NEW RELEASES: WILLIAM HOOKER & LIUDAS MOCKUNAS - LIVE AT VILNIUS JAZZ FESTIVAL; PHAROAH AND THE UNDERGROUND - PRIMITIVE JUPITER; FLYING LOTUS – YOU’RE DEAD!

WILLIAM HOOKER & LIUDAS MOCKUNAS - LIVE AT VILNIUS JAZZ FESTIVAL

Spacious, open duets between drummer William Hooker and saxophonist Liudas Mockunas – recorded live, and in a way that really builds up the sound in slow, thoughtful passages throughout! Hooker's at his most subtle at the start of each selection – almost tentative in the way he feels out the drum kit with his touch, resulting in some very organic sounds – then spurred on more by the inventive sounds from Mockunas on alto, tenor, and soprano sax – sometimes at a very far-reaching sonic level, sometimes more inside and soulful! The set features four long tracks – "Id", "Idea", "Ideal", and "Idol". ~ Dusty Groove.

PHAROAH AND THE UNDERGROUND - PRIMITIVE JUPITER

The legendary Pharoah Sanders joins the Chicago/Sao Paulo Underground – and the result is one of the most striking records in years from everyone involved! Pharoah blows with this really open, searching sort of tone – wonderfully concerned with sound texture at points, and not nearly as straight a some of his other sessions in recent decades – definitely drawing strong inspiration from the freewheeling work of Rob Mazurek on cornet, flute, and electronics – with additional electronics from Guilherme Granado. Drummer Chad Taylor provides a firm grounding for the experiments – as does bassist Matt Lux – and the group gets some Sao Paulo touches touches Mauricio Takara, who also plays percussion as well. Tracks are all relatively long – cosmic and open, with a stunning mix of acoustic and electric elements – and titles include "Spiral Mercury", "Primitive Jupiter", "This One's For All Mothers", and "Asasumamehn" – two of which are not on the CD!  ~ Dusty Groove

FLYING LOTUS – YOU’RE DEAD!

Flying Lotus is not only very much alive on You're Dead! – he's as lively as ever – delivering his best, most diverse record to date! The Flying Lotus sound is in peak form here – glitchy beats and spacey keyboards, deftly layered samples, and carrying boundless influences from cosmic soul jazz to leftfield hip hop! An impressive guest roster from both realms participate – with appearances by Herbie Hancock (!!!), Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, frequent collaborator and stylistic sibling Thundercat, strings arranger Miguel Atwood Ferguson and others. Standout moments include the tracks "Tesla" and "Moment Of Hesitation", both with some incredible keyboards by Herbie Hancock, plus the uber-moody, Ennio Morricone-sampled "Turtles" – but the whole thing is great, and shows that the Flying Lotus phenomenon is still in ascension, circa 2014. Other cuts include "Cold Dead", "Never Catch Me" with Kendrick Lamar, "Dead Man's Tetris" with Snoop Dogg, "Turkey Dog Coma", "Stirring", "Obligatory Cadence", "The Protest" and more. ~ Dusty Groove