Pat Metheny
Side Eye III+
(Uniquity Music)
⭑⭑⭑☆☆

A GIANT in the world of jazz fusion, Pat Metheny is still going strong, with Side Eye III+ the first record on his new label Uniquity Music.

The now 71-year old US guitarist considers the set of eight original compositions one of his best, and there is a real sense of the kind of movement and freedom found on his most celebrated records from the ’70s and ’80s, such as Still Life (Still Talking) and 80/81.

Opener In On It includes some incredibly fast playing from Metheny which improbably creates a calming, mesmerising atmosphere. Elsewhere massed voices rise up on Urban And Western. To my untrained ear his playing sounds a lot like one of his early influences – the legendary Wes Montgomery. In short, the album swings.

Respect to the 15 musicians who helped create the album’s dynamic sonic world.

Greazy Alice
As Time Goes By
(Loose)
⭑⭑⭑⭑☆

A GOING concern since the mid-2010s, the current incarnation of Greazy Alice solidified in 2024, with lead singer and songwriter Alex Pianovich joined by his wife Jo Morris on harmony vocals, Will Repholz on bass and drummer Lee Garcia.

Based in New Orleans, their brilliant debut album is a classic-sounding mix of country, soul and blues, with a little bit of special sauce that puts them up there with new Americana artists like Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band and Margo Cilker.

There’s a charming easiness to the music, perfectly complemented by Pianovich’s downbeat, plaintive voice. Green crosses the acoustic lilt of Harvest Moon-era Neil Young with the horizontal vocals of Hayden, while album centrepiece Just Another One finds Pianovich talk-singing verses like Kris Kristofferson, ruminating on the cowardice and fear shown by the gin-soaked Rick in Casablanca.

Momoko Gill
Momoko
(Strut)
⭑⭑⭑☆☆

RAISED in Japan and the United States, Momoko Gill is now based in London.

The globetrotting childhood of the drummer, composer and singer feels like one way to make sense of her interesting debut record. A melting pot of genres and sounds, there is a lovely lightness to the set, with Gill’s wistful vocals underpinned by jazz (fusion, funk etc.), electronica, pop and neo-soul.

While a couple of middle of the road-sounding songs brings Norah Jones to mind, there’s a more radical edge too. Test In A Small Area apparently samples the sounds of the Israel Defence Force blowing up a Palestinian village, while When Palestine Is Free deploys a 50-voice choir to intone “We’re only free when Palestine is free.”

However, even these bold political statements feel somewhat restrained. Definitely one to listen to on headphones.