A sweet
collection of work from Kenya – one of the freshest voices on the neo soul
scene in recent years – presented here in a set of remixes that only further
expand her groove! The album's a great companion to Kenya's studio records –
and often has her wonderful vocals stepping up strongly over some more
club-oriented grooves – work that's never in a cheap dance music mode, nor just
a simple house-ified approach to her songs – and which instead provides some
very thoughtful reworkings of her tunes. Titles include "Take Me Away (Tom
Glide rmx)", "My Heart (Mark De Clive-Lowe rmx)", "Brown
Soul (Edgewood Agents acoustic rmx)", "Makusmile (Tom Glide
rework)", "Let Me (Sean McCabe classic soul rmx)", "Never
Giving Up (Edgewood Agents rework)", and "Wednesday Girl (Opolopo
rmx)". ~ Dusty Groove
NATE LAPINE –
QUARTET: VORTICES
A really
wonderful album from the hard-burning contemporary Chicago scene – a set that
may not get the global attention as some other records on bigger labels, but
one that's equally well-deserving of recognition! Tenorist Nate Lepine is at
the head of the group, but the whole quartet is a very cohesive ensemble –
working with this equally spaces sense of composition and freedom – very much
in the spirit of the Chicago scene of players like Mike Reed or Josh Berman,
but also with some of the newer, more personal energy we've really been feeling
in recent years too! Nick Mazzarella plays alto sax in the group, and the
pairing of horns is wonderful – interlocked at all the right moments, but
bursting out with individual voices when needed – and given strong support by
the subtle bass work of Clark Sommers, and the well-timed drums of Quin
Kirchner. Titles include "Ice Shirt", "Youngblood",
"Eve Yeti's Ready For Spring", "Aye Lads",
"Hennies", and "The Grass Is Rizz". ~Dusty Groove
JARI HAAPALAINEN TRIO – FUSION MACHINE
No fusion
here – at least not in the traditional sense – but the album is a really made
fusion of drums, electric bass, and tenor saxophone – the last of which is
played by the great Per Texas Johansson, with a force that's more than strong
enough to match the other two instruments! The electric bass really rumbles
with a lot of power here – modes that are much more dynamic than in traditional
jazz, but not really rock or familiar fusion, either – and there's an
elasticity from the instrument, as played by Daniel Bingert, that really seems
to communicated back and forth between the other two points of the triangle.
Jari Haapalainen is on drums – driving the whole thing onward – and titles
include "Ingrid 20", "Risk For Halka",
"Begynnelsen", "Morka Rummet", and "Ich Bin Ein
Berliner". (Limited to 300 copies!) ~ Dusty Groove
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