Wednesday, June 27, 2018

New Releases: Al Di Meola - Elegant Gypsy & More Live; John McLaughlin - Live At Ronnie Scott's; Michael Sarian & The Chabones - Leon


Al Di Meola - Elegant Gypsy & More Live

With his acclaimed current studio album 'OPUS', Al Di Meola not only topped the TOP 5 of the Official German Jazz Album Charts and burst to #1 position in the US Contemporary Jazz Album Charts, but once again proved his status as a 'guitar superstar'. His curriculum vitae is full of exciting musical moments and incredible works and he still finds ways to challenging himself: he is a jack-of-all-trades, who does not take a real break in supposedly quieter times. Al Di Meola is burning for his passion - the music. With 'Elegant Gypsy & More LIVE'; partly recorded on his very successful 'Elegant Gypsy 40th Anniversary'-US Tour in 2017, Al Di Meola proves once again that jazz music tremendously 'rocks'. Above all, for him it is also a journey back to his musical beginning, which he brings to new heights with fantastic versions of songs like 'Race With Devil On Spanish Highway', 'Flight Over Rio', 'Midnight Tango' or 'Egyptian Danza'. Available on CD and Digital.

John McLaughlin - Live At Ronnie Scott's

Live at Ronnie Scott's is a single vinyl that features 6 songs from the CD. The music has been completely remastered for this release. It features all the Mahavishnu Orchestra songs that appear on the CD. The venerable London jazz club and its charismatic namesake gave so much to McLaughlin s career, the roots of which extend as far back as McLaughlin s stint as a member of the club s house band in the 1960s. Since then, his pioneering spirit, instrumental virtuosity, and improvisational fearlessness have taken him around the world, put him on stage alongside fellow giants such as Miles Davis and Tony Williams, and has given listeners a series of compelling, revolutionary recordings that have redefined improvised music for generations to come. Limited Edition of 1,000.

Michael Sarian & The Chabones - Leon

Albeit mostly playful, there's a common stigma against gingers (people with red hair) throughout the world, and my home country Argentina is no different. Although they don't believe gingers have no soul, and although they don't believe gingers are vampires; they do believe they're bad luck. There's this saying, Colorado Yeta, which roughly translates into 'bad luck ginger' (yeta = bad luck; = yeta, Colorado = ginger). To be honest, I never felt discriminated against because of my red hair, but I did stand out. Originally, the album title was going to be Colorado Yeta, which is the more introspective track, melancholic, almost like a ballad. But I knew that non-Spanish speakers would have a hard time pronouncing and understanding that title. Additionally, I didn't want the whole album to have this defeatist vibe to it, so I thought about what positive twist I could give the fact that I am, in fact, a ginger. Enter León (lion). Yes, I have long red hair and a beard, but the lion speaks to more than just my, or anyone else's, appearance. It speaks to anyone who's ever felt 'less than' for any reason, because they too can be a lion. The lion represents anyone who grows into who they are, and owns it. The album, although not chronological, is somewhat autobiographical. Throughout the title track, we try to blur the line between playing in duple and triple meter, and eventually get into a chacarera sort of feel that does exactly that. It doesn't hurt that Jim Piela plays an incredibly beautiful solo that makes us stop worrying about what meter we're in. The second track, No 3, is a feature for our drummer, Josh Bailey. The rest of the band holds out chords (voiced without the third), giving him plenty of space to play freely. The top voice of the chord progression spells out what I call the 'colorado yeta' melody, which also appears in the intro to Casquito, and in a way prepares the listener for it. - Michael Sarian

 


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