Amira B - Away
Her upcoming single, “Away”, is a melancholy R&B-tinged neo-soul tune that elegantly puts to words our collective need to escape from these trying times. Expressing the uncertainty that we’re all feeling, Amira B elegantly puts to must the angst of this moment in a beautiful and soulful way. With shimmering vocals, and a tasteful blend of neo-soul, R&B and funk, singer-songwriter Amira B soaks the beauty all around us into a head-turning, soul-lifting music. A New Yorker at the core with unique Russian-Egyptian roots, Amira B began studying classical piano at the ae of 4. At 7, she and her family moved to New York City from Volgograd, Russia, where she continue to study classical piano. As the years went by, and while attending Fiorello H. LaGruardia High School, Amira decided to switch gears and focus her studies on her voice. Influenced by jazz, soul, R&B, and the beat of the city that can be heart within her own music, she began performing her own original songs for larger and larger audiences, eventually appearing with The Main Squeeze at The Brooklyn Bowl.
Jim Richter - Mr. Kool
Celebrating a multi-faceted, on and off five-decade career that’s found him playing blues, pop/rock and traditional jazz, classically trained guitarist Jim Richter made his SmoothJazz.com debut in 2019 with the impressive, Smooth Jazz charting album BREEZY DAY. This is the killer follow-up collection to his successful entry into the genre. MR. KOOL is infused with a multitude of vibes and grooves – from light funk and punchy pop/rock to dreamy ballads, driving rock jams and blues-fired romps – this collection may remind you of the high spirited, freewheeling way contemporary jazz soared in the 80s and 90s.
J&B Kings - Congo Conga (Afro-Cuban Funk)
In the late 1930s, the Conga was a wildly popular dance featured in Hollywood “Latin” musicals – Too Many Girls (1940) with Cuban star Desi Arnaz jamming as a conga-playing Argentine student. Arnaz made a more significant impact in the Deanna Durbin feature, It Started With Eve – when Durbin and renowned actor Charles Laughton dance to the infectious rhythm in a nightclub. The J&B Kings pay respect to a music style that would soon die on a "cartoon vine" when the very nature of its boldness, political will, and urban street chic had been eclipsed by Hollywood film buffoonery. The Kings bring a contemporary edge back to the music featuring New Orleans Chris Butcher and his Heavyweights Brass Band down the middle.
Born in Paris, raised in Vienna, resident in Ibiza, saxophonist and composer Muriel Grossmann embodies the borderless, pan-continental energies of contemporary European jazz. Her music emerges from the lineage of European jazz that’s absorbed the progressive music of Coltrane, Dolphy and Sanders. Today, she cites players such as Illinois Jacquet and Lester Young in the same breath as the masters of the avant-garde, and her playing marries the directness and eloquence of the older generation with the questing, spiritualised playing epitomised by Coltrane. The roster of musicians she has played with is long, and includes veteran European avant-gardists including Joachim and Rolf Kühn, Wolfgang Reisinger and Thomas Heidepriem, and she works tirelessly with contemporary groups and big bands across the continent.
Since her first recordings in the early 2000s, Grossmann has released a dozen albums as leader, featuring sounds ranging from hard-swinging modernist jams to free improvisation, expansive spiritual work to rhythm-focussed Afrocentrism. But at the centre of her work is a thread of pure and heartfelt spiritual music in the modal tradition defined by Coltrane and close collaborators like Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane. You can’t play this music successfully if you don’t mean it – like the music of her contemporary Nat Birchall, Grossmann’s engagement with the Coltrane tradition is sincere and deep. Her music resonates within the tradition – more than just a style, it adds a new chapter to the story of modal and spiritual jazz in Europe.
This Jazzman set draws a selection from her 2016 album Natural Time (‘Your Pace’, ‘Peace For All’) and from 2017’s Momentum (‘Elevation’, ‘Chant’ and ‘Rising’). Featuring her regular quartet of Radomir Milojkovic (guitar) Uros Stamenkovic (drums) and Gina Schwarz (bass), the music on Elevation is pure sound, soul and spirit!
There is a long tradition in jazz of reimagining pop songs. But in his latest release, Rio Minas, Montreal saxophonist, composer, and arranger Jean-Pierre Zanella gives the tradition a twist.
Rio Minas, released via Arté Boréal Records, Zanella celebrates the affecting, sophisticated songwriting of two giants of Brazilian pop music, Chico Buarque, from Rio de Janeiro and Milton Nascimento, from Minas Geraes, a state in Southeast Brazil.
For Zanella, this is both a musical and a personal project.
“As a jazz musician, you learn the Great American Songbook and the work of the great songwriters, people like Cole Porter and George Gershwin, and that includes Antonio Carlos Jobim, and bossa nova becomes part of the repertoire,” says Zanella. But there is much, much more to Brazilian music than bossa nova and, bit by bit, he discovered the universe of Brazilian Popular Music (MPB in the Portuguese acronym) and the work of singers and songwriters such as Djavan, Ivan Lins and Milton Nascimento.
Then, beginning in 1987, a year after meeting his future wife, Mima Souza, a carioca (a native of Rio de Janeiro), Zanella began traveling to Brazil. The initial visit grew into a deep, rich musical experience, underlined by his collaborations with artists and groups such as the great composer, producer, guitarist and vocalist Roberto Menescal, singer/songwriters Marcos Valle and Altay Veloso; pianist Marcos Arie, and the vocal ensemble Boca Livre.
“You go to Brazil, you hear the music, you get involved with the people and the culture, and you just want to learn more,” says Zanella.
A Montreal native and graduate of Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, Zanella soon made his mark both as a bandleader, recording nine albums, and also for his work with artists such as John Abercrombie, Bob Brookmeyer, Kenny Wheeler, and Aaron Parks.
In 2011, Zanella received the Oscar Peterson Award by the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal for his contributions to Canadian jazz.
Among those contributions was the work Zanella and his wife did bringing Brazilian musicians to perform in Montreal. “It was all handmade,” is how Zanella describes their efforts in the 1990s. “They would come and stay at our house, play in town and go home with a bit of pocket money and fun experiences.” They later founded the Brazilian Music Festival of Montreal (2004-2008).
Brazil loved him back. In 2004, Zanella was awarded the Ordem do Rio Branco by the Brazilian government for promoting cultural exchange between Brazil and Canada.
Rio Minas began as a one-time-only performance at Studio Victor in Montreal in 2015, an intimate show in front of a live audience.
Recalls Zanella. “It was Mima who suggested doing a concert with the music of Chico and Milton. I thought it was a great idea. I had done my first Brazilian album, Villa-Lobos & Antonio Carlos Jobim, in 2006, and I knew I wanted to continue exploring Brazilian music. And this project became my chance.”
Zanella collected a long list of songs that he pared down to a handful. “There were a lot of songs I loved, and I played around with a lot with arrangements,” he says. “But having to think in terms of playing these songs as instrumentals narrowed the choices.”
Picking songs by Milton Nascimento was easy, he says, because “there is always a jazz element in his music and you can hear it in his collaborations with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock.” Fittingly, Rio Minas opens with “Lilia,” a song Shorter included in his album Native Dancer, which featured Nascimento.
Chico Buarque, a poet and a superb, highly literate lyricist, offered a different challenge.
“Chico is a composer I discovered later on as I learned about Brazilian music,” says Zanella. “And he's got these great repetitive melodies that are difficult to translate into instrumental versions. I feel they need the lyrics to carry them. So for this album, I picked songs like “Bye Bye Brasil” and “Sobre Todas Essas Coisas” that I felt made sense as instrumental pieces.”
That said, Zanella also asked his daughter, vocalist Sashana Souza Zanella, to pick three songs to sing on the album. She chose Nascimento's “Morro Velho,” Buarque’s “Joana Francesa” and a song by Nascimento and guitarist Toninho Horta, “Beijo Partido.”
Zanella, who wrote all but two of the arrangements in Rio Minas, also included an original composition, “Dan”.
For the recording session at Studio Piccolo in Montreal, Zanella called on long-standing collaborators Pierre François (piano), Rémi-Jean Leblanc (bass), and Paul Brochu (drums), as well as pianist André Dequech, trumpeter Ron Di Lauro and trombonist Muhammad Abdul Al-Khabyrr. He also enlisted his wife, Mima, to create the album art and design.
If Rio Minas sounds like a labor of love, a family affair, there’s a good reason for it.
“I fell in love with the country, and I love the people,” says Zanella. “That’s my connection with Brazilian music.”
Japanese pianist Koki Nakano has released ‘Berceuse’, the latest single to be lifted from his new album ‘Pre-Choreographed’, due out through Nø Førmat! (also home to Oumou Sangaré and Mélissa Laveaux amongst others).The album is the follow-up to Nakano’s much-admired 2016 debut ‘Lift’, also released on Nø Førmat! and created in collaboration with cellist Vincent Segal.
Speaking about the tightly looping new single ‘Berceuse’, Koki notes; “Sleep relieves you from all your anxieties, but here there’s a hint of mystery too. Yes the tempo is slow, like a normal lullaby, but the repetitive piano notes maintain a mysterious and suspenseful mood.” ‘Berceuse’ is available to stream from here: https://idol.lnk.to/Pre-Choreographed.
The title of Nakano’s 2016 debut album, ‘Lift’, evoked a move well-known to ballet dancers: the porté, meaning ‘carried’. Requiring strength and delicacy, risk-taking and mastery of balance, the title also conveyed the deep relationship that Koki’s music maintains with dance, a bond he’s been cultivating ever since. ‘Pre-Choreographed’ is the continuation of that opening chapter, with the album release accompanied by a stunning series of choreographed music videos across which director Benjamin Seroussi (Opening Ceremony, Benjamin Clementine) collaborates with dancers/choreographers including Amala Dianor and Damien Jalet. The latest of those - synched to Koki’s track ‘Near-Perfect Synchronisation’ - is available to stream here.
A pivotal moment for Nakano in the creation of ‘Pre-Choreographed’ was seeing Sara, a piece performed by the L-E-V dance company in front of the Nymphéas by Monet, at the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris, which laid the foundations of the new album. “When I compose,” explains Nakano; “I keep images of bodies in a state of movement up in my head. They’re a great help to me when it comes to structuring each of my pieces, which develop as if they were responding to those movements.” And so, Koki’s album bears a title which speaks to a re-alignment of music & dance; “It reflects the keen sense of longing I feel for a time when the two disciplines were closely bound together, functioning jointly in society. It also means it’s as if the music is in a state of ‘waiting’ for, or even ‘lacking’, choreography.”
Hailing from Fukuoka Prefecture and later trained at both Japan’s prestigious Toho Gakuen music school and the Tokyo University of the Arts, Koki came to the attention of Nø Førmat! label founder Laurent Bizot when he performed at Tokyo’s Maison de la Culture in 2014. Bizot signed him on the spot - with Koki soon upping sticks to move permanently from Japan to France - continuing the label’s fondness for adventures with progressive pianists, begun back in 2004 when Nø Førmat! issued Chilly Gonzales’ pivotal ‘Solo Piano’.
In 2017, Latin GRAMMY award-winning producer, engineer, and musician Victor Rice released Smoke, his first solo album in over 15 years. The album was released on tastemaker indie label Easy Star Records and garnered critical praise and a cult-like following. Smoke was unique in how it presented Rice’s new sound combining the musical styles of Brazil and Jamaica by fusing Samba and Rocksteady, which he aptly calls “Samba-Rocksteady” or “SRS.” The momentum of that release has now spawned more brilliant music in that style. Rice states, “I can’t talk about Drink without referring to Smoke; it’s definitely part two of the trilogy of albums I’m working on.” Drink is set for release on May 15, 2020, on Easy Star Records. Listen and stream the first single “Simão” and pre-order the album here [https://orcd.co/drink].
The blending of sounds and cultures comes natural to Rice, who was raised in New York City, but has currently called São Paulo, Brazil, his home for nearly 20 years. In addition, Rice spends a lot of time in Europe and recorded most of the album in Charleroi, Belgium, at Badasonic Studio with collaborator Nico Leonard. Rice details, “The Charleroi sessions included recording ten rhythm tracks, about 3 minutes each, and were recorded to a single tape in one day. The following day was spent interpreting the melodies on each one. The band listened to these recordings in the van while on tour, and upon returning, the horn arrangements were recorded in one day as well. Not all of these songs made the cut, hence I did an auxiliary session in NYC with Ticklah as the guest engineer to round out the album.”
The first single off the album is “Simão,” which is out April 10th and is a laid back funky tune with hypnotic guitar licks courtesy of Ted Kumpel and the soothing horns featuring Buford O’Sullivan (Easy Star All-Stars, Skatalites, Toasters) on trombone, and Tony Mason on drums. The second single coming from the album on May 1st is “Bebida,” with its infectious piano rolls, standout horns, and skanking vibe. These are just some of the songs which makes Drink a remarkable statement and finds itself the perfect companion to Victor Rice’s Smoke.
As far as the album title Drink, Rice explains, “Most of these songs were written during a difficult period in my life, and there was a lot of drinking involved, so they were made under the influence of red wine. Once the sequence of songs were finished, it felt like a story arc, from the first glass to the last; fun, manic, introspective, lamentable, and a feeling of hopefulness at the end of it all.”
Rice has been a well-respected contributor to legendary bands such as The Slackers, Easy Star All-Stars, Bixiga 70, and The Skatalites. Rice has also received top recognition for his mixing and engineering capabilities during his immersive stay in Brazil, which helped him bring home two Latin GRAMMYs(2015, 2016) and become further knowledgeable in the depths of the rich history of Brazilian music. He concludes, “What makes this release special for me is the number of Brazilians participating on the record. It has taken me a long time to assimilate down here in São Paulo, but the city and culture has breathed into my music and that’s what makes Drink stand out from my previous records.” Vic Ruggiero of the Slackers once said about playing Rice’s music, “It feeds me,” which is the perfect way to sum up Drink in three words!
THE LOST MELODY is a jazz piano trio that has been performing together for nearly 20 years. Their newest CD, NEW SONGS FOR OLD SOULS, is a savory collection of original tunes with the distinct flavor of songs from the Great American Songbook.
Each band member is a bandleader and sideman in his own right, with a long list of performing and recording credits. The trio has been touring internationally, presenting concerts and giving masterclasses on improvisation and ensemble playing in places such as Ireland, Germany and Italy. Back home, they have performed at numerous jazz festivals, universities, and top New York City jazz clubs.
The trio performed and recorded for many years as the Joe Davidian Trio. As the band evolved over the years, so did the focus of their music. Rather than Davidian leading the group, the trio evolved into a true collective. “One of the best things about working with Jamie and Austin is how much we’re in sync,” says Davidian. “We all contribute equally to the music, so it made sense to change the name of the band to reflect that.”
As a trio, they have always enjoyed playing the beautiful and accessible melodies of jazz standards, with each member supporting and emphasizing the melody within that framework. For this recording though, they set out to compose their own songs influenced by the great melodic craftsmen of 20th century. In describing this concept, the trio speaks as one: “Some contemporary jazz groups focus on complex harmonies or intricate rhythms,” says Ousley. “But we wanted to get back to the idea of melody as the centerpiece of a song,” adds McMahon. And Davidian recalls, “we challenged each other to write new songs in the style of the old standards, with the melody being at the forefront. And, because our music harkens back to an earlier era, we came up with the title NEW SONGS FOR OLD SOULS for this album.”
The newly re-named The Lost Melody are known for their creative, interactive, and engaging performances. On NEW SONGS FOR OLD SOULS, they reach back to the past to create new sounds for the present.
GRAMMY® Award-winning pianist and composer Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra release their latest recording, Four Questions (ZOHO Music), featuring special guest Dr. Cornel West on the title composition "Four Questions." Four Questions marks O'Farrill's first album in his famed recording catalog to exclusively include all originally written compositions. Weaving together empowering messages for the times, Four Questions portrays the pioneering pianist as outspoken as ever on the obligation of artists to speak truth to the great injustices occurring across the globe.
Premiered live-in-concert at The Apollo Theater on May 21, 2016, "Four Questions" will now be available for worldwide audiences to hear on Four Questions with the electrifying Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra joined by Dr. Cornel West as a guest soloist, conductor, and percussionist. O'Farrill's commissioned piece for the Apollo Theater as part of his MacDowell residency took the shape of Dr. Cornel West's speech at Town Hall (Seattle, WA: October 9, 2014) based on his book, Black Prophetic Fire. Four questions posed by the great African American civil rights activist and author W. E. B. Du Bois in his 1903 book, The Souls of Black Folk, are expounded upon by West while O'Farrill and his 18-piece orchestra usher in a jolt of inspiring fury.
The four essential themes from W.E.B. Du Bois' seminal publication, include: What does integrity do in the face of adversity / oppression? What does honesty do in the face of lies / deception? What does decency do in the face of insult? How does virtue meet brute force?
"‘Four Questions' is about bringing attention through Dr. West's brilliance and vision, coupled with the subversive power of the Afro Latin Big Band, to the influence of revolutionary thought that demands we take stock of where we are as a country and demand better," says Arturo O'Farrill, pianist/composer and Artistic Director of the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance. "We must pay tribute to the jazz greats like Coltrane, Holiday, Mingus, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, and carry on their legacy of bringing attention to the real issues of modern society through jazz music."
Imaginary Archipelago, the bold and inventive new album featuring the Karuna Trio with master percussionists Adam Rudolph and Hamid Drake and saxophonist / multi-instrumentalist Ralph M. Jones, released May 1, 2020 via Rudolph’s Meta Records label.
On their second album as a trio, the group’s improvisatory explorations take them into an undiscovered country of sonic invention. These strikingly original pieces imagine an isolated island chain where musical traditions have evolved untouched by the rest of the world
Visionary improvisers Adam Rudolph, Hamid Drake and Ralph M. Jones envision a vivid new world of sound on their second outing as the inventive Karuna Trio
Imaginary Archipelago, out May 1, 2020 via Meta Records, follows Rudolph’s masterpiece Ragmala: A Garden of Ragas, the acclaimed meeting of his Go: Organic Orchestra and Brooklyn Raga Massive
Mesmerizing new album embarks on an exploration of undiscovered lands and their musical traditions through bold improvisation and innovative post-production
The three visionary musicians that make up the Karuna Trio – master percussionists Adam Rudolph and Hamid Drake and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist Ralph M. Jones – have each forged a singular voice by culling inspirations that span the globe and reach back through musical and cultural histories. On their second album as a trio, Imaginary Archipelago, the group’s improvisatory explorations take them into an undiscovered country of sonic invention. These strikingly original pieces imagine an isolated island chain where musical traditions have evolved untouched by the rest of the world.
Due out May 1, 2020 via Rudolph’s Meta Records label, Imaginary Archipelago is a breathtaking set of non-idiomatic, spontaneous compositions that brings vivid new meaning to the bridging of “ancient” and “future” musical concepts: the influence of ancient traditions, real and imagined, imbuing the utterly modern technology and techniques. Recorded at Firehouse 12 in New Haven, CT, the original improvisations reflect a profound chemistry developed through collaborations that have lasted and deepened for decades yet constantly reveal new and surprising discoveries. Rudolph’s inventive post-production then sculpts that source material into evocative soundscapes that illustrate the journey of discovery that he describes in his liner notes.
This bold, experimental approach is an undercurrent that runs throughout Rudolph’s diverse career, as well as that of his trio mates. Imaginary Archipelago arrives on the heels of the percussionist’s most ambitious and acclaimed release to date: Ragmala: A Garden of Ragas, which paired his Go: Organic Orchestra with the Indian classical musicians of Brooklyn Raga Massive. DownBeat called the album “a gorgeously complex tapestry of sounds, hues and sensations,” WBGO hailed it as “innovative [and] boundary pushing,” All Music called it “a major work,” and Jazzwise Magazine called it “a stunning journey into the unknown.”
Imaginary Archipelagos is a far more intimate affair, though no less innovatory. “With every record I make I try to do something that I’ve never done before,” says Rudolph. “I’ve always studied music from all over the world, so I had the idea of inventing some music that was previously undiscovered, which represents the idea that the creative endeavor itself is about discovering and uncovering something new.”
The close personal and musical relationship between Rudolph and Drake dates back to 1969, when the two met in a downtown Chicago drum shop at the age of 14. In the decades since they’re worked together with such greats as Don Cherry, Fred Anderson, Pharoah Sanders, Dave Liebman and Hassan Hakmoun as well as in each other’s ensembles. Both play an array of percussion instruments, allowing for a multitude of sounds each more surprising than the last. Together they share a remarkable chemistry. “Hamid and I think like one,” Rudolph says. “It’s almost uncanny at times. We’re always listening and orchestrating with each other in a way that’s incredibly free.”
Rudolph met Jones in 1974 at the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival, where they performed together in groups led by Kenne Cox and Charles Moore; with Moore they went on to co-found the Eternal Wind quartet that Rudolph has called, in much the same spirit as the Karuna Trio, “an ongoing research and development music laboratory.” Rudolph compares Jones to classic melodicists like Lester Young and Ben Webster: brilliant and bold improvisers who achieved stunning ends through elegant, understated means. “Ralph is a master orchestrator, harkening back to the tradition of soloing by generating gorgeous melodies. Ralph is always thinking about singing when he plays.”
In its compellingly original sound, Karuna blurs countless boundaries: between ancient and modern, organic and electronic, live improvisation and post-production. In his role as producer, Rudolph follows in the tradition of such formative influences as Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew, Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland and The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – artists and albums that used the studio as an instrument. In his role as conductor of the Go: Organic Orchestra, Rudolph utilizes the ensemble much in the same way that he plays his battery of hand drums; on Imaginary Archipelago he expands that concept to his processing and editing of the raw materials of the initial performance.
The use of electronics is nothing new to Rudolph, who began experimenting with early Moog and Buchla synthesizers during his days as a student in the groundbreaking electronic music program at Oberlin College. He delved deeper in the late 1980s through his partnership with trumpeter Jon Hassell, which found them working with legendary producer Brian Eno. More recently he has incorporated live electronic processing into his performances.
“To me, the most avant-garde music is the music of the Ba-Benzélé people of the Ituri forest,” he says, “because their music is so far from the materialism of music and so close to nature. A Ba-Benzélé can pick up a bamboo piece, saw it off, blow over its top and make music. I approach electronics and post-production in that same spirit of organic exploration.”
Karuna Trio
With the Karuna Trio, Adam Rudolph, Hamid Drake and Ralph M. Jones bring their unique and evolved rhythmic and sonic languages to the fore, reaching to inspire audiences through spirited dialogue. Called “a pioneer in world music” by the New York Times, Rudolph leads a number of innovative ensembles including the Go: Organic Orchestra, Moving Pictures, and Hu Vibrational and has worked with such masters as Yusef Lateef, Don Cherry, Sam Rivers, Pharoah Sanders, Jon Hassell and Wadada Leo Smith. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian and African percussion into his expansive jazz language, Drake has collaborated with a wide variety of legendary artists including Herbie Hancock, Don Cherry, Archie Shepp, Fred Anderson and David Murray. Jones’ career has seen him sharing the stage and the studio with such greats as Ella Fitzgerald, Wadada Leo Smith, Yusef Lateef and the MC5. The three have shared histories that stretch back five decades, including collaborations in Moving Pictures and the Eternal Wind quartet.
From David Bixler: Blended Lineage follows the release of my first recording in several years, In the Face of Chaos, as a part of what I have embraced as my artistic reemergence. A traumatic brain injury suffered by my youngest son necessitated a shift in my priorities for much of the last decade-a period in which we as a family devoted much of our energy to the circumstances of our son. As he stabilized, I had a realization that this was the new normal, and it was time to re-enter the realm of creative music, but with a perspective and energy gracefully changed and informed by my family’s circumstances.
Blended Lineage is a four-movement work composed for nine musicians; the product of a commission with the directive of writing music based on the concept of modern-day tribes. As I thought about the word tribe, it occurred to me that while helpful in identifying a group, the word tribe can also be divisive and one-dimensional, and therefore I went about framing this concept in the positive. An examination of my world identified four ‘tribes’ of which I am a member: the human race, a Wisconsinite, a musician, and those who attempt to pursue a path of creativity and generosity as an alternative to the dehumanizing transactional strivings that permeate much of our present culture. The music I composed serves as a reflection of each of the four groups. The first piece, Origins is written for the beauty and diversity that exists through all of humanity. Motherland is an homage to my native Wisconsin. Trenches is dedicated to the musicians in NYC who choose to lean into the music daily as well as their economic reality resulting from that choice. My Soul Swoons Softly, the final piece, takes its title from James Joyce’s, The Dead, and is a reflection on the spiritual reality that exists beyond what can be seen and touched and gives hope in this world.
For this recording I selected eight musicians that delivered on every aspect of their musicianship that was required for the realization of this music. I am grateful for the musicians that brought more to the music then I originally conceived. Trumpeter Mike Rodriguez, pianist Jon Cowherd, bassist Luke Sellick, percussionist Fabio Rojas, and a string quartet comprised of violinists Judith Ingolfsson, Heather Martin Bixler, violist Josh Kail, and cellist Rubin Kodheli who come together to form an incredible ensemble that deftly navigates the complexities and moods of the music.
The suite beings with Origins a composition invites the listener on a long journey that begins with the string quartet sculpting the ether as the main theme is introduced by the alto over a shifting sonic landscape. The sustained theme continues over the rhythm section as a 6/8 feel is introduced. Pianist Cowherd interjects thoughts between the melodic statements which foreshadow his probing piano solo. While the piano solo continues, the strings are reintroduced and the journey to the conclusion of the piece is underway as several different ideas are introduced that compete for the listener’s attention. On Motherland the strings are given a rest while the jazz quintet presents the listener with a musical evocation of the open landscape of my youth. The piece serves as a vehicle for an alto and trumpet duet which is followed by another offering from Cowherd. The third movement, Trenches begins with a funky ostinato that is a constant throughout the entire piece even as it shifts moods and meters. It features an incredible trumpet solo over the ostinato by Mike Rodriguez that is followed by an abrupt tempo change as a dialogue between the horns and strings ensues. Alto and piano solos are followed by a drum solo from Fabio Rojas. It concludes with a return of the ostinato with punctuations from the strings. The recording counter-intuitively climaxes with the reflective My Soul Swoons Slowly. The piece and the alto solo are my attempt at conveying the beauty and grace found in the words Joyce uses so powerfully to frame ideas and represent emotions in his story.
Blended Lineage is the first of two recordings for this ensemble. Another recording, The Hughes Project, which features the Bixtet performing musical ruminations on the poetry of Langston Hughes is near completion. These new recordings along with LINER NOTES with David Bixler, a new podcast available on iTunes and Google Play, collectively represent the declaration of a repurposed take on my life as a musician.
Resist, via Irabagast Records, unites Grdina’s long-standing trio with his East Van Strings quartet, joined by acclaimed saxophonist Jon Irabagon for a remarkable new suite blending progressive jazz and classical influences
Resistance comes in many forms. For Vancouver-based guitarist and oud player Gordon Grdina, standing up to the corruption and divisive rhetoric that dominates the political conversation today takes the form of bringing a diverse range of people together to create beauty for beauty’s sake. With Resist, due out April 10, 2020 from Irabagast Records, Grdina bridges a number of worlds with an ambitious and passionate new suite of music.
Released not long after his trio album Nomad (January 10, 2020, Skirl Records), an explosive date with pianist Matt Mitchell and drummer Jim Black, Resist reveals a very different side of Grdina’s expansive musical personality. The album’s centerpiece is the 23-minute title track, a sprawling new work that blurs the lines between forward-thinking jazz and contemporary classical approaches. It features a stellar ensemble that brings together two of the composer’s most long-running ensembles in an entirely new configuration, with the addition of the versatile multi-reedist Jon Irabagon on tenor and sopranino saxophones.
The Gordon Grdina Septet fuses the bandleader’s East Van Strings, with cellist Peggy Lee, violinist Jesse Zubot and violist Eyvind Kang; with Grdina’s triomates, bassist Tommy Babin and drummer Kenton Loewen. Both of these ensembles boast more than a decade of experience together, bringing a deep understanding of Grdina’s intricate vocabulary. Joining forces for the first time, they offer an astounding palette for Grdina’s compositions, which veer from the lush and intimate to the violently abstract. Irabagon contributes the boundless with and inventiveness that he’s become known for through his own eclectic projects as well as bands such as the Dave Douglas Quintet and Mostly Other People Do the Killing.
The music for Resist was originally composed for a special concert at the 2016 TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival. With the Brexit vote having recently stunned the world and Donald Trump rising in the polls in his native Canada’s neighbor to the south, Grdina saw the need to express his feelings over this surging global turmoil.
“It seemed like there was a huge change happening socially and politically,” Grdina says. “Xenophobia, homophobia and racism were raising their heads again, and it’s only gotten worse since then. I wondered, ‘What can I do?’ I wanted to dedicate this music to everybody that’s fighting against these ideas all the time, whether they’re doing it as a defendant or just at the dinner table. Making art is a political act; it’s important for humanity, to make our lives better and to express our resistance to these hindrances.”
The centerpiece of the album is the title track, a 23-minute suite that responds to the issues confronting artists and the public at large through a broad span of emotions, from melancholy through despair to a steely resolve. The piece opens with intricately interwoven strings, as a forlorn melody is interrupted with sudden, searing stabs. Babin eventually enters with a stealthy, rumbling undercurrent before introducing a staggered rhythmic feel in tandem with Loewen. The full ensemble breaks into an urgent lope that spawns a taut, sinuous solo from Irabagon. Babin’s low moan provides the foundation for Grdina’s oud in an evocative sequence that gives way to a barrage of agitated percussive textures. The whole reconvenes into a gorgeous, swelling finale that is equal parts mournful and cautiously optimistic.
With a life beyond a single concert in mind for his new piece, Grdina composed “Resist” with a modular vision, thinking of it as a suite of self-contained sections that could be taken on their own as vehicles for improvisation. “The Middle” isolates the minimalist abstraction of the suite’s center section, in this version becoming even more ferocious and tense in its scraping strings and knotty sopranino. “Ever Onward” revisits the oud section as the piece gains scale and momentum around Grdina’s expressive, impassioned playing.
The album is rounded out by a pair of compositions that showcase different facets of members of the ensemble. Grdina’s study of classical guitar is beautifully encapsulated in the succinct but moving solo interlude “Seeds,” while Irabagon joins the trio with Loewen and Babin for the off-kilter bop tune “Varscona.” Named for the hotel in Edmonton where it was written, “Varscona” is hard driving and tightly coiled, shining the spotlight on the muscularity of the rhythm section as well as Irabagon’s probing imagination.
“Making art is a political act,” Grdina concludes. “Writing this piece and putting it together is simply about that: it’s important in this world to stand up for what you believe in. We’re trying to create music that adds something beautiful into the world, and through that to reflect the world that we want to live in.”
Gordon Grdina is a JUNO Award winning oud player/guitarist whose career has spanned continents, decades and constant genre exploration throughout avant-garde jazz, free form improvisation, contemporary indie rock and classical Arabic music. His singular approach to the instruments has earned him recognition from the highest ranks of the jazz/improv world. Grdina has studied, composed, performed and collaborated with a wide array of field-leading artists including Colin Stetson, Gary Peacock, Paul Motion, Jerry Granelli, Mats Gustafsson, Dan Mangan, Mark Feldman, Eyvind Kang, Matt Mitchell and Jim Black.
Populous, aka Andrea Mangia, DJ and producer hailing from Lecce, in Southern Italy, is excited to announce his new album “W,” due out May 22nd with tastemaker imprint Wonderwheel Recordings.
The new album “W,” stands for women and is Populous’ tribute to free and diverse feminine musical imagery. Inspired by women who sing, write, compose and play and for Populous are icons and are friends from Italy, Japan, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. “W” is also a celebration of femininity beyond stereotypes, less defined by gender rather a common uniqueness that is the perfect response to the uniformity imposed by the machismo still reigning in the music industry.
“Flores No Mar,” the first single from the upcoming ‘W’ album, features vocals from the Milan based Brazilian singer Emmanuelle. “Flores No Mar” is an homage to Lemanja, goddess of the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé who protects seafarers and fishermen, as well as femininity and womanhood. An excellent song that highlights the album’s tribute to free and diverse feminine musical imagery.
With the new album, Populous has finally decided to open up, making his queer identity music with this album. From songs to artwork, he has created a visual manifesto to present feminine musical imagery. The artwork was conceived together with Nicola Napoli (a digital artist in Berlin’s queer scene) it is, in Populous’ own words, the representation of “a utopian party we would have done anything to be invited to.” An eclectic crossover party, improbable yet coherent, where you’d meet Grace Jones and Missy Elliott, Loredana Bertè and RuPaul, Aaliyha and Amanda Lear, Beth Ditto and Divine while dancing to shamanic house, digital cumbia, vogue beat and glitch electronica. Populous is accompanied on each track by the independent artists he admires most: Sobrenadar, Kaleema, Sotomayor, Emmanuelle, Barda, Weste, Cuushe and the Italian M¥SS KETA, L I M, Matilde Davoli and Lucia Manca. Collaborations born of discovering one’s sexual freedom, from perpetual motion, from constant traveling, physical and musical.
With a background in musicology, Populous is known for his global approach to music-making. He has always been interested in disparate genres and styles of music, which is reflected in the output from the Populous project and its focus on Latin American sounds as refracted through a European lens. In 2003, Mangia made his first jaunt into the music world with the album ‘Quipo’ (via Morr Music), followed by ‘Queue For Love’ in 2005. Influenced by his reggae/hip-hop-infused surroundings (Lecce is known as Italy’s Jamaica, as reggae and dancehall are extremely popular there) he released ‘Drawn in Basic’ in 2008, which was well received by international critics, earning him a spot on the global dance music map. The 2010s have seen Mangia refine the Populous sound with albums like ‘Night Safari’ (Bad Panda Records) and ‘Azulejos’ (Wonderwheel Recordings), while also expanding his role as a sound designer for fashion houses such as Gucci, Vivienne Westwood, Isabel Marant, and Elie Saab, among others.
As saxophonist and composer Bobby Watson embarks on a new chapter in his storied career, his latest album arrives as a reminder of the authenticity that has characterized his music on every step of that journey. Keepin’ It Real, due out June 26 via Smoke Sessions Records, debuts a new incarnation of his renowned band Horizon, furthering a legacy endowed by Watson’s days as one of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and passed on through a lifetime in jazz education.
Most importantly, the new album is a vital continuation of the supple hard-bop sound that Watson has practiced throughout the decades, laced with the profound influences of gospel and R&B and now infused with the renewed vigor of hungry young collaborators. Keepin’ It Real, Watson explains, is a mantra that he strives to exemplify every time he lifts his alto to his lips.
“It’s the essence of who you are and these times we’re living in,” he says. “After you’ve lived a certain period of time you want to try to be yourself. You don’t want to BS people. I’ve lived a while and seen a lot of people leave the planet. You become more committed to not trying to mince words. Keeping it real can extend from the way you treat your band to your philosophy, what you stand for as a person.”
Time becomes an especially valuable commodity as one advances in years, but Watson now finds himself in a position to dedicate more of it than ever to his own music. After 20 years as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and decades more as an educator at institutions like Manhattan School of Music, the New School, and William Paterson University, Watson retired from academia this year. That newfound freedom instigated the launch of a new version of Horizon featuring a cast of rising stars and one lifelong collaborator.
The original Horizon featured drummer Victor Lewis, pianist Edward Simon, trumpeters Melton Mustafa or Terell Stafford, and bassists Carroll Dashiell or Essiet Okon Essiet and was an outlet for Watson’s music from the late 80s well into the 21st century. After a short tour with the band earlier this year, Watson realized that a reinvention was in order, in keeping with his mentor’s constant retooling of the Jazz Messengers.
Rechristened New Horizon, the current band includes trumpeters Josh Evans or Giveton Gelin, pianist Victor Gould, drummer Victor Jones and bassist Curtis Lundy, whose relationship with Watson dates back to their college days at the University of Miami. Lundy was the founding bassist of the original Horizon, providing an essential continuity as well as a stunning rebirth.
“The original Horizon has run its course,” Watson concludes. “Art Blakey also moved on while everybody was still young and healthy, and everybody in that band has grown into their own thing. That’s why I wanted to start fresh, with new music, new personnel, fresh blood, and new energy.”
That reinvigorated energy bursts out of the gates on opener “Condition Blue,” a sleek piece by fellow Messenger Jackie McLean highlighted by a blistering Watson solo answered by a blustery turn from Evans. A protégé of McLean, Evans approached Watson after a Lincoln Center performance, eager to play with the saxophonist. “That used to be me,” Watson recalls with a chuckle. “I wanted to play with Roy Haynes or Cedar Walton. Now these guys are coming up to me. It’s really humbling and thrilling.”
The title track, a Watson original, follows, resounding with the reverential fervor of the leader’s gospel roots. “I was raised in the church,” he says. “My grandfather’s church was the first place I played in public; I played ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic ‘on the clarinet and the whole church said, ‘Amen.’ That’s a shared experience for this whole band.”
“Elementary My Dear Watson 2020” reprises a dedication by Lundy for his lifelong friend, originally recorded for a session led by pianist John Hicks in 1988. The bassist’s original was little more than a groove over which Watson improvised a melody. The new version incorporates the saxophonist’s inspired notes into the composition itself. Lundy also contributed the boisterously swinging “One for John,” an homage to Hicks’ impact on both men. “John loved me and Curtis,” Watson beams. “He used to call us his heart. John is very near and dear to us.”
Donny Hathaway’s “Someday We’ll All Be Free” is a favorite of Watson’s, as can be heard in this gorgeous, tender rendition featuring some of the saxophonist’s most emotional playing. Gelin, introduced into the band by Lundy, follows with an eloquent, clarion expression of his own. Miles Davis’ classic “Flamenco Sketches” is another favorite, rendered here with delicate beauty shot through with Lundy’s subtle fortitude.
Another jazz icon, Charlie Parker, is represented by a radically transformed arrangement of his tune “Mohawk.” Usually a rapid-fire bop workout, Watson’s take reimagines the piece at a soulful simmer, allowing the space for Gould to spin knotty variations from the elongated melody. Watson conceived this “Mohawk” while brainstorming tunes for the recent Smoke Sessions tribute Bird at 100, which teamed him with fellow alto heavyweights Gary Bartz and Vincent Herring. “I’ve been playing Bird long enough now that I think I’ve earned some artistic license,” Watson insists. “At this point in my life I understand Bird’s music enough to make it mine.”
Two more Watson originals completed the session. “The Mystery of Ebop,” which brings the album to a raucous conclusion, was first recorded as a showcase for Marvin “Smitty” Smith on 1986’s Love Remains. Here it’s Victor Jones who seizes the spotlight, buoying the bright head with his explosive drumming. As dapper as a tailored suit, “My Song” initially served as a backdrop for Kansas City poet Glenn North on Watson’s 2013 Martin Luther King tribute Check Cashing Day. The song comes in for a more thorough exploration here, while providing a mission statement of its own.
“Every composer has one song in them that they’re trying to get out their whole life,” Watson says. “Trane was playing one song his whole life, so was Cannonball, so is Wayne. So I said, ‘Doggone it, this is my song.’ I try to express my own song every time I play. It’s all about keeping it real.”
"Keepin' It Real" was produced by Paul Stache and Damon Smith and
recorded live in New York at Sear Sound's Studio C on a Sear-Avalon custom console
at 96KHz/24bit and mixed to ½" analog tape using a Studer mastering deck.
Available in audiophile HD format.
Bobby Watson · Keepin' It Real
Smoke Sessions Records · Release Date: June 26, 2020
Raul Midón – The Mirror
Singer/songwriter and guitarist Raul Midón is on an undeniable roll. After GRAMMY® Award nominations for his two previous Artistry Music/Mack Avenue Music Group releases – Bad Ass & Blind and If You Really Want, each for Best Jazz Vocal Album – he returns with his 11th studio album: The Mirror. The Mirror finds Midón breaking new ground for himself, including two entrancing solo spoken-word pieces (“If I Could See” and “One Day Without War”). The album also features studio meetings with such veteran jazz colorists as vibraphonist Joe Locke (“A Certain Café”), as well as a songwriting collaboration with top pianist Gerald Clayton, “Deep Dry Ocean.” Another highlight is the road-weary jazz ballad “Cold Cuts and Coffee,” while title track “The Mirror” beguiles with its easy tropical groove, lyrical sophistication and Midón’s flowing electric guitar. As National Public Radio set the stage before his captivating edition of its “Tiny Desk Concert” broadcast: “Raul Midón lives in a world of sound. Blind since birth, Midón’s interpretation of his surroundings is borderless. He sings with the passion of the best classic soul singers, and his instrumental chops stand alongside the most accomplished jazz musicians.”
Funky Destination - Power of Soul
After his single release "Come Back to Me" last autumn, that gained big attention and airplay around the world, Funky Destination strikes back with his fifth LP studio solo album. Yes we are happy and thrilled to present you "Power of Soul". With a twelve track album, the artist brings back the funk with a vintage, old school and rare groove style. While the new school is not missing at all here, (yes that's how we like it, it's 2020 right?), northern soul meets western blues with extraordinary clever arrangements and big fat beats. Warm baselines , organic brass sections, hip vocals and funk to the bone, this is how we can describe this album with just a few words the brand new album from Croatian based producer Vladimir Sivc a.k,a Funky Destination.
- Paseo Telúrico With Onda Mundial
The DJ and singer-songwriter from Buenos Aires, Argentina, creates deep organic electronic textures, which invites you to dive into and dance between the fusion of machines and nature, through songs, grooves, bass and textures that make up several planes that create a sound habitat for the dance floor. Conceptually ‘Paseo Telurico’ is a mix of synthesized and organic sounds. There is a little guitar, but used unconventionally to explore textures and distinct crosses. It also references to the Earth, natural habitats and the mixture between machines and nature. It has collaborations from Andy Andean, from Chile, and a remix from Orieta Chrem, from Peru. The three themes are a mixture of different cultures, and of organic textures with machines.
Flevans - "Realisation feat. Laura Vane"
Flevans continues his mission to bring funk magic to the masses with his latest single. On "Realisation", he teams up with south coast songstress Laura Vane in the next chapter of a songwriting partnership that has taken clubs and airwaves by storm. "Realisation" takes the best parts of the groove and feel of 80’s boogie classics and updates them with next level 2020 production skills while an extremely catchy hook makes certain this song will be in your head all year long. Formerly with Tru Thoughts and now signed to Jalapeno Records, it’s fair to say that Mr Flevans has got a type… that type being Brighton labels with an ear for quality. Having accumulated numerous national radio spins across the BBC and winning high profile fans in the shape of Zoe Ball, Don Letts and Craig Charles, Flevans has developed his song based writing even further with his latest studio album "Accumulate" out at the beginning of May 2020.
Cody Carpenter - Control
Cody Carpenter is a third generation musician. His father, John Carpenter, is a director and composer and his mother, Adrienne Barbeau, is a star of film, television and the Broadway stage. His grandfather, Howard Carpenter, was a founding member of the Nashville Strings. Cody was introduced to his first musical instrument around the age of three and has been playing and composing original music since. In addition to contributing music for two of his father's films,Vampires (1998) and Ghosts of Mars (2001), Carpenter composed and performed the full-length score for "Cigarette Burns" and "Pro-Life" in Showtime's Masters of Horror (2005) movie series. Cody co-wrote, co-produced, and performed on the acclaimed Lost Themes (2015) and Lost Themes II (2016) with his father and Daniel Davies. In 2016 and 2017 Cody toured North America and Europe with his father and a 6 piece band, performing material from both Lost Themes albums and his father's films. In 2018, Cody (along with John Carpenter and Daniel Davies) helped to compose the music for the latest Halloween movie, starring Jamie Lee Curtis. In 2019 Cody released an amazing album titled, "Force Of Nature" and now he follows up with this third dynamic Blue Canoe Release titled, "Control".
Joan Watson-Jones - Choices
Joan Watson-Jones is a singer, lyricist, multi-instrumentalist, and host and producer of The Jazz Room, an online radio program where she plays music and interviews some of the top names in jazz. On Choices, her fourth album, she presents a program of her original songs with music and lyrics penned by Watson-Jones, plus two standards. Watson-Jones is a mainstay on the New England jazz scene, and she brought on board for this project old friends with whom she’s performed and recorded in various settings for 25 years. Pianist Frank Wilkins is her arranger, accompanist, and creative partner. He has a long list of credits, including backing Dee Dee Bridgewater. Wilkins also accompanied Watson-Jones on her previous CD, Quiet Conversation, an intimate duet project. Bassist Dave Zox and drummer Alvin Terry are Watson-Jones’ longtime rhythm section and join her once again here. Watson-Jones has recorded her own lyrics on other albums, but this is her first project featuring almost all original material. For Watson-Jones, nothing is more important than the people in her life. She is a natural storyteller, and the stories she tells grow from her life experiences. Despite growing up in a time when overt racism was the norm, Watson-Jones was surrounded by the love of her family and all the people who came into their orbit. Choices is a beautiful and creative homage to a life filled with love and hope and music.
Donald Sturge Anthony McKenzie II - Silenced II: Views From The Auction Block
Donald Sturge Anthony McKenzie II is a powerhouse here on drums – working his way over the kit with a massive sense of force, even when things are mellow – clearly employing a wide variety of elements to keep his sound open and fresh! There's only one number here that features solo drums from Donald – and the rest are all longer tracks, each featuring a key contribution from an established member of the downtown scene – Elliott Sharp on guitar, Bill Laswell on bass, and Vernon Reid on guitar – who each duet with McKenzie on a number apiece, and really bring sort of an old school, almost Knitting Factory vibe to the set. And by that, we mean that classic venue in the 80s – at a time when everything it and its musicians were doing was very fresh and creative! Titles include "Elektra Jagger McKenzie", "Akai Gurley", "Ramarley Graham, and "Natasha McKenna". ~ Dusty Groove
Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes - What Kinda Music
Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes What Kinda Music out April 24 is a unique & seamlessly original collaboration between two artists of very different disciplines. Moving fluidly through sleek electronica, progressive jazz, vintage hip-hop & much more, Misch & Dayes take their listener on a ride that is by turns surprising & spontaneous, heady & head-spinning, and nothing less than compelling - a singular vision that fuses the DNA of both musicians with spectacular results, as can be heard on the lead tracks “What Kinda Music” and “Lift Off.”
Tenderlonious - On Flute
Soulful reedman Tenderlonious plays flute this time around – but as always, it's the overall sound that makes the record so great – not just the solo bits on flute, but all the keyboards, basslines, and beats – stretched out in this cool 21st Century take on funky fusion! The music is jazz at the core, but more electrified too – with a straightforward funky groove on some numbers, and some more enigmatic modes on others – all a great blend of keyboards and flutes, which often share the same tonal range. Titles include "Dale's Corner", "Autumn Leaves", "Ghana", "Odeo Bushi", "In A Sentimental Mood", and "Song For My Father" – and the three tunes with familiar titles are actually originals by the man himself. ~ Dusty Groove
David Clayton-Thomas – Say Somethin’
David Clayton-Thomas began his amazing journey with his 1968 debut album with Blood Sweat & Tears that sold 10 million copies worldwide. The self-titled record topped the Billboard album chart for seven weeks, and charted for a staggering 109 weeks. It won an unprecedented five Grammy awards, including Album of The Year. He hasn’t slowed down since then and developed into one of the most recognizable voices in music, to date selling over 40 million records. In 1996 he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and in 2007 his jazz/rock composition “Spinning Wheel” was enshrined in the Songwriter’s Hall Of Fame. In 2010 David received his star on Canada’s Walk Of Fame.
Nick Walters - Active Imagination
We really loved Nick Walters the last time around, and on this set the trumpeter seems to be even more visionary than before – really going for this expansive approach to his music, and serving things up with a vibe that maybe makes him one of the most spiritual leaders on the contemporary London scene! The tracks here are all originals, and work together perfectly as a whole album – with Nick setting things up strongly with his own trumpet at the start, then folding in these beautiful contributions from Ed Cawthorne on flute and soprano sax, Jeff Guntren on tenor, Rebecca Nash on piano, Nim Sadot on bass, Max Hallett on drums, and Joseph Deenmamoode on percussion. Some tunes have a modal rhythm, but others get a bit more complex, although still with a similar organic pulse – and titles include "So Long Chef", "Gordian Knot (parts 1 & 2)", "Dansoman Last Stop", and "Ahimsa". © ~ Dusty Groove
Torbjorn Zetterberg & Den Stora Fragen - Are You Happy
Torbjorn Zetterberg has always been a hell of a bassist – but in recent years, he really seems to be exploding as a greater jazz visionary – working with a group like this in a range of explosive new ideas we never would have expected just a few years ago! The music is often incredibly dense – Zetterberg's bass in the lineup, but also part of a rich array of sounds from Susana Santos Silva on trumpet, Mats Aleklint on trombone, Jonas Kullhammar on tenor and alto, Alberto Pinto on clarinet and baritone, Jon Falt on drums, Alexander Zethson on Hammond and Fender Rhodes, and Lars Skoglund on drums – mostly players that have worked together often over the years, and who beautifully interpret the stunning arrangements and compositions by Zetterberg. There's definitely plenty of outside moments on the record, but as with much Moserobie material, things also swing at times too – a balance between freedom and structure that matches the balance between group and individual on the album. Titles include "Drommusik", "Meningen Med Vad", "Oraklet I Finnaker", "Plingplongpiano", and "Nytt Hopp Over Atlanten". ~ Dusty Groove
Carla Bley / Andy Sheppard / Steve Swallow - Life Goes On
Beautiful so unds from pianist Carla Bley – a musician who just keeps on blowing us away as the decades move on – and that's saying a hell of a lot, given how many years she's been making music! There's a really special quality to this record – a warmth and maybe just a slight touch of humor, but not in the overdone way of some of Carla's records from the 80s – much more subtle, and mixed with occasional currents of darkness – all handled with this understated sense of personality that perfectly showcases all three members of the group – Bley on piano, Steve Swallow on bass, and Andy Sheppard on tenor and soprano saxes. Swallow maybe sounds more wonderful here than we've heard in years – the record is a great reminder of how many great contributions he can make to music – and titles include the longer cycles of songs "Life Goes On", "Copycat", and "Beautiful Telephones (parts 1 to 3)". ~ Dusty Groove
Yusuke Hirado (Quasimode) - Tower Of Touch
Fantastic Fender Rhodes from Yusuke Hirado – plus a fair bit of other keyboards too – all delivered in a set that mixes 70s space jazz funk with some great contemporary elements, and in a way that's nicely different than Hirado's work in the group Quasimode! The set's got some old school rhythms, but plenty more moments that soar and take off with very contemporary cosmic energy – very strongly in a jazz perspective overall, but with a strong knowledge of all the other musical changes that have taken place on the hipper scenes around the globe over the past 20 years – woven into classic keyboard sounds that take on a whole new shape in the setting! Titles include "The Kicker", "Early Bird", "Sonar", "Blue Sky", "Circle", "Galaxy Highway", and "Heady Dayz". ~ Dusty Groove
Gary Chandler - Outlook
Maybe the only album ever issued under the name of trumpeter Gary Chandler – but a smoking little set that rivals some of the best jazz funk records at the start of the 70s – including heavyweight classics on Prestige by Melvin Sparks, Leon Spencer, and Boogaloo Joe Jones! The feel here is very similar to those – given that the short-lived Eastbound label not only featured production work from Bob Porter, who handled the best Prestige funk sets – but also because the lineup here is filled with some of the top contemporaries from that scene – including Harold Ousley on tenor, Caesar Frazier on Hammond, Cornell Dupree on guitar, Dick Griffin on trombone, and the mighty Idris Muhammad on drums! Idris keeps things nice and funky, and tracks are long, and filled with smoking solos – the most famous of which is the album's cover of "Baby Let Me Take You In My Arms", with an excellent break intro – which has been sampled heavily over the years – alongside the tracks "The Jet Set", "Blues Dues", and "Kaleidoscope". ~ Dusty Groove
