Tuesday, June 07, 2022

New Music Releases: Jason Palmer, Brandon Seabrook, Ghost Power, Shawn Lee & Misha Panfilov

Jason Palmer - Con Alma

Trumpeter Jason Palmer does a great job here of updating older jazz classics and mixing in some really nice originals of his own – all recorded with a quartet, and in a manner that gives the leader plenty of room to shape the tunes with that unique phrasing we've always loved in his trumpet! The combo features Leo Genovese on piano and Fender Rhodes – the latter of which is an especially nice match for Palmer, as it really seems to bring out the warmth in his horn, and encourage more fluidity in his phrasing. Other players include Joe Martin on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums – and titles include the originals "It's A Brand New Day", "Miracles", "Black Beauty", and "Nameless" – plus nice takes on "Con Alma", "Nefertiti", and the Duke Pearson tune "You Know I Care". ~ Dusty Groove

Brandon Seabrook - In The Swarm

Guitarist Brandon Seabrook does a great job here of moving between more intense moments on his instrument and more spacious, open-ended passages – sometimes with a sound that makes you very aware of his fingers on the strings, other times much more abstract – qualities that are echoed by the work of the other two members of the trio – Cooper Moore on diddley bow and Gerald Cleaver on both drums and electronics! The album's got jazz sensibilities at times, maybe more genre-less instrumental qualities at others – and titles include "Crepuscule Of Cleaver", "Adrenaline Charters", "Of The Swarm", "Aghastitude", and "Seething Excitations". ~ Dusty Groove


Ghost Power - Ghost Power

The first full length set from this mighty duo – Tim Gane of Stereolab and Jeremy Novak from Dymaxion – coming together in a set of stripped-down instrumentals that really get at the core of their contributions to those other projects! There's plenty of blips, bleeps, and echoes of older analogue electronics – and the lean quality of the set is really great – maybe almost a bit like the way the Beastie Boys served up In Sound From Way Out in contrast to their more lyric-based work on better-known records! We're almost tempted to put this one up there with the classic Testcard EP from Young Marble Giants – but things are slightly fuller, and more sinister too – on titles that include "Zome Primer", "Grimalkin", "Vertical Section", "Opsimath", "Astral Melancholy Suite", "Lithic Fragment", and "Asteroid Witch". ~ Dusty Groove

Shawn Lee & Misha Panfilov - Space & Tempo

Two contemporary funk legends, coming together in a really wonderful set of tracks – spare, yet full-on funky all the way through – and very much at the top of the game for anything you might expect from both artists! Shawn Lee serves up funky drums, Misha Panfilov handles the bass – and both of them bring in a huge range of keyboards, electronics, and other effects – complete with the sort of spacey touches we especially love in Misha's music – almost an outer space version of deep funk at times! Titles include "Rope Tornado", "Tom Tom Yum", "Prowling", "Separated At Surf", "Glamorous Life", "Florian", "Stairway To Seven", "Turbo Engine", "Hans Zimmerframe", "sAmba Brown", "Porta Hole", "Wet Streets", and "Rope Tornado". ~ Dusty Groove

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