Steve Swallow
Winter Songs
(ECM)
⭑⭑⭑☆☆

NOW 85 years old, American bassist Steve Swallow has had a long career in jazz music, playing as a sideman with other greats like Gary Burton, Carla Bley and Stan Getz.

Winter Songs finds him working as bandleader of a talented sextet. As the album cover suggests, it’s an accessible set of the cool jazz which you can imagine being played in smoky New York City clubs in the 50s and 60s (the album was recorded in the Big Apple).

All the tracks are Swallow originals, though arguably he takes something of a back seat. Three has some lovely romantic piano playing from Gill Goldstein, while the slightly more forceful Six picks up the pace a little.

So nothing too adventurous — just a very listenable collection of melodic and relaxing instrumental jazz. For all seasons, not just winter.

Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts
As Time Explodes
(Warners)
⭑⭑⭑⭑☆

MADE up of performances from his 2025 tour with his new band, As Time Explodes proves the 80-year-old Neil Young is still able to produce the goods as a live artist.

It’s not always pretty, with the singer-songwriter’s already reedy voice cracking on Long Walk Home. This track is one of several deep cuts from his huge back catalogue, including 1999’s Looking Forward and an incensed Be The Rain from his underrated Greendale album.

Anger threads through the set, from a blistering take of protest anthem Ohio to Big Crime, a new tirade about “billionaire fascists” and “big crime in DC at the White House.” Fans will be particularly excited by a towering 14-minute Cortez The Killer, complete with a rediscovered verse.

Including some lovely contemplative moments (Harvest Moon, After The Goldrush), it’s a glorious, unruly racket.

Ady Johnson
Under Gainsborough Skies
(Little Robin)
⭑⭑☆☆☆

AS art lovers will realise from the title, the new album from Suffolk-born, Colchester-living Ady Johnson is inspired by his locale.

Recorded live in the studio with vintage equipment, Under Gainsborough Skies is a listenable set of acoustic folk songs, leaning into the nostalgic, pastoral end of the genre. Nick Drake is the obvious touchstone, though it feels like there are many influences swirling around, not least a kind of American country-blues feel to some of the vocal phrasing.

Johnson’s guitar playing is impressive (he is a classically trained guitarist), and there’s some subtle backing instrumentation including piano, recorder (the nostalgic The Old Child’s Chair) and mournful trumpet (The Runner). And while his lyrical interests range widely, including several songs ruminating on mortality, for me the music never quite hits the spot, arguably lacking its own distinctive character.