Wednesday, October 29, 2014

NEW RELEASES - GERARDO FRISINA-MOVEMENT; BLACK FIRE NEW SPIRITS-DEEP & RADICAL JAZZ IN THE USA; BASSO VALDAMBRINI QUINTET

GERARDO FRISINA - MOVEMENT

Plenty of movement from the great Gerardo Frisina – a set that's awash in all the Latin and modal elements we've always loved in his music – and a record that filled with jazzy touches throughout! Rhythms are both live and programmed – but even the latter have a very spontaneous feel, when mixed with the warm acoustic instrumentation of the combo – which includes vibes, tenor, trumpet, flute, and piano – as well as a bit of Fender Rhodes too! Gerardo seems to have opened up his style a bit more than before – and there's some surprising turns at various points, including one great 70s-style drumbreak track, and a few more that are more jazz overall than some of his more Latin-oriented grooves. If you've ever loved Gerardo, or the Schema label too, you'll find plenty to love here – on titles that include "Reporter", "I Need Rhythm", "Arrival", "Movement", "The Talisman", "Selvatico", "The Sound Image", and "Mystic Latin". ~ Dusty Groove

BLACK FIRE NEW SPIRITS – DEEP & RADICAL JAZZ IN THE USA 1957 TO 1982

Deeply spiritual jazz from the American underground of the 20th century – music that sits in a perfect space between straight jazz and more avant garde material – always reaching out in this really soaring, searching sort of way – but never too outside or free! Rhythms are at the core of most of these numbers – often modal elements, with especially strong basslines – or earthy percussion with strong Afrocentric inspirations, recast here in the huge wave of jazz experimentation of the 60s and 70s! Most tracks are from those key decades, but he set also features some overlooked gems from the 80s too – and a good deal of these tracks are from albums we hardly ever see anymore these days. As usual, Soul Jazz has done a stunning job with the notes and package – dovetailing with their book of the same name – and tracks include "Second Line March" by David Lee, "Flashback Of Time" by Creative Arts Ensemble, "Chang Chang Chang" by Yusef Lateef, "Utopia & Visions" by Don Cherry, "It's A Trip" by Last Poets, "Universal Spiritual Revolt" by Tyrone Washington, "In The Moog" by Harold McKinney, "Spaces & Things" by Doug Hammond, "Tzaddi Vau (part 1)" by Pheeran Ak Laff, and "Dealin" by Richard Davis.  ~ Dusty Groove

BASSO VALDAMBRINI QUINTET - FONIT H602 H603

Wonderful work from one of the greatest Italian jazz groups of the 60s – heard here in two of their rarest recordings! The set brings together material from two sessions that were only issued on the Fonit sound library label – but both are every bit as sharp and soulful as the best Basso-Valdambrini work for bigger labels – including their early 60s gems on RCA! And like those records, there's a wonderful sense of rhythm here – kind of the soul jazz side of Blue Note, but handled with a fresh sound that's nicely free of any copycat cliches – and which instead really has the group finding their own voice through their writing and solos. The H602 album is billed as "pop jazz" – which is more a 60s soul jazz style – and H603 is called "Californiano", with a bit of a west coast vibe, but still very much the best grooves we've come to love from the combo. The lineup on both includes tremendous trumpet from Oscar Valdabrini and tenor from Gianni Basso – with rhythms from Ettore Righello on piano, Giorgio Azzolini on bass, and Lionella Bionda on drums. Titles include "Pick Up", "Glaucus", "Gold Mine", "From Me", "Maglione", "Muy", "Plinius", and "Transistor".  ~ Dusty Groove


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