Friday, May 09, 2014

NEW RELEASES: GAROTAS SUECAS - FERAS MITICAS; DAVE SPECTER - MESSAGE IN BLUE; BARRY GUY NEW ORCHESTRA - AMPHI: RADIO RONDO

GAROTAS SUECAS - FERAS MITICAS

A contemporary group from Brazil, but one who've got a quirky ear for song styles that takes us back to some of our favorite artists of the 70s! Garotas Suecas work in a style that's a bit post-Tropicalia – almost like some of Tom Ze's music of those years, but maybe not as all-out wild – fused perhaps with a sense of the songwriting strengths of Caetano Veloso in his later years. Yet the work also has a contemporary vibe that's definitely the group's own, too – a sense of spirit that really marks these guys as a group to watch, already even more exciting on this second album than their first. Titles include "New Country", "Bucolismo", "Manchetes Da Solidao", "A Nuvem", "Bicho", and "Charles Chacal". ~ Dusty Groove

DAVE SPECTER - MESSAGE IN BLUE

Dave Specter is a blues guitarist with a long legacy on the Chicago scene – but on this album he also gets some help from windy city soul legend Otis Clay! Otis only sings on three of the album's thirteen tracks – but the setting with Specter really helps Clay find one of his strongest showcases in years – a tight, punched-up groove that brings us back to some of his overlooked work from the 80s – great sounds in a mix of deep soul and blues. Other tracks feature a mostly instrumental mode – save for a few vocals from Brother John Kattke, who also plays organ and Fender Rhodes on the record – and titles include "I Found A Love", "Chicago Style", "New West Side Stroll", "Got To Find A Way", "This Time I'm Gone For Good", "Opus De Swamp", and "The Spectifyin Samba".  © 1996-2014, Dusty Groove, Inc.


BARRY GUY NEW ORCHESTRA - AMPHI: RADIO RONDO

ATwo great large group works from bassist Barry Guy – both with the sort of individual qualities we love in his music with the London Jazz Composers Orchestra! The players here are from a wider range of European sources, and all work together as a whole, but get plenty of space for personal expression – tones and voices that are initially most strong from the bass of Guy and violin of Maya Homburger – but which evolve to include Evan Parker and Mats Gustafsson on saxes, Hans Koch on bass clarinet, Johannes Bauer on trombone, and Paul Lytton and Raymond Strid on percussion. "Amphi" is a long work that begins with a more careful sense of presence – but "Radio Rondo" rolls in with much greater group force, and continues boldly for nearly 30 minutes. ~ Dusty Groove


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