MINA AGOSSI - FRESH
Mina
Agossi's tenth album to date, looks back on her 20 year career by revisiting
some of her original songs in new arrangements. Merging acoustic an electronic
sounds around the heartbeat of the double bass, drums and percussion, fusing
jazz and world music with the sensibilities of urban soul and rock, the album
reveals more of Mina Agossi's Beninese roots in these inspired new adaptions of
her songs. "Listening to Mina Agossi is like riding a motorbike through
Paris, thrilling, beautiful and very bumpy. Don't expect to come out
alive." - Jamie Cullum Personnel: Mina Agossi (vocals), Eric Jacot (bass
guitar), Simon Bernier (drums), Stéphane Guery (guitar), Phil Reptil (guitar),
Philippe Combelle (drums, percussion), Alexei Aigui (violin). ~ Amazon
JEREMY UDDEN / NICOLAS MOREAUX - BELLEVILLE PROJECT
The
meeting between New England born saxophonist and composer Jeremy Udden and the
French bassist/composer Nicolas Moreaux was quite serendipitous. Udden was
house-sitting in Paris and inquired via social media whether there were any
musicians interested in playing a session. A session was quickly arranged where
the saxophonist first met Moreaux. Udden had already cemented an identity in
the jazz world with his unique voice on alto saxophone and his compositional
leanings toward rock and folk music through his "Plainville" and
'Folk Art' projects. Having made a name alongside the likes of Tigran Hamashian
and Bill McHenry, Moreaux came with tremendous jazz chops and an equal
enthusiasm for similar non-jazz idioms. The two musicians bonded over their
common interests and kept in contact. Out of their correspondence the idea for
a new project formed naturally, in which they would work together to blend
musical elements of French and American folk, rock, and film music into jazz
composition. By a stroke of luck their idea fit into the guidelines of the
competitive French American Jazz Exchange Grant (from the French American
Cultural Exchange and the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation). They won the grant,
giving them the financial means to turn their idea into reality. The outcome of
their work is the Belleville Project, a name referring to the neighbourhood in
Paris where they recorded. ~ Amazon
YONATHAN AVISHAI - MODERN TIMES
Yonatan
Avishai is one of the best kept secrets of the new Israeli jazz scene (Avishai
Cohen, Eli Degibri, Shai Maestro ...). He has an original style that
reactivates the main elements of jazz - swing, blues, improvisation - in a very
personal way. The Franco-Israeli pianist is better known for the Third World
Love group he co-founded with trumpeter Avishai Cohen, bassist Omer Avital and
drummer Daniel Freedman (five albums). After starting in Tel Aviv where he had
the opportunity to accompany musicians such as Walter Blanding, Marcus Printup
and Arnie Lawrence, he settled in France, becoming a member of the Omer Avital
Quintet. He also performs regularly with The Three Cohens, among others, and
has developed, under the concept of 'Modern Times', its own musical vision. ~ Amazon
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