Oded Tzur: Isabela (LP)

On his second release for ECM, saxophonist Oded Tzur presents music that is particularly urgent and conceptually comprehensive, weaving an underlying idea through a series of elaborate and expansive structures. The quartet's lineup has remained unchanged from 2020's "Here Be Dragons," and the group's interplay has even gained in expressiveness in the interim. Oded and his collaborators - pianist Nitai Hershkovits, Petros Klampanis on bass, and rhythmic craftsman Johnathan Blake - put their subtle interplay in a more intense light on Isabela, exploring the nuances and colors of Oded's self-designed raga in a suite-like sequence of quiet meditations and powerful outbursts. The recording was captured in October 2021 at the Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano and produced by Manfred Eicher.