Wednesday, April 08, 2015

NEW RELEASES: MINA AGOSSI - FRESH; JEREMY UDDEN / NICOLAS MOREAUX - BELLEVILLE PROJECT; YONATHAN AVISHAI - MODERN TIMES

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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