Best of April 2025

With Indi-Gêne ?, the debut album of the Noé Codjia & Neil Saidi 5tet, two pillars of the Zoot Collectif deliver a clear statement of intent: to anchor their jazz in the tradition of the acoustic quintet while asserting an original, vibrant, and fully contemporary voice.

Surrounded by Noé Huchard on piano, Luca Fattorini on double bass, and Malte Arndal on drums, they present a 100% original repertoire, recorded in their own studio in Paris.
A homegrown sound, conceived, produced, and refined by the musicians themselves.

The result? A collective and inhabited jazz, nourished by beautiful influences but never static.
It swings, it explores, it dialogues. And above all, it lives.
With this album and all the work around the Zoot Collectif, Codjia and Saidi confirm that they are more than musicians: they are transmitters, builders.

After a first volume praised by the jazz press, Couleurs Jazz especially, guitarist Yotam Silberstein continues his tribute to jazz standards with an equally inspired sequel.
Still accompanied by John Patitucci and Billy Hart, he selects rare pieces, revisiting them with finesse, swing, and a personal touch.

Special mention to Blue Gardenia, an upbeat version of a Nat King Cole classic, and Delilah, subtly tinged with Middle Eastern sounds thanks to the oud.
An elegant project, full of sensitivity, where every note rings true.
Standards Vol. 2, or the art of renewing great classics with grace and modernity.

Thad Jones represents jazz on multiple levels: complex, virtuosic, yet always vibrant and accessible.
Today, we rediscover him through a forgotten treasure—25 arrangements written in the 1970s for Harry James, previously unreleased.

Trombonist Sean Nelson and his New London Big Band revive this music with class, supported by Wayne Bergeron and John Riley.
We hear early versions of key tracks like Tip Toe and Three and One, already brimming with brilliant ideas.

An album that is both historical and vividly alive, confirming the immense talent of Thad Jones in full exploration.

After energizing the rock scene with Trust, David “Yacouba” Jacob returns with a deeply personal project: the Yacouba Trio and the album Ouida Road.
A record born from a long life journey, blending world music, jazz, and intimate roots.

Surrounded by his companions Hakim Molina on drums and Nicolas Noel on piano, he offers original compositions, infused with hard bop influences, film music, and his multicultural background.

A late but passionate double bassist, Yacouba turns every note into a journey.
From Ouida Road, a nod to his Beninese origins, to Sunday Market and Why Tea, each track tells a story—his own.
A sincere, elegant trio that plays at a human level. A must-listen.

5- Ignasi Terraza, Pierre Boussaguet & Ulf Wakenius / With Respect to Oscar.

With Open Roads, Romain Pilon continues his musical journey on uncharted paths.
Following the success of Falling Grace, the guitarist asserts his compositional talents in an album that is poetic, subtle, and powerfully free.

Supported by a top-tier trio—Orlando le Fleming on double bass and Mark Whitfield Jr. on drums—and enriched by the colors of Alexis Valet‘s vibraphone and Jean-Paul Estiévenart‘s trumpet, the album navigates between the Blue Note energy of the 60s and the contemplative space dear to ECM.

Each piece opens a new perspective, blending meticulous writing and sensitive improvisations.
A modern, elegant, and vibrant jazz that confirms Romain Pilon as one of the leading guitarists of his generation.

Who else but Emmanuel Bex to pay tribute to the great Eddy Louiss?
In Eddy m’a dit, Emmanuel Bex summons the spirit of his mentor, his model, the one who once passed on to him the sacred fire of the Hammond organ.

The album is a celebration, a sonic fresco that is precise, bubbling, and free.
Bex blends swing and tenderness, Caribbean groove, delirious fanfares, chamber jazz, and unprecedented biguine.
Alongside musicians from various generations—Michel Alibo, Fidel Fourneyron, Arnaud Dolmen, Simon Goubert, and even his own son Tristan—he constructs a living, joyful, structured yet inhabited tribute.

With Eddy m’a dit, Bex not only celebrates a jazz giant: he extends his breath.
And proves, once again, that the organ is a voice of the soul.

Jazz piano Master, Cyrus Chestnut returns with a superb quartet album on the HighNote label.
Accompanied by Gerald Cannon on double bass, Chris Beck on drums, and Stacy Dillard on saxophone, he delivers an elegant and vibrant record where swing, emotion, and finesse intertwine.

As always with Chestnut, the playing is both rooted in tradition and open to surprise.
Between original compositions and heartfelt interpretations, this new chapter further affirms his standing among the greatest pianists of his generation.

A warm, lush, demanding, and profoundly human music. To listen to, savor, and share.

For his fifth trio album, Movements of Air, Daniel Herskedal crafts a majestic and introspective work.
Alongside his longtime companions Eyolf Dale (already “Best of” with his last album, 2 months ago) on piano and Helge Norbakken on percussion, they celebrate ten years of shared music in a record that is contemplative, cinematic, and deeply human.

Exploring the boundary between softness and tension, between war and peace, Herskedal transforms the tuba into a vector of pure emotion through tracks like Peace River Crossing and The Olive Branch.

It’s a breath of hope, a wordless song, a music of air and heart.
A rare work, at the crossroads of jazz, chamber music, and lucid dreaming.

After seven years of reflection, Yves Brouqui makes a luminous return with Mean What You Say.
Surrounded by the New York trio of Spike Wilner, Paul Gill, and Anthony Pinciotti, he delivers an elegant and generous album, firmly rooted in the tradition of bop and hard bop jazz.

From the vibrant homage to Cedar Walton (Turquoise Twice) to the Latinized revisit of Stranger Than Paradise, and a Besame Mucho in 5/4 reminiscent of Wes Montgomery, each piece is crafted, inspired, and inhabited.
Special mention to Magali, a tender dedication to his grandmother, and For John L, an obvious nod to Wes.

The guitar-piano quartet sound evokes the finest hours of Blue Note.
No chatter, just precision and musicality.
Yves Brouqui here asserts a mature and mastered voice: that of a swing craftsman and a lover of historical jazz.
Read the full review on Couleurs Jazz: https://couleursjazz.fr/fr/yves-brouqui-mean-what-you-say/

Thirty-five years after the cult album Gypsy Guitars, Angelo Debarre returns with the long-awaited sequel: Gypsy Guitars 2.
Still accompanied by his longtime partners Serge Camps on rhythm guitar and Frank Anastasio on double bass, he delivers an album that is both a tribute and a mature work.

We find the spirit of La Roue Fleurie, between Romanian and Hungarian gypsy pieces, vintage gypsy swing, nods to Django, and personal compositions like the superb waltz Manège.
The sound is pure, acoustic, and collaborative—a true lesson in style and transmission.

With Gypsy Guitars 2, Angelo Debarre brilliantly continues the story begun in 1989.
More than a sequel: a new moment of grace.

The incredible Hiromi Uehara returns in full force with Out There, a 13th explosive and abundant album that confirms, if needed, her status as an icon of contemporary jazz.
At the helm of her group Sonicwonder—with Hadrien Feraud, Gene Coye, and Adam O’Farrill—the Japanese pianist blends fusion, funk, acoustic jazz, and electronic textures with staggering virtuosity.

At the heart of the album, the four-movement suite Out There is a distillation of her vision: adventurous, cinematic, free.
Elsewhere, we move from the ultra-rhythmic Yes! Ramen!! to the neo-soul of Pendulum, culminating in the catchy finale Balloon Pop, a groove gem reminiscent of Miles Davis.

Hiromi delivers a generous, dazzling, jubilant album—a celebration of returning to the stage, to life, to boundless imagination.
A sonic fireworks display… and contagious joy.