Thursday, November 02, 2017

NEW RELEASES: LALAH HATHAWAY – HONESTLY; VINCENT HERRING – HARD TIMES; JONAH LEVINE COLLECTIVE – ATTENTION DEFICIT

LALAH HATHAWAY – HONESTLY

That's an 8-bit version of Lalah Hathaway on the cover, and there's a bit of that vibe in the music – these spare electronic bits and bobs, which sound surprisingly great next to the fullness of her vocals! The approach is really unique, and yet another wonderful chapter in Lalah's career – a strong legacy of soul music that keeps on moving forward, and has showed folks for many years that she's way more than just a singer in the shadow of her father! Instead, Hathaway is completely contemporary here – not hanging onto any old school modes, and instead finding a way to make her music resonate with some of her younger soul contemporaries – but never in a way thats feels copycat at all. A massive feather in Lalah's cap – with titles that include "Honestly", "Change Ya Life", "Storm", "Y O Y", "I Can't Wait", "Call On Me", "What U Need", and "Don't Give Up". ~ Dusty Groove

VINCENT HERRING – HARD TIMES

Vincent Herring really pulls it all out on this one – as the set's not just a showcase for his always-sparkling work on alto sax, but also features Herring blowing a bit of soprano sax – and working with some surprising guest stars too! The core group features Cyrus Chestnut on piano and Fender Rhodes, Yasushi Nakamura on bass, and Carl Allen on drums – but there's lots of nice additions to the lineup throughout, in a shifting array of guests that includes vocals from Nicolas Bearde on a few tracks – as well as trombone from Steve Turre, guitar from Russell Malone, trumpet from Brad Mason, and tenor from Sam Dillon. Each of the guests brings a different flavor to the record, and creates more of a sense of variety than usual for a Herring album – and titles include "Use Me", "Hard Work", "Eastern Joy Dance", "The Sun Will Rise Again", "Piccadilly Square", "Amsterdam After Dark", "Hard Times", and "Good Morning Heartache". ~ Dusty Groove

JONAH LEVINE COLLECTIVE – ATTENTION DEFICIT

Jonah Levine is a trombonist, but he's also turning out to be a heck of a great composer, too – as you'll hear in this album that's filled with fresh, original material! The tunes all have a strong sense of color – directed by Levine's trombone, which solos often – in a lineup that includes Emile Martinez on trumpet, Josh Johnson on alto, Owen Clapp on bass, Kiefer Shackelford on piano, and Jonathan Pinson on drums. The album also features a few very soulful moments – the crackling, bass-heavy vibe of "French Song Reprise", which has vocals from Iman Omari; the spacey vibe of "Zootcase", which features Mndsgn; and the heavenly vocals of Aditya Prakash on "Rakia Nightmares". Other titles include "Qu'Est Ce Que C'Est", "False Alarm", "Time Will Tell", "Blue Whale Syndrome", and "Microverse Battery". (Includes download!) ~ Dusty Groove


 

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