop Furui Riho - Hello Sometimes you just need to listen to something cheerful. youtu.be/JxyACq69HgA?...

#NowPlaying #jazzsky Danish Radio Big Band & Symphony Orchestra / Miho Hazama - A Child is Born Arranged Scott Ninmer from the Thad Jones composition. Played this track a lot this year, very much a favourite, adore the "old school" string sound and arrangement youtu.be/H5x5DbdBd98?...