The title of Congolese born, Stockholm, Sweden based singer/songwriter Marius Billgobenson’s album The Spirit Love embodies his life’s work and mission as a concerned and compassionate musical citizen of the world with a commitment to bridging cultural divides. Over the course of 11 heartfelt and provocative, urban jazz meets world music tracks, the multi-talented artist – also an award-winning anthropologist with a deep passion for ethnomusicology - creates a deeply visceral and empowering autobiographical fusion of pop, soul, blues and jazz, infused with the spirited rhythms and vocal sounds indigenous to the Congo. Helping him immerse into the Smooth Jazz world are Paul Brown, who wrote and produced two tracks, and Chris “Big Dog” Davis, who helmed six others. ~ www.smoothjazz.com
A wonderfully surprising effort from guitarist Mike Allemana – a secret hero of ours in the Chicago jazz scene for many years – as a player who first worked with tenor giant Von Freeman, and later with guitarist George Freeman – and who's gone on to be both a supporter of and champion for their rights in jazz history! Here, Mike pays tribute to his first mentor – but with a sophisticated suite of tracks that's unlike anything we might have expected – beautifully rich sounds delivered by Allemana on guitar, Victor Garcia on trumpet, Greg Ward on alto, Geof Bradfield on tenor, Tomeka Reid on cello, Kendall Moore on trombone, Matt Ferguson on bass, and Michael Raynor on drums – the last of whom also played with Von Freeman too! The vibe is very different than the small combo jazz of the south side scene where the Freemans and Allemana regularly played – more painterly in sound, with these vibrant strokes of color and tone that paint a wonderful portrait – on titles that include "The Mediator", "Welcome Enter", "Communion & Renewal", "Libra Channeling", and "The Mentor's Benediction". ~ Dusty Groove
High Pulp have always been one of those groups that are nicely hard to define – but this time around, they seem to be coming across with a jazzier vibe than ever before – and a new sort of musical sophistication that really has their music falling into place! The Seattle combo's always had a wide ear for influences, and that's really helped them put together the pieces in their music – yet here, they also really seem to be speaking strongly in their own voice too – with a mixture of complex yet compelling rhythms, rich tonal colors, and soaring solos that fill the album with promise and life! The group themselves are already great – and they open the door to guest work from Jaleel Shaw on tenor, Jacob Mann on keyboards, and Theo Croker on trumpet – adding their own shades to the group's rich palette. Titles include "All Roads Lead To Los Angeles", "Ceremony", "A Ring On Each Finger", "Kamishinjo", "Wax Hands", "Blaming Mercury", "You've Got To Pull It Up From The Ground", and "Chemical X". ~ Dusty Groove
Bassist Luke Stewart is fast becoming one of our favorite talents on his instrument in recent years – an artist who first grabbed our ears with his work in Irreversible Entanglements, but who seems even better suited to stand out front as a leader! The performance of the trio here is wonderful – complex, but organic – very rhythmic, but also never tied to the groove – maybe a bit in the spirit of the UK group Ill Considered at times, but with a direction that's very much its own! In addition to Stewart on bass, the always-amazing Chad Taylor is on drums – really given the space here to remind us how brilliant he can be – and the group also features Brian Settles on tenor, carving out these really beautiful lines over the top. Titles include "Roots", "Angles", "Reminiscence", "Circles", and "Dream House". ~ Dusty Groove
No comments:
Post a Comment