Some Short Record Reviews

Sono Seni Ensemble Keroncwrong (2025)

This is a 2025 release recorded in Surakarta in Indonesia and featuring John Jacobs and Ginevra House from the gamelan retreat in Poolewe I attended last September. The music is a fusion of fusion. When the Portuguese first arrived in 16th century Java their musical instruments (violins, flutes, mandolins, proto-guitars, cellos etc.) were incorporated into Javanese music, creating a hybrid form called keroncong. This record merges keroncong with modal jazz. I think maybe I would need more familiarity with keroncong to evaluate this properly as I'm not in a position to say how this record differs from a recording of more straight down the line keroncong (if there is such a thing). I might also need a better understanding of the difference between modal jazz and… jazz. As is, the record is a lively collection of tunes featuring vocals, trumpet, guitar, bass, cello, ukuleles, and violin. One of the tunes is a non-gamelan arrangement of popular gamelan tune while another incorporates elements of classical piece "Ave Maria".

Check it out yourself on Bandcamp

We're Not Together We're Not Together (2023)

He is a man, she is a woman, and they are not together (or so they say). I saw them playing tunes at the Stoneybatter festival and found them appealing so I have downloaded this from Bandcamp, where it is completely free (you can't pay for it even if you want to). She sings, he doesn't, and while you might not necessarily see this as the greatest music ever made there is a nice groove to the tunes on this short record and an appealing mix of styles from jazz-adjacent to folk-adjacent. I liked her voice and the playing that accompanied it. I particularly liked the recording of folk classic "Silver Dagger" (Roud 711), which my beloved reminds me was the basis of Saint Etienne's "Like a Motorway". Hear it for yourself on Bandcamp.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience Axis: Bold as Love (1967)

The second album from the Experience lacks the standout hits of their first or third albums but it's a solid all-killer no-filler record that shows off the band's chops. Listening to it makes me feel like I am turning into Lyric FM's Bernard Clarke. Oh yeah. A welcome Christmas present. (image from Wikipedia)

Hilary Woods Night CRIÚ (2025)

I recall being initially underwhelmed by her 2020 record Birthmarks, but it has grown on me with time. This I like a lot more from the off. It's more atmospheric semi-electronic stuff but it seems to hit my buttons straight off. Worth fainting at a concert for. And it's on Bandcamp.