Thursday, April 14, 2016

NEW MUSIC: NAKA FORUM – WE ARE THE WORLD; FUMACA PRETA – IMPUROS FANATICOS; CHARLES EARLAND – COMING TO YOU LIVE

NAKA FORUM – WE ARE THE WORLD

A record that's got a lot more going on than you'd expect from the cat video innocence of its cover – hardly the kind of throwaway content you'd find online, and instead a rock-solid session of free jazz from this heavyweight Swedish group! The quartet boasts some of the fiercest trumpet we've ever heard from Goran Kajfes – who also plus cornet, percussion, and a slide trumpet too – alongside massive reeds from the mighty Jonas Kullhammar – who handles tenor, flute, and sopranino – plus wonderfully odd horns like slide saxophone, and George Braith's amazing Braithophone! Yet despite the unusual instruments, neither musician acts with the impulse of gimmick – and instead, the players hold onto a very firey spirit at the core – driven onward by the bass of Johan Berthling and drums of Kresten Osgood – who also plays a bit of piano – on these tracks that spin far out, but swing back strongly – always with a unified energy that's really wonderful – that special spark that first made us fall in love with the Moserobie label years ago. Titles include "Buss 414", "Do The Nacka Forum", "Chogolisa", "Thinking About JC", and "Magwaza".  ~ Dusty Groove

FUMACA PRETA – IMPUROS FANATICOS

A wonderfully fuzzy little set – created by a group who are clearly influenced by the best sounds of Tropicalia and other hip South American rock at the end of the 60s – influences that they use strongly to forge into their own wonderful sound on this set! The album's the group's second, and is even more well-developed than before – a brooding masterpiece of dark sounds that do a good job of getting away from any sense of self-consciousness – all with the sort of right, raw, creative interplay we love in early records by Os Mutantes – but with maybe a bit of the soul of early Caetano Veloso too. Titles include "La Trampa", "Morrer De Amor", "Baldonero", "Impuros Fanaticos", and "Decimo Andar". ~ Dusty Groove

CHARLES EARLAND – COMING TO YOU LIVE

One of Charles Earland's sweet albums from his years at Columbia Records – done in a mode that's much more R&B than his earliest work, but in a style that's still A-OK with us! The groove here is greatly helped out by arrangements from Tom Washington, Weldon Irvine, and Marcus Miller – all great talents for mixing soul into Earland's jazzier keyboards – yet in a way that still keeps all of the best elements intact! Many of the tracks feature vocals, but in a gently soulful way that glides in nicely alongside the keys – and speaking of keys, Charles plays Fender Rhodes and Arp here in addition to his usual organ. Titles include "Coming To You Live", "Spend The Night With Me", "Take Me To Heaven", "Cornbread", "Good Question", "Zee Funkin Space", and "I Will Never Tell". ~ Dusty Groove

 




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