#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?...

#nowplaying #jazzsky James Brandon Lewis - Abstraction Is Deliverance (2025) sax/piano/bass/drums Previous JBLQ albums have explored his "Molecular" conception of composition, and the CD liner notes gave insight into the process. This time, the "notes" are a short story by Teju Cole.....

#nowplaying #newmusic #jazzsky Sinsuke Fujieda Group - Fukushima Strong Coltrane vibes here, but enough of its own thing not to be derivative. Sax/violin frontline really works and there's a percussionist as well piano/bass/drums so the rhythm section sounds really full.

#NowPlaying @ronnisalt.bsky.social posted Ben Fold's original as a small moment of counterpoint to today's appalling events. It reminded me of this very fine accapella version. youtu.be/XzmCVZx_Ws4?...

#nowplaying #newmusic #jazzsky Notionally released Feb '26 but my CD arrived in the post today. Reid/ Halvorson/ Roebke/ Fujiwara all in killer form, lively and vibrant. All the individuality and quirkiness you expect but, like "3+3," really coherent and easy to connect with.

#nowplaying #jpop Hitsujibungaku - Shaun the Sheep Maybe not quite as preposterous a cover as you think, guitarist Moeka Shiotsuka plays a nifty riff on this. Coincidentally (?) roughly corresponds with the time drummer Hiroa Fukuda seemed to withdraw from the band. youtu.be/iC1Z2aO4SdA?...

Hi! It's the @theguardian.com here! We've just published a new article! You have ten seconds to post an opinion before we close off comments...

#nowplaying #jpop #musicsky Gen Hoshino - Mad Hope It's "best music of the year time" and so this was my favourite song this year. Louis Cole provides a surprisingly direct and sincere lyric and the two Sams (sax and bass) add some magic. Superb video from aRuFa too. youtu.be/J0ben1SI4QY?...

#nowplaying #jpop #newmusic TOMOO - Dear Mysteries New album from Japanese female pop singer/pianist/songwriter. Like the previous "Two Moons" a bit ballad heavy, but loads of great songs and real craft in the arrangements. I went for the 3 disc version with her fab Budokan concert.

#nowplaying #jazzsky Colin Steele Quartet - The Blue Nile Scottish quartet (trumpet/piano/bass/drums) and it's exactly what it says on the tin- jazz interpretations of the Blue Nile songbook. My fave track is my fave BN song- "Heatwave"; it's all quietly ingenious and sympathetic to the originals.

#nowplaying #jazzsky #newmusic The Dam Jawn feat. Jeremy Pelt - Triphasic Always enjoys an alto/tenor/trumpet front line. Guitar/bass/drum section also very fine. Having recommended this yesterday, giving it another listen this morning. I still really like it.

#NowPlaying #jazzsky Well worth checking out.

#MihoHazama #DanishNationalSymphonyOrchestra & #DanishRadioBigBand #LiveLifeThisDay #CelebratingThadJones #EditionRecords 2025 Fantástico homenaje al inolvidable y maravilloso #ThadJones editionrecords.com/releases/mih... #música #jazz #bigbands #grandesbandas #Japón #Dinamarca #EstadosUnidos

Trumpet player here and can confirm. I was taught that mf means "mainly full-on". pp - pretty powerful p - powerful mp - more than powerful mf - mainly fearsome f - fearsome ff - normal

#A-Haydn-A-Day (65) No 97 Cmaj Cleveland Symphony, George Szell Mvt 1: Wikipedia tells me that the opening bars quote Cosi fan tutte, and since we start with One Song To The Tune Of Another, I'm going with a Szell performance here.

#A-Haydn-A-Day (64) Sinfonia "A" Bbmaj Il Capriccio, Friedemann Wezel Mvt 1: Symphonic provenance can be tricky to establish with so many Haydns: There's Franz Joseph Haydn, Michael Haydn, Cal Haydn von Haydnsdorff... apparently they knew this one was by JFH but thought it was a string quartet...

#A-Haydn-A-Day (63) no 13 Dmaj Ensemble for 18th Century Music, Eiji Hashimoto Mvt 1: No nicknames for this one? "Black cat" or "Walking under ladder" going begging surely. Wikipedia (and my ear) tells me there's a flute in this one, playing some nice "delay lines."

#A-Haydn-A-Day (62) no 46 Bmaj Heidelberg Symphony, Benjamin Spillner Mvt 1: Oh, I like that this wastes no time in modulating to the minor. Wikipedia notes that there's a question about which octave the horns should play in. This whole orchestra things a tricky game, eh?

#A-Haydn-A-Day (61) no 50 Cmaj "In Nomine Domini" English Concert, Trevor Pinnock Mvt 1: Now if there's one thing we should bring back it's marionette operas. "Les tonnerres oiseaux" anyone? I wonder if back then people were annoyed at being the support act?

#A-Haydn-A-Day (61) no 51 Bbmaj English Concert, Trevor Pinnock Mvt 1: Well, thanks to the comments so far and a bit of wikipedia, I know to expect some advanced horniness for this one. Maybe they whinged to JH about getting not much to do and he said, be careful what you ask for.