Tuesday, March 18, 2014

NEW RELEASES: THE FLOACIST - RISE OF THE PHOENIX MERMAID; OTIS TRIO - 74 CLUB; PIERRE DORGE & THE NEW JUNGLE ORCHESTRA - TJAK TJAKA TCHICAI

THE FLOACIST - RISE OF THE PHOENIX MERMAID

The title's really evocative here, and so is the music – maybe the strongest solo moment we've heard from Floacist so far! The tunes have a sensual quality that grabs us right away – not cloying, commercial romantic modes – but a laidback, personal, positive vibe that's produced with just the right sort of subtle touches by Chris Davis – who keeps things in just the right mellow space for the easygoing vocals! Keyboards round out the sound with just the right sort of tripped-out lines – working perfectly, whether the lyrics are spoken or sung – and titles include "Womyn", "Mami Loves You", "Try Something New", "Doing This", "Good Love", "Wisest Thing", "Feel Good", and "Grandma". ~ Dusty Groove

OTIS TRIO - 74 CLUB

A very cool combo from contemporary Brazil – a trio who work with guitar, bass, and drums at the core – but open up plenty of space for extra work on vibes, tenor, soprano, trumpet, and trombone! The vibes are especially great – and feature on almost all the tracks here – ringing out with these sharp tones that really match the energy of the trio, especially the raspy tone of the guitar, which seems echoed in its own metallic tones. The music has a hard edge – not bossa jazz or Brazilian fusion at all – but instead this really creative style that really puts the rhythm at the forefront, but in ways that are very complex and seem to direct all the other instrumentation as well. At times, the drummer's got a way of echoing the feel of a larger batucada with his snapping snare – and titles include "No Oceano", 'Dnn", "Quarta Feira Santa", "Funky Groove", and "Sophisticated Junkie". ~ Dusty Groove

PIERRE DORGE & THE NEW JUNGLE ORCHESTRA - TJAK TJAKA TCHICAI

Pierre Dorge pays tribute to the late reedman John Tchicai – a frequent musical partner over the years, and a player who's shaped the sound of countless others on both sides of the Atlantic! Tchicai got his start with Archie Shepp on the New York scene of the 60s, but moved over to Denmark by the end of that decade – and ended up having a good deal of interaction with guitarist Pierre Dorge in years to come, including performances on some of the best sessions by the New Jungle Orchestra! This album really recalls those great ones – as Dorge chooses tunes that seem to have an especially spiritual flavor, and evoke Tchicai in ways that most of the group's recent work might not have – using especially strong passages from reed players who include Jakob Mygind on tenor and soprano, Anders Banke on tenor and bass clarinet, and Morten Carlson on tenor and taragot. Titles include "Mozombo", "A Rufous Mot Mot", "Jungle Sketches", "Autobahn Tchicai Zwei", "Lucianus In Congo", and "Tjak Tjaka Tchicai". ~ Dusty Groove


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