19th March 2015: 4 stars from The Guardian, Telegraph & Arts Desk for Zhenya Strigalev’s ‘Robin Goodie’ + Ronnie Scott’s launch & album reviews from Jazzwise Magazine, London Jazz, Jazz Journal and iBass magazine.

Russian alto saxophonist Zhenya Strigalev returns with his acclaimed fusion-edged six-piece Smiling Organizm and his second release for Whirlwind Recordings, Robin Goodie.

Robin Goodie finds the band stepping up a gear, increasingly comfortable as a unit, growing to become more than the sum of its considerably talented parts. Matching quirky humor with serious musical intent, delicate melodic hooks with heavyweight rhythmic muscle, this is a band and an album that leaves a vivid impression.

Zhenya launched Robin Goodie at Ronnie Scott’s and earned a 4 star review from The Telegraph.  You can read it along with more live reviews of the launch party below:

“Goofiness falls away and he becomes a musician of total concentration, eyes closed, his surroundings entirely forgotten. With so many players, a rise in physical excitement tends to go with a loss of musical focus. With Strigalev, it’s the other way about; he actually builds excitement by homing in inexorably on a phrase, pursuing it through every possible variation. As for his compositions, they fuse together straight-ahead jazz melodiousness, pithy funk bass motifs and a delightful eccentricity.”
4 stars, The Telegraph (live review)

Jazzwise Magazine (live review)

Jazz Journal (live review)

Robin Goodie continues to receive much critical acclaim, including these 4 star reviews from The Guardian and The Arts Desk. Here they are along with a further review from London Jazz:

“The Russian has a refreshing indifference to what’s supposed to go with what in 21st-century jazz… he’s hired some of the classiest sidemen in the game… the music seems to draw out Akinmusire’s most impressionistic qualities, and Harland’s drumming is jaw-dropping throughout.”
4 stars, The Guardian (full review)

“Where Strigalev’s compositions really stand out is in the blending of tonal color, which is in most cases strikingly attractive.”
4 stars, The Arts Desk (full review)

“Robin Goodie is highly absorbing, and there is much magnificent music to savor.”
London Jazz
London Jazz (full review)

And this feature in iBass Magazine (website)