New Music Releases: Bobby Sparks II; Eunhye Jeong; Dave Soldier

Bobby Sparks II - Schizophrenia – The Yang Project

A super cosmic mix of jazz, funk, and soul – served up by keyboardist Bobby Sparks, who plays host to a huge array of guest musicians and singers! In a way, there's a vibe here that almost recreates the spirit of George Clinton's P-Funk – especially the way that Sparks can be such a strong leader, but a generous one too – really giving space to everyone who steps into the mix as the double-length album rolls on – with nice mood changes from track to track, and a very powerful vision that really ties the whole thing together! Up-and-coming talents rub shoulders here with heavyweights like Roy Hargrove, Marcus Miller, Lucky Peterson, and Frank McComb – and titles include "The Comanches Are Coming", "So Fine", "I Miss U", "All Mine", "Let's Take A Journey", "Lio Is Weird As Hell", "Stono River", "Schizophrenia", and "We Play What We Want". ~ Dusty Groove

Eunhye Jeong - The Colliding Beings

Boston-based pianist, composer and improviser Eunhye Jeong has performed with some prominent avant-garde musicians such as Wadada Leo Smith, who is also her mentor (Firehouse 12, CT), Okkyung Lee (Spectrum, NY), etc. She performed in venues such as Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, UN Headquarter, numerous universities such as Harvard, Boston College, etc. She is an alumna of Berklee College of Music and Banff International Jazz and Creative Workshop directed by Vijay Iyer. This new exciting live recording is Eunhye Jeong’s fourth record as a leader or co-leader, of her latest concert Chi-Da, the free improvisation project that encourages colliding worlds of different performers and aims to achieve the harmony through the independency of each musician involved in the act. Following her previous Chi-Da album of her solo piano works, the music displays formidable pianistic approach nuancing Cecil Taylor, his percussive approach in particular. But it also goes beyond the abstractness that free improvisation often brings about by storytelling with social commentary on historical events. This album features internationally acclaimed Pansori master Il-dong Bae, who is known not only as a true “traditionalist” who inherited national intangible asset no. 5, strictly following go-je, the ancient style, but also the one who is most open to experimental collaborations with highly regarded contemporaneous musicians around the globe. His collaborators include bassist Mark Dresser, drummer Simon Barker among others.

Dave Soldier - Zajal

Zajal, renowned Downtown composer and instrumentalist Dave Soldier explores the beginning of popular song and locates it 1000 years ago at the intersection of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian cultures in southern Spain. Zajal, along with muwashaha, were the lyrics of medieval Andalusia. While many are still sung today (notably in Lebanon), their offspring are everywhere. On a trip to Spain in 2004, Soldier read about the Andalusian caliphate, when the Muslim, Christian and Jewish com- munities not only coexisted, but co-created much of the world we inhabit today. Together, they produced the novel, cowboy culture, the guitar, the dance suite, the Kabbalah, Maimonides and ibn Arabi and the discovery of the New World. And modern song: the zajal and muwashaha introduced the verse and chorus that are the backbone of popular music. Imitation of Andalusia's singing oud players begat the troubadours and the figure of the wandering poet and singer in its myriad incarnations, from Villon to Joni Mitchell.