New Music Releases: Rosario Giuliani, Seven Wonders, Collocutor

Rosario Giuliani- Love In Translation

A beautiful set of ballads from saxophonist Rosario Giuliani – made even better by the vibes of Joe Locke! The tunes are all based around the theme of love – mostly standards, but a few originals too – and even when mellow, they're given a nice sort of swing by the bass of Dario Deidda and drums of Roberto Gatto – both players who keep things simple, but move them along nicely – while Locke sparkles on the vibes, and Giuliani shifts between alto and some especially nice soprano sax. Titles include "Love Letters", "The Hidden Force Of Love", "Duke Ellington's Sound Of Love", "Love In Translation", "Tamburo", "Raise Heven", and "Love Is A Planchette". ~ Dusty Groove

Seven Wonders – New Movements In Australian Jazz & Soul

A great little compilation – and one that really makes us want to hear a lot lot more from all the artists in the lineup! Think of this one as a bit like some of the excellent Brownswood compilations that have hipped us to changes on the London scene during the past few years – as this package showcases an amazing array of music that's been coming out of the Melbourne scene – artists who are heavy on influences from spiritual jazz, cosmic soul, and other mind-expanding modes – really moving past some of the simpler soul and funk we might have heard from the city in the previous decade! The scope of music here is really great, and there's not a dead cut in the bunch – just the kind of tip-of-the-iceberg sounds that makes us hope that Plug Seven will be giving us a lot more of these artists in years to come. Titles include "For Yu Sakamoto" by James Macaulay Quartet, "Waiting" by Jazz Party, "Improvisation #2" by Greg Vinod Perrin, "Dempsey Roll" by Superfeather, "Women's Choir" by Godtet, "Everything I Need" by Daniel Merriwesther, "Sooki The Love Dog" by Laneous, "Sweet Water" by Barney McAll, "True Realm Of The Coin" by The Rookies, and "Work" by Moses McRae with Crooked Letter. ~ Dusty Groove

Collocutor - Continuation

‘Continuation’ is a remarkable work in which the interplay of emotional experience and life motion experienced by band leader Tamar Osborn (also known as Tamar Collocutor) is channelled and explored by Collocutor. The band’s third LP assuredly strides forward following the critical acclaim awarded to ‘The Search’ from 2016 (a work that gained the enthusiastic praise of Mulatu Astake and Gilles Peterson among others). Whereas ‘The Search’ invoked a journey ending in hope and new beginnings, ‘Continuation’ looks at the aftermath of the unexpected. This is an album about coping with grief, loss and bereavement: The music charts the many (and sometimes surprising) emotional states encountered, moving from acknowledgement, trying to keep ‘normal’ life going, the need to sometimes put a pause button on and let the waves of feelings crash and roll, sudden anger and confusion, finally to moving (perhaps with uncertainty) forward. Tamar Osborn has led Collocutor through a line-up shift from septet to quintet for ‘Continuation’. The modified line-up creates space for the musicians to express themselves through the shades of ‘Continuation’'s movement. The quintet brings in more group improvisation, based on just a few motifs and so giving the musicians more space to converse.