Seven-time
GRAMMY-nominated Cuban composer and pianist Omar Sosa teamed up with Senegalese
kora player Seckou Keita and with percussionist Gustavo Ovalles from Venezuela
to record his exquisitely beautiful world-jazz CD “Transparent Water”, with
touches of sheng (traditional Chinese flute) by Wu Tong, of Silk Road fame. He will
celebrate the February release in France (on World Village/PIAS) with a concert
in Marciac on March 4 and in Paris on March 16 (Café de la Danse). "Transparent
Water — evocative of translucence and flowing light — is a deeply spiritual
recording that reaches across five continents, a compassionate and captivating
artistic dialogue beyond musical category, and an invocation of the enduring
creative spirit of the human condition." -Michael Stone; "Cuban
pianist Omar Sosa and Senegalese kora master and vocalist Seckou Keita have
assembled an extraordinary album seamlessly melding Latin American and West
African music — the epitome of World Music, as suggested by its title,
perfectly limpid and evanescent, its constituent elements rapidly passing
through like cirrus clouds." -Roger Farbey, AllAboutJazz (U.K.).
Transparent Water is due for release on February 27, 2017.
SOUL SCRATCH
– PUSHING FIRE
An absolute
stormer from Soul Scratch – a contemporary combo from the SoCal scene doing the
legacy of the late 60s/early 70s raw funky soul style proud! Both the band name
and album titles are appropriate – we wouldn't call it "truth in
advertising", just straight up truth – with a genuine depth of soul in
both the songs and performance, played with incredible energy in the more fiery
number, but with a sure hand on the more tender numbers, too. Singer Dale Spollett
can wail with the best of them, and the band has real firepower in their
arsenal. The horns and rhythm section are stunningly tight, or have a loose
swagger when the song calls, and there some tasty guitar, too. Includes the
righteous opener "Pacified", "Look How Far We've Come",
"Odessa Heat", the sweet little centerpiece ballad "Kiss Me In
The Morning", "Be Kind", "Fireside Lounge",
"Empty Cup", "It's Not Over", "Thank You" and
more. ~ Dusty Groove
JOHN
ABERCROMBIE QUARTET – UP AND COMING
A
masterpiece of chromes and tones from the legendary John Abercrombie – an album
that's a beautiful summation of all the special style he's brought to his
guitar work over the years! That subtle shading that John had back at the start
is still very firmly in place, but he group's also almost got a Bill Evans sort
of approach – a gentle attack and quick decay, always respecting the space
between the notes – driven strongly by the wonderful piano efforts of Marc
Copland, who seems to be the perfect balance for Abercrombie. In a way, the
album really hearkens back to those key ECM albums of the 70s – those moments
when something extremely special and new was taking place, and when things
never got too abstract or ambient. The subtle rhythms help a lot –
always-careful work on drums from Joey Barron, and well-placed bass from Drew
Gress. Titles include "Joy", "Tears", "Sunday
School", "Jumbles", and "Flipside". ~ Dusty Groove
No comments:
Post a Comment