from straight ahead to ‘round the bend
This series of multi-layered works, created and completed entirely in isolation, explores the lines between inner and outer tensions at a time of unease.
This collection features over three hours of music, 40 pieces of music with a strong improvisational focus.
After several successful concerts, private jazz parties and much teaching using our marvellous Yamaha grand, I felt it was time to pursue a long-held dream to record a set of solo piano pieces within the intimate acoustics of our home
Originally released on the Ode label as A Selection of Trouble Spots (1984), this album is a reinterpretation of the original multi-track recordings, which have been reworked to produce similar but variously altered pieces.
Inspired by the meditative beauty of Javanese gamelan, Jonathan Besser’s new album, CAMPURSARI, takes its title from an Indonesian musical term used to describe music that combines Western and gamelan instruments.
This album of contemporary piano music for two pianos is an entirely improvised set of pieces featuring two of Australasia’s most fearless and adventurous musicians.
This project started with the news that jazz organist Michel Bénébig had finally located the legendary San Francisco guitarist, Carl Lockett. Michel had wanted to play with Carl since hearing him play with Jimmy Smith and Jimmy McGriff.
Toitu Te Puoro is an original recorded work from Aotearoa/New Zealand, which was conceived, written, composed, produced, and performed by Al Fraser using ngā taonga puoro (musical instruments of the New Zealand Māori) and voice.
Hayden Chisholm, Norman Meehan, and Paul Dyne follow their beautiful debut release, Unwind (2017), with this equally superb CD|DVD set.
Where We Overlap is a collaboration between Jeremy Mayall, Kent Macpherson, Haco, Horomona Horo, Reuben Bradley, and Megan Rogerson-Berry.
Sumo was formed in 2007 as a quartet. Pianist Darren Pickering chose the name, and their motto was 'heavy, sweaty jazz'.
This album of contemporary piano music has been composed and performed by one of the finest of New Zealand's current generation of improvising musicians.
Stripped back and minimalist, Ponguru is a breathtakingly conversation between ancient and contemporary voices.
Recorded live in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the CJC jazz club in 2015, Reuben Bradley (drums), Dixon Nacey (guitar), and legendary American bass player David Friesen delivered a scintillating 70 minute set of contemporary jazz.
It’s rare to find musicians who are gifted band-leaders, perceptive team-players, skilled performers, and composers rolled into one, but David Friesen drew it all together with this exceptional trio.
Boasting an impressive 70-album career as a jazz legend, David Friesen performs with the creative energy and searching invention of musicians half his age. While Reuben Bradley and Dixon Nacey match him phrase for phrase and note for note, their keenly attentive focus on Friesen is palpable on every track.
“Playing with David is a real treat; not only does he bring a wealth of experience to the music but more importantly he brings a strong, vibrant personality that is evident in his playing and his composing.” — Reuben Bradley
Produced by David Friesen and engineered by Steve Garden
Designed by UnkleFranc and printed by Studio Q
Musician, composer, arranger, teacher, and respected pioneer within the New Zealand jazz community, Jim Langabeer releases is his very first album on Rattle.
One of New Zealand’s most revered drummers and jazz composers, Reuben Bradley teams up with Roger Manins (sax) and Brett Hirst (bass) for his fourth Rattle release.
Richard Nunns has been an inspiration to countless artists across a range of disciplines throughout the world, but his influence on the cultural landscape of Aotearoa is immeasurable.
Celebrated trumpeter Scott Tinkler and composer Andy Fiddes team up with Australia’s leading jazz orchestra to create a superb new album for Rattle .
The Rodger Fox Big Band Plays New Zealand is the full title for this album released simply a X.
The music on Diálogos is a conversation between the precise complexities and dynamics of compositions by John Psathas and the intuitive processes of collective improvisation.
Following the critical acclaim of Buddhist Rain and Making Baby Float, Norman Meehan and Hannah Griffin team up with saxophonist Hayden Chisholm for the third album of their New Zealand poetry series.
Featuring renowned taonga pūoro exponent Richard Nunns, Redaction is a cross-genre excursion into two seemingly disparate worlds: the ancient landscape of Maori, and the jazz-tinged realm of contemporary improvisation.
A regular sideman on numerous Rattle releases, Ron Samsom's debut as band leader is a no-holds-barred, pumping homage to 70's jazz funk.
Dark and mystical, the nightmarish tales of famed horror author H. P. Lovecraft set the tone for Reuben Bradley’s bold new album on Rattle Jazz.
Greek pianist/composer Tania Giannouli follows her 2012 Rattle debut (Forest Stories, with Paulo Chagas) with a recording featuring the newly formed Tania Giannouli Ensemble.
Featuring a handpicked ensemble of New York’s finest jazz interpreters, this masterful album is a rigorous, fully focused statement from one of Rattle's most assured artists.
More than a decade after their debut release, Roger Manins’ Hip Flask reunite to record another infectious, blues-based, funk-tinged album.
Recorded in Montreal, Canada, The Cut is a major work by any standard. It may surprise many to realise that it’s the first serious foray into jazz composition from the talented New Zealander trumpeter, Alexis French.
Adelaide trio yeahyeahabsolutelynoway! is comprised of two guitars and drums. The group write and perform jazz that is firmly and affectionately rooted in 70's fusion.
The Brad Dutz Quartet is an acoustic ensemble comprised of oboe, cello, clarinets, and percussion. Their music combines 20th century classical chamber music with elements of improvisation and jazz.
Refractions is the first outing on Rattle Jazz from Wellington-based guitarist/composer, Nick Granville, joined by the Auckland dream-team of Roger Manins, Olivier Holland, and Ron Samsom.
Following their debut Rattle release, Oxide (2011), this new release from Samson Nacey Haines is a strikingly coherent and focused work, a very strong offering from one of New Zealand's most highly regarded improvising ensembles.
In late 2012 Rodger Fox and his Wellington Jazz Orchestra went to Capitol Studios in Los Angeles to record an album that would mark 40 years of Rodger’s unwavering commitment to big band jazz.
Commissioned by David Theak (leader of the Sydney-based Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra), Dave Lisik wholly embraced the opportunity to write a suite for one of Australia’s most vital jazz ensembles.
Adam Page co-composed The Harvest Suite with classical luminary John Psathas, an experience Adam describes as a sheer delight, as both he and John waded in completely unknown waters.
Jazz heavyweights Joel Frahm and Orlando Le Fleming bring a fresh, joyful, thoroughly modern approach to this debut Rattle outing by Kiwi drummer, Mark Lockett.
From the crass to the sublime, the emotive to the absurd, The Troubles are inventive, passionate, honest, and wholly life affirming.
Sonic-noir! Produced in what must surely have been a watershed year for Dave, his final recording from 2011 is arguably the best.
Big, bold, and ballsy, this set of works are not for the faint of heart. Guided by producer Dave Lisik and flanked by the electronic wizardry of Jorge Sosa, Inbal Megiddo takes to the cello with fearless abandon.
A little-known and under-appreciated gem that stands as a shinning example of Colin Hemmingsen's substantial musical talent, and Dave Lisik's creative production skills.
Rattle has never been shy of music that follows its own compass, and this uncompromising work again shows our willingness to commit to projects that defy musical barriers.
Following a spell in New York where he worked under the guidance of Larry Grenadier, Matt Penman, and Joe Martin, Tom Dennison returned to New Zealand to focus on Zoo.
Inspired by the meditative beauty of Javanese gamelan, Jonathan Besser’s new album, CAMPURSARI, takes its title from an Indonesian musical term used to describe music that combines Western and gamelan instruments.
Composed as a memorial to the events on 911, this album was release on September 11, 2011, 10 years to the day.
Rattle highlights the talent of Canadian-born pianist Amy Rempel, strongly supported by superb American jazz musicians, drummer Jason Tieman and bass player Jeremy Allen.
Canadian-born composer and trumpeter Dave Lisik came to New Zealand in early 2010 to teach jazz composition at NZSM. In a relatively short time he initiated a number of diverse and exciting projects, the first of which was this superb album.
This self-penned set of very fine compositions marks the debut Rattle release of Auckland guitar trio, Samsom Nacey Haines.
Featuring three of the most innovative and exciting voices on the New Zealand jazz scene, Trio set the standard for Rattle jazz releases to come.
In late 2009, Rattle took a decisive step towards being a more proactive platform for the emerging New Zealand jazz scene with Irony by FSH Trio.
For this recording, producers Jonathan Besser and Steve Garden sought to create a sound that was very ‘open’ in its structural architecture and sonic textures.
The Chris Mason-Battley Group, one of New Zealand’s most successful jazz ensembles, teamed up with the leading exponent of traditional Maori instruments, Richard Nunns, to create an album that could only be made in Aotearoa.
Tuhonohono weaves the musical traditions of classical, world, and jazz. The ancient sounds of taonga puoro and piano combine to create music that is reflective, playful, and mysterious.
The core-group of Gitbox Rebellion are here joined by a number of friends and a variety of instrumental textures to expand the tonal range of the Gitbox sound.
Looking and sounding better than ever, Rattle’s first release was remastered, repackaged, and reissued to celebrate twenty years as NZ’s preeminent art-music label in 2011.
2015 BEST JAZZ ALBUM (finalist)