CHARLIE
HUNTER & SCOTT AMENDOLA - THE CARS / HANK WILLIAMS / COLE PORTER / DUKE ELLINGTON
Country
music and jazz are often cast as antithetical styles, but the truth is far more
complicated. For Hunter and Amendola, a great song is simply a great song, and
they find plenty of grist for improvisation in this set - originally released
as 4 5-song EPs, which include Hank Williams classics like Cold Cold Heart, and
Ramblin Man. They find fertile ground even further afield from typical jazz
fare in the music of new wave rockers The Cars, digging into hits like Candy-O,
and Let s Go. Also covered are Cole Porter and Duke Ellington classics
interpreted only as Charlie and Scott can! "The
idea is to do these four [EPs] and see how people respond," Hunter says.
"We started thinking why do we keep making 10-song CDs. I don t
necessarily want to do 10 Hank Williams songs, but five can work well. As long
as the song is good we can put it through the mill, like what we did with T.J.
Kirk and the Bob Marley album I made." ~ Amazon
RICHARD
SPAVEN – WHOLE OTHER
Sublime
spacey sounds from drummer Richard Spaven – a contemporary musician, but one
who's got the same sort of an ear for a laidback groove that we love in
electric jazz from the 70s! Most tracks here feature prominent Fender Rhodes or
guitar – stepping out in this style that's slowly unfolding over Spaven's
spacious rhythms – a groove that's funk, but never full-on – and which instead
always realizes that space is as important as sound when it comes to making
things sound mighty soulful! A few tracks feature vocals, but almost as a
second thought – apart from the title track, which features The Hics – and
production is ethereal enough to stretch out all the best elements, but without
ever sounding sleepy at all. The overall sound is quite 21st Century, yet
references great styles from the past – and titles include "Taj",
"Whole Other", "Assemble", "The Look Out",
"Tribute", "Bianca", "Closure", and
"Speedbird". ~ Dusty Groove
DAVE DOUGLAS / JIM DOXAS / STEVE SWALLOW / CHET DOXAS - RIVERSIDE
A really
great project from trumpeter Dave Douglas – a group dedicated to the legacy of
reedman Jimmy Giuffre, and which certainly follows the spirit of his smaller
combos without any piano! Riverside featuers the trumpet of Douglas and saxes
and clarinet of Chet Doxas – a player who's got a sharper edge than Jimmy, but
who definitely shares his spirit of sound shaping and rhythmic construction.
The quartet also features old Giuffre partner Steve Swallow on bass, plus Jim
Doxas on drums – and the music, while in a mode that honors the legacy of
Jimmy, also has some of that greater Americanist sensibility that Douglas has
brought to his recordings over the years – in a way that does plenty to tie
Giuffre's inventions back to a larger jazz tradition. Titles include "The
Train & The River", "Thrush", "No Good Without
You", "Big Shorty", and "Backyard". ~ Dusty Groove
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