Frames

I'd imagine most of my fellow music critics have experienced something like this too. Often.

You see, every time we press play on a new album, a little devil, or whatever similar creature happens to represents that dark nature of a critic, climbs onto our shoulder, rubs his hands together and exclaims, "This will be fun...!"

And, true enough, it usually is. Typically by track two, the devil and I have plenty to point at. Weak compositions. Boring playing. Unimaginative arrangements. Poor sound or production....

But every now and then we put on a record that, play after play after play, leaves us looking at each other in confusion.

Listen after listen, we find nothing to complain about.

Frames by Miho Hazama is exactly that record.

I've played it time and time again, with the little red devil growing more and more restless on my shoulder, and found nothing to pick on.

Nothing!

So, there's nothing else left to do but to say it straight: Frames is a great album.

Not a masterpiece, let's make that clear. It's a long way from The Atomic Mr. Basie, Consummation or Concert in the Garden.

I doubt it will redefine the genre. It probably won't be remembered decades from now alongside those records. It's not going to be discussed by jazz adepts, analyzed, taken apart, and used as a benchmark others will want to reach. No.

But it doesn't have to be.

It's simply a wonderfully conceived, and beautifully composed and arranged big band album.

And with the onslaught of so many mediocre releases we have to endure every week, this is already more that we could ask for.

Some facts I found about this album

• Frames is Miho Hazama's fourth release on Edition Records and her third album as chief conductor of the Danish Radio Big Band, following Imaginary Visions (2021) and Live Life This Day: Celebrating Thad Jones (2025). She has served as chief conductor of the Danish Radio Big Band since 2019.

• The album contains six original compositions by Hazama, each built around the musical language of the Danish Radio Big Band's former chief conductors: Ib Glindemann, Ray Pitts, Palle Mikkelborg, Thad Jones, Ole Kock Hansen, Bob Brookmeyer, and Jim McNeely. However, the pieces are not meant to be tributes, but new works shaped by those influences.

• The album was recorded in November 2025 at The Village Studios in Copenhagen and mixed and mastered in New York shortly after.

Frames - The Music

I typically dread modern big band albums. So often, the focus is on pointless sonic acrobatics, or relying on the sheer power of a big band sound for impact. Luckily, you won't find that here.

First of all, compositions on Frames do not follow an easy pattern. It's clear that every composition here was carefully planned, arranged, and rehearsed.

These complex, well thought-through arrangements also make it possible for the ensemble to stretch compositions to close to 10 minutes each, without any ever drifting into meandering.

Compositions feature a lot of interludes and interplay that never distracts from a soloist but provide quite an interesting foundation for their playing.

Themes are interesting. Arrangements keep you listening, and soloing is actually quite balanced. Naturally, this might have something to do with the aforementioned musical language of Hazama's predecessors at the Danish Radio's Big Band. I can't verify that. But I can attest that Hazama put a lot of work into making this record interesting.

What about the sound?

Frames features a rather mellow, warm sound (which is great for this type of music, by the way.) Highs are not elevated, and do not pierce your ears. Lows are perhaps slightly too subdued but audible.

The soundstage is big, although the separation doesn't always match it. Instruments sit close together. Not to a point of instrument groups ever blending with one another but close nonetheless.

I had one particular thought when listening to Frames, that this album sounds like a record. It does not try to be a club, or give you the impression that you're in a concert hall, a big band rehearsal room, or any other live event venue. No. I knew all along that I am listening to a studio recording, and I could feel that musicians knew it, too.

The recording feels very cohesive, clearly produced to create that intimate feeling of being in front of speakers. Just you and the music. And the music never tries to be anything else than sound that fills the room.

It's a very honest approach to producing a record, and I applaud the team behind it for that.