Speak to Me is a 21st century jazz album that aims to be beautiful, serious, and profound. It succeeds on all fronts. The album’s greatest accomplishment is the playfulness woven into Lage’s compositions and the band’s performance. Repeated listens are rewarded with in-jokes, punchlines, and other feats of humor that catch me off guard and make me chuckle.
Lage, Roeder (bass), and King (drums) are all playing at their prime (no shocker, this is their fourth album together since 2019). Contributions by Warren (keys), Davis (piano), and Henry (reeds) are equal to the challenge set by the rhythm section.
(Perhaps) No record label in jazz history has focused on cultivating a singular sound like Criss Cross Jazz. Since 1980, the Dutch label has released hundreds of albums extending the jazz traditions of the 1950s and 60s, with bold yet modest interrogations of the textures, forms, and tones that make hard-bop and straight-ahead jazz so pleasant to hold and so accessible across generations.
Criss Cross’s discography is an alternate history where jazz ensembles won a hard-fought battle to be central to the cultural discourse and septets perform for 21st-century martini-drinking guests at hotels on the moon.
Solid Jackson, Criss Cross’s 2024 release, is delightful. It features modern jazz luminaries and asks what they would sound like if transported… More