Wednesday, August 28, 2013

NEW RELEASES - STEFANO BOLLANI / HAMILTON DE HOLANDA, RAY MANTILLA, SHAPES:CIRCLES COMPILED BY ROBERT LUIS

STEFANO BOLLANI / HAMILTON DE HOLANDA - O QUE SERA

Beautiful sounds from the duo of Stefano Bollani on piano and Hamilton De Holanda on bandolim – a set that’s heavy on styles borrowed from the Brazilian tradition, but which also features some other elements as well – all wrapped up in a blend that’s warmly lyrical one moment, then quite bold and striking the next! Bollani's piano really seems to pull a lot of fresh energy out of Hamilton's instrument – pushing it to some darker corners than we've heard before, in ways that really work perfectly not just with Stefano's rich notes on the piano, but also with the spacious ECM approach to production. The set was recorded live – and titles include "Beatriz", "O Que Sera", "Rosa", "Canto De Ossanha", "Oblivion", "Apanhei Te Cavaquinho", and "Guarda Che Luna"~ Dusty Groove

RAY MANTILLA - THE CONNECTION

A cracker of a set from Ray Mantilla – served up in that special approach to Latin jazz that's made Mantilla such a great leader for the past few decades! Ray's percussion is firmly at the helm of the set, but the group's definitely a jazz one through and through – graced with excellent work from Willie Williams on tenor and soprano sax, flute and baritone sax from Enrique Fernandez, and bold trumpet lines from Guido Gonzalez on a few tracks too! And while the solos are really rich and strong, the rhythms are definitely the core that drives the whole set strongly – not just Mantilla's percussion, but also bold, blocky piano lines from Edy Martinez, rolling acoustic bass from Chucho Martinez, and some drums from Bill Elder. Both Edy Martinez and Williams helped out with arrangements – and titles include "Andean Fantasy", "Psalm 107", "Sonando Puerto Rico", "Homanaje A San Rafael", "The Simple Life", and "New Moon".  ~ Dusty Groove

SHAPES: CIRCLES COMPILED BY ROBERT LUIS (VARIOUS ARTISTS)

Great grooves at a great price – an excellent array of contemporary funk and underground tracks from the all-great Tru Thoughts label – including bits by some of the label's biggest names, and a few up-and-comers as well! These Shapes collections are always wonderful – and can always be trusted to serve up the best little gems from the label – no surprise, consider than some of them, like this one, are compiled by one of the label owners himself. 2CD set features a massive 30 tracks in all – and titles include "Let Me Be" by Harleighblu, "Wasted Time (Ross PTH mix)" by Belleruche, "Like You Never" by Ty, "Jump Move Rock" by Wrongtom Meets Demas J, "Alients Enter (Hint rmx)" by Hint, "Get Started (Full Crate mix)" by Mark De Clive-Lowe with Omar & Sheila E, "Mind Open" by Tieknots, "Empty Heart" by Yanna Valdevit & Lay Far, "Where Does The Time Go (Si-Tiew take it back mix)" by The Bamboos with Aloe Blacc, "Maracatu" by Drumagick, "Raving Bully" by Sleeping Giantz, and "Crash & Burn (Cone rmx)" by Hint.  ~ Dusty Groove



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