How You Been – SML

‘How You Been’ finds SML pushing deeper into their strange and thrilling version of improvised music. Built from live recordings across cities and reshaped in the studio the album feels both spontaneous and carefully sculpted. The band plays without a set plan trusting instinct and each other which gives the music a restless unpredictable energy. At times it grooves hard at others it drifts into abstract textures that feel like sound bending in real time. As one critic put it “it might be jazz or it might not matter” which feels about right. What matters is the chemistry. This is a group thinking collectively reacting instantly and building something that feels alive curious and slightly unhinged in the best way.

Queen Of The Creek – Tracey Miller

Queen Of The Creek feels like a long overdue spotlight finally landing where it belongs. Tracey Miller brings decades of soul, gospel and blues into a record that sounds lived in, honest and completely unfiltered. Her voice carries stories of love, loss, resilience and hard earned wisdom. There is no polish for the sake of it here, just feeling and presence. Backed by top local players and supported by the ever loyal Jazzparty crew, she sounds both grounded and newly energised. As her daughter says she “steals the show every time” and on this record it is clear why. It is bold warm and impossible to ignore.