Pianist David Helbock and bassist/cellist Julia Hofer have things in common: a playful curiosity combined with the urge to try out new things and to have fun. Both of these Austrians are also perfectionists…and natural communicators…and that’s why their musical combination works so well. “I was looking for a new duo partner,” says David Helbock, “because although I am completely passionate about my ‘Austrian Syndicate’ project, it’s a really tricky thing to put together, a large band…lots of keyboards. Together with ACT CEO and producer Andreas Brandis, the idea of an acoustic duo reduced to its emotional essence was finally born – a format in which musical communication works more directly than in any other line-up. And I quickly came…
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London-based vocalist 
Alloy the band started as a vehicle for 
On The Hat with the Grin and the Chuckle, his sixth recording as leader of the Tango Project, multi-instrumentalist Ben Thomas once again invites his audience to put on their dancing shoes and sway to Argentina’s unique and emblematic musical genre. In doing so, he affirms that there is far more than one way to tango, eliciting all the warmth and color he possibly can within eight of his luminous and rhythmic compositions.
Kimatika, the 3rd album by the Slovenian audio-visual trio 
Solo recordings, at least when they feature instruments other than piano or guitar, can be a challenge even for the most committed jazz listeners. The excitement generated by the dialogue of multiple instrumentalists is, of course, missing, and even the most talented artists can have trouble sustaining one’s interest for an entire album. Such releases can be rather rewarding, however, when the musician in question has either astonishing technique or compelling emotional substance — or both, as is evident on multi-instrumentalist 
Early in his recording career, pianist 
“What did you do today?” asks a man with a gentle, encouraging manner. “I did something,” says a small child.” Laughing, the man replies, “And what ‘something’ did you do?” The child answers, “I made my house.” This conversation comes from a home cassette recording made in 1983, when 
Serious-minded Norwegian trumpeter 
fixed
Nueva Timba is the sophomore Blue Note release by pianist and composer Harold López-Nussa. The first, 2023’s 
Chip Wickham has been a mainstay on London’s music scene since the late 1990s when he served as a producer and engineer to many influential EDM creators, but jazz has always been his passion. A world citizen, he lives between the U.K., Spain, and Qatar. Earlier in 2025 he was a co-billed, featured soloist with Neil Innes’ Lewis Express on the album Doo-Ha! and returns with The Eternal Now, his fifth long-player (he also issued the wonderful Love & Life EP in 2024) and his third release for Matthew Halsall’s Gondwana label. It’s lovingly titled after Don Cherry’s 1974 classic. Halsall, whose ties to Wickham date back to 2007, acts as co-producer alongside the leader. Most of the Love & Life band re-appears here: double bassist Simon “Sneaky” Houghton, drummer…
A dry mouth, sore muscles and a pounding headache led 
The idea of an artist emerging fully formed from the jump is nothing new, but North African jazz artist 
According to Nick Finzer, the trombonist never set out to make a big band album but over time realized that the pieces he’d developed lent themselves to the jazz orchestra format.