staff music picks
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A singles collection covering the first few years of New Zealand's pre-eminent alternative pop groups, Juvenilia includes tracks from the very beginnings of the band (Dunedin Double EP), plus noisily tuneful early-'80s singles such as "Death and the Maiden" and "Doomsday."
~ John Bush -
The late, great Billy Bang made his masterpiece with this record inspired by his tour of duty in the Vietnam War. Joined by top-flight veterans/musicians including Sonny Fortune, John Hicks and Frank Lowe, Bang combined jazz and Asian folk influences with his expressive violin playing for a cathartic, fiery and very rewarding listen.
~ Chrysta Cherrie -
Hancock's first of three albums with his Mwandishi band is a must-own for any fan of adventurous jazz. It's led by the 13-minute 15/8 groove "Ostinato," where snaking basslines from Bennie Maupin (on bass clarinet) and Buster Williams (on bass guitar) propel Hancock's Echoplexed Rhodes and Eddie Henderson's vaulting trumpet.
~ Andy Kellman
