Tuesday, January 24, 2017

NEW RELEASES: PHILIPPE BADEN POWELL - NOTES OVER POETRY; ERIC ALEXANDER TRIO – JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS; SKYMARK – RESISTANCE SONORE

PHILIPPE BADEN POWELL - NOTES OVER POETRY

Philippe is the son of Brazilian musical legend Baden Powell de Aquino, and is reinventing Brazilian jazz in the lineage of his father’s generation. Balancing the classical with the spiritual, the cinematic with the introspective, and sensitivity with a distinctly Brazilian groove, Notes Over Poetry calls upon the inspiration of the many musical and artistic greats Baden Powell has been surrounded by throughout his life. “The great Brazilian poet and old family friend, Vinicius de Moraes used to say that ‘life is the art of encounter’, and that is what this album is about.” A nomadic upbringing - moving between Rio, Paris and the coincidentally named German city of Baden-Baden, as well as touring internationally alongside his father and brother, provided boundless encounters with inspirational figures. Touring also gave Philippe Baden Powell his first taste of life in the spotlight: recorded when he was just thirteen, a sold out show alongside his father and brother at Sala Cecília Meireles in Rio De Janeiro, would become the 1996 album Baden Powell & Filhos. To his father, Philippe attributes key characteristics which have enriched and guided him in his professional life: “He transmitted to me the passion and commitment indispensable to any artist.” With his father he also shares an innate pull towards collaboration as key to the creative process. “I can’t remember a time making music just by myself, I’ve always felt like a kid with toys waiting for friends to come and play.” Credit is indeed due to the musicians on the album, many of whom are legendary artists in their own right: French jazz drummer André Ceccarelli, who has worked with everyone from Aretha Franklin to Michel Legrande; prolific Belgian jazz vocalist David Linx; and Afro-Brazilian percussion master Ruca Rebordão.

ERIC ALEXANDER TRIO – JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS

A totally wonderful setting for the tenor genius of Eric Alexander – a freewheeling trio, which is a format we're not sure we've ever heard him in before – really stretching out in an amazing way, with the sense of of imagination that we've always loved in his music, but with a depth that takes him farther than most of his usual recordings too! We're not sure what happened, but there's a new sort of edge in Eric's horn – one that might well come from the sublime work of Dezron Douglas on bass and Neal Smith on drums – but which might just be Alexander deciding to take off and really blow us away – which he does throughout the set, with a sense of spirituality that we haven't heard from him before. The whole thing's amazing – and titles include "Wise One", "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To", "You Say You Care", "Beautiful Love", "Bessie's Blues", "Russian Lullaby", and "We've Only Just Begun".  ~ Dusty Groove


SKYMARK – RESISTANCE  SONORE

A fantastic album of keyboard funk instrumentals – a set that starts somewhere in a late 70s soul fusion vibe, then makes a move through some of the more broken, cosmic territory of the European scene in recent years! On some of the straighter tracks, there's Fender Rhodes, at a level that recalls the best work of musicians like Bobby Lyle or Ramsey Lewis during their 70s jazz funk years – while other tracks get a bit more abstract, with complicated rhythms that change things up nicely, while still keeping things in soulful territory. There's a bit of muted vocals at spots – but really layered down in the rhythm section, with a more instrumental vibe to the record overall. Titles include "Warm Day", "Illusion", "Flying Fantasy", "O Alivio Das Ferias", and "Disco Song For My Son".  ~ Dusty Groove





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