CD: Jeff Goldblum and The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra

★★★★ JEFF GOLDBLUM AND THE MILDRED SNITZER ORCHESTRA An all-star band to make us happy

An all-star band to make us happy

Jeff Goldblum’s 2018 debut, Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra - The Capitol Studios Sessions, was one of the great surprises of last autumn, its infectious, feel-good vibe and self-deprecating retro pastiche as engaging as a favourite Hollywood movie on a grey day. And live at the Cadogan Hall Goldblum was a treat, a real-life Mr Nice Guy who was just so good and so funny.

CD: Harry Connick Jr - True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter

★★★★ HARRY CONNICK JR - TRUE LOVE: A CELEBRATION OF COLE PORTER The New Orleans native delivers a finely-crafted songbook

The New Orleans native delivers a striking songbook

From brooding masterpieces (”Love for Sale”) to classic list songs ("Let's Do It"), Cole Porter was one of the greatest songsmiths of the 20th century. As one of his peers, Richard Rodgers, eloquently put it: "Few people realise how architecturally excellent his music is. There's a foundation, a structure and an embellishment. Then you add the emotion he's put in and the result is Cole Porter."

theartsdesk on Vinyl 53: U2, Moonlight Parade, Oasis, Stray Cats, Crass, Prefab Sprout and more

Possibly the most extensive monthly vinyl reviews in the world

It’s reckoned that this time next year vinyl sales will have overtaken CDs. It’s still a small market and anyone who thinks vinyl will one day replace streaming is living on Planet Lah-lah. There’s so much coming out even theartsdesk on Vinyl cannot review it all, but what we can do is devote 7500 words to what grabs our attention. We are not limited by genre or by new vs reissue. We eat it all up and want more. So check below for the juice on what’s out there. Dive on.

CD: Tonbruket - Masters of Fog

Swedish quartet celebrates 10 years with fifth jazz-rock fusion album

Bassist Dan Berglund was a founding member of the highly influential euro-jazz Esbjörn Svensson Trio (e.s.t.) until the accidental death of Svensson, while diving, in 2008. The first Tonbruket album appeared the following year, with Berglund joined by guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Johan Lindström, keyboardist Martin Hederos and drummer Andreas Werlin, the music stretching into prog-rock territory, some distance away from e.s.t.’s supple euro-jazz dynamics.

CD: Iggy Pop - FREE

★★★★ IGGY POP - FREE Contemplating life and mortality in an often tuneful, jazz-flecked set

Iggy affectingly contemplates life and mortality in an often tuneful, jazz-flecked set

It’s half a century since Iggy shrieked that it was “No Fun”, that it was “1969, OK”, that he wanted to be your dog. His original Stooges and his storied cohorts David Bowie and Lou Reed are all no longer with us. The Ig is the last man standing and he knows it. 72 years old, he’s the lizard-punk shaman figurehead who, off-stage, is a considered literate gent, the radio presenter with the velvet croak. His new album acknowledges that he’s now an old dude.

CD: Chrissie Hynde with the Valve Bone Woe Ensemble - Valve Bone Woe

The Pretenders' singer switches direction for a late-career high

Chrissie Hynde has always loved a cover song. But never before, has she strayed so far from her comfort zone. The 14 covers on Valve Bone Woe are a million miles from new wave. They're a kind of jazz odyssey - a journey from bebop to easy listening via early soul.

theartsdesk on Vinyl 52: Yardbirds, Fad Gadget, Spoon, Cate le Bon, Cabaret Voltaire and more

THE ARTS DESK ON VINYL Yardbirds, Fad Gadget, Spoon, Cate le Bon, Cabaret Voltaire & more

Possibly the most extensive monthly vinyl reviews in the world

Welcome to the latest edition of theartsdesk on Vinyl, the monthly online musical resource that knows no genre boundaries as it treks through every release on plastic that it can find. This time round we’ve everything from death metal to obscure jazz to electropop, sounds for almost every musical taste. Dive in!

CD: Caravan Palace - Chronologic

Easy-going fourth album from French dance popsters moves further from their origins

Parisian outfit Caravan Palace have now had a career that’s lasted over a decade. They’ve not busted the British charts open (although they have had hit albums in France), but they’ve long been festival favourites with multi-millions of YouTube plays, and their UK profile has never been higher. Their new album dials back the manic dancefloor energy they sometimes emanate, yet succeeds as a wittily constructed, summery, electronic dance-pop concoction.

CD: Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity - To Whom Buys a Record

★★★★ GARD NILSSEN ACOUSTIC UNITY - TO WHOM BUYS A RECORD Energised yet structured reconfiguration on free jazz archetypes

Energised yet structured reconfiguration of free jazz archetypes

To Whom Buys a Record roams through 12 crisply recorded pieces confirming that jazz which isn’t shy of acknowledging its heritage can still have an edge. Though structured and tight, each composition is defined by an attack positing this as an unmediated music: not so much improvisation, but still free-flowing.

CD: Nérija - Blume

★★★★ NÉRIJA - BLUME Living, vivid jazz from the cream of young London talent

Living, vivid jazz from a septet that represents the cream of young London talent

You can see why of all jazz acts, the indie-centric Domino label went for this one. In particular if you took the drums and guitar of Lizy Exell and Shirley Tetteh alone, at various points here you could be listening to post-rock, with hints of Sigur Rós or God Speed You! Black Emperor especially on the album's epic centrepiece “EU (Emotionally Unavailable)”.