Wednesday, November 11, 2015

NEW RELEASES: ROBERTA GAMBARINI & THE HEATH BROTHERS – CONNECTING SPIRITS; KAZUHIRO SUNAGA - MIRROR; GERARDO FRISINA – OLYMPIA

ROBERTA GAMBARINI & THE HEATH BROTHERS – CONNECTING SPIRITS: ROBERTA GAMBARINI SINGS THE JIMMY HEATH SONGBOOK

Jimmy Heath is a hell of a saxophonist – one with a huge legacy of recordings from the early 60s onwards – and he's also a hell of a writer, too – an aspect of his career that's not always fully given its due! This set more than corrects that lack – and serves up a sublime mix of original Jimmy Heath compositions sung by vocalist Roberta Gambarini – who contributes lyrics to a few previously-instrumental tunes, and works with some of Jimmy's own lyrics on a few others! As you'd guess from the cover image, the set's done in close collaboration with Heath – and features Jimmy himself on both tenor and soprano sax, brother Albert Tootie Heath on drums, and instrumentation from the core Heath Brothers band plus some great additional guests. The spirit of the record is wonderful – warmly soulful, with this really fresh vibe that's so different than so many other vocal jazz albums – partly because of the compositions, and partly because of Roberta's very sensitive vocals. Titles include "Growing", "Voice Of The Saxophone", "Life In The City", "The Thumper", "Rio Dawn", "Harmonic Future", "Sassy Samba", "Mothers' Love", "Frank Foster", and "Ellington's Stray Horn".  ~ Dusty Groove

KAZUHIRO SUNAGA - MIRROR

A debut solo set from Kazuhiro Sunaga – an artist you might know better as the bassist in Japan's mighty Quasimode – but one who really stretches into new styles here on his own! The music still has that core sense of groove we love from Quasimode, but the performance is in a range of different instrumentation than the straight jazz styles of that combo – a blend of keyboards lines handled by the leader alongside his bass – including organ, Wurlitzer, mellotron, and acoustic piano – often mixed with this spare sort of instrumentation that's nicely playful, and which has a sound that's somewhere in the territory of post-jazz groups from the UK, and some of the more soulful experiments on Blue Note in the wake of Robert Glasper. A few tracks have vocals – sung by guests who include Maya Hatch and Sugar Me, and by Sunaga himself – and titles include "The Butterfly", "Spicy", "Coexistence", "Spring Wind", "Suzanne", "After The Storm", and "Help Me". (SHM-CD pressing!) ~ Dusty Groove

GERARDO FRISINA – OLYMPIA

A special vinyl-only release from Latin beatmeister Gerardo Frisina – a sweet little set that almost gets back to the basics of his early work on Schema Records! The set features five earthy groovers – all a blend of live percussion, vibes, piano, and even a bit of tenor, trumpet, and flute – all used in spare ways that are really focused on the rhythms, but never in a stiff sort of dancefloor style! Instead, Frisina keeps things in the warm territory we've always loved in his music – with lots of jazzy flourishes over the top of grooves inspired by classic Afro-Cuban modes, but updated with a 21st Century spirit. Titles include "Olympia", "Tin Tin Deo", "The Obsession", "East Breeze", and "Talking Sticks".  ~ Dusty Groove


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