JOWEE OMICIL – LET’S BASH
Sweet reeds and plenty of Fender Rhodes – a set that has
Jowee Omicil blowing soprano sax, alto, flute, and clarinet – over a set of
tunes that move along with a gentle sort of groove! The album's got a nice
polish, but is also hipper than smooth jazz too – with some rootsier currents
from time to time, and just the right sort of use of electric elements, so that
they never overwhelm the acoustic sound of the leader. Songs are dedicated to
Ornette Coleman, Tinariwen, Roy Hargrove, and others – and titles include
"Sur Le Pont D'Avignon", "A Si Pare", "Love &
Honesty", "Something Clear", "Twa Groove", and
"Pipillita". ~, Dusty Groove
PETER BERNSTEIN – SIGNS LIVE
A strong double dose live set for Smoke Sessions led set by
guitarist Peter Bernstein – in a quartet setting with Christian McBride on
bass, Brad Mehldau on piano and Gregory Hutchinson on drums – reconvening the
the line-up that recorded Bernstein's Signs album on Criss Cross back in the
mid 90s! It's wonderful for several reasons – for one, in getting these
amazing, incredibly busy players back together after all these years – and for
fleshing out the material so greatly in a live setting! The Signs tunes really
breathe here, with lots of air and space for each player to shine, most tracks
running nice on long on the 2CD set. They're all Bernstein originals save for 3
Thelonious Monk numbers, and the titles include "Blues For Bulgaria",
"Hidden Pockets", "Dragonfly", "Jive Coffee",
"Pannonica", "Useless Metaphor", "Let Loose",
"All Too Real", "Resplendor", "Crepuscule With
Nellie/We See" and "Cupcake". ~ Dusty Groove
(U)NITY – (U)NITY IS POWER
Unity through diversity from (U)nity – conceived as a
5-piece band in the mid 00s, and coming to expansive fruition a decade later as
a far-reaching, yet strongly united collective! At the core, players Michael
Valeanu, Axel Tosca, Chris Smith, Max Cudworth and Amaury Acosta bring a strong
backdrop of Afro-Cuban inspired percussion, exciting early fusion-flavored
electric guitar, sax and spacey keys, and with a huge group of contributors
bring a lot more to the table – deeper layers of the core elements and more –
from cosmic hip hop, to Latin, to deep soul and beyond! Largely instrumental,
but with some strong vocal material, too, titles include "FEAR (Forget
Everything And Rise)", "Perception", "Avenue 15" feat
Pino Palladino & Petrito Martinez, "(U)nity Theme Song" feat
Lauren Desber, "Penelope Ana (Love Interlude)", "New Cuba"
feat Petrito Martinez, "Retrograde", "everlasting Belief"
feat Jhoard, "Can I Get A Dollar", "Guarapachanga",
"Ache" and more. ~ Dusty Groove
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