TONY
MINVIELLE PRESENTS INTO SOMETHIN’ VOLUME 1
A stunning
little set – one we fell in love with from the very first note! The collection
is wonderful – some of the freshest underground soul we've heard in years –
almost a re-lighting of the UK fire that burned so strongly a few years ago –
but with a very vibrant new sound as well! The music is very warm, but not in a
contemporary soul sort of way – and indeed, maybe even deeper than most
underground tracks too – as there's a lot of jazz in the instrumentation, and
even the electric touches are more geared towards slightly cosmic elements, but
without ever hitting a dancefloor mode. The whole thing's a great reminder that
there's still folks out there making positive, forward-thinking soul – and our
hat's off to compiler Toni Minvielle for doing such a great job. Titles include
"Distance Can Be Sweet" by Personal Life, "Distractions" by
Liz Elensky, "Miss Purty" by Cory Henry, "Let The Music
Play" by Collective Peace, "Sea Snake" by Carl Hudson, "Two
Sides" by Pat Van Dyke, "You Go To My Head" by Lauren Desberg
with Gretchen Parlato, "Electric Ladyland" by Jesse Fischer,
"Music Power" by Tommaso Cappellato & Astral Travel, and
"Todos Os Santo" by Mauricio Maestro with Nana Vasconcelos. ~ Dusty
Groove
LISA
STANSFIELD – LIVE IN MANCHESTER
An excellent
live set from the mighty Lisa Stansfield – recorded recently, but with all the
classic soul we've always loved in her music! The live setting is maybe even
warmer and more organic than some of Lisa's studio work – with backings by a
funky jazz combo that's right on the money all the way through, almost bringing
an Incognito sort of warm to the whole thing – even on the passages which are
touched with a bit of warmer strings – which create this cool, classy 70s sort
of vibe! Titles include "Picket Fence", "People Hold On",
"Stupid Heart", "Can't Dance", "Set Your Loving
Free", "Conversation", "There Goes My Heart",
"Someday", "The Real Thing", and lots more! ~ Dusty Groove
NICK
MAZZARELLA TRIO - ULTRAVIOLET
The
strongest album to date from Chicago saxophonist Nick Mazzarella – a trio set
that has the leader's alto blazing out in brilliantly soulful spirit, alongside
robust bass from Anton Hatwich and magical drums from Frank Rosaly! The group
have a cohesion that we might not have expected from the players a handful of
years before – a sense of unity that's extremely dramatic, and which grabs our
ears right from the start of the record – insisting that we listen with rapt
attention, almost as if they're announcing the set as a new classic in jazz.
All compositions are by Mazzarella, and although there's a lot of freedom in
the playing, there's also an adhesion to his musical vision too – that
wonderful balance of structure and openness that can really separate a record
like this from the rest of the pack. Titles include "Neutron Star",
"Luminous Dials", "Ultraviolet", "Fossil", and
"Outlier". ~ Dusty Groove
No comments:
Post a Comment