Aug 6 2017
Exclusive video premiere: Matthew Golombisky’s Cuentos
Premiering today, we have an exclusive video showcase of the new album from Matthew Golombisky’s Cuentos. We’re also featuring a preview of his new album, the two-volume release scheduled to drop September 1st on Ears & Eyes Records.
These cuentos, or short stories, focus on the bassist’s life in the two cities of Oakland and Chicago, with an entire volume of music dedicated to each, and featuring musicians from those cities. The music is remarkably cohesive, despite the different line-ups and the different personalities of the cities and, one would assume, the unique time Golombisky spent in each.
This music displays a strong chamber jazz influence. They both move with a supreme patience, allowing melodies to shine bright, then dissipate, and then reform yet again, but with a different shape and form, and resonating with no less beauty. For Volume 1 (via Oakland), the icy presence of Mark Clifford‘s vibraphones adds a precision to the enveloping harmonics of Crystal Pascucci‘s cello. Alto saxophonist Aram Shelton is often associated with a more acerbic form of avant-garde and free material, and it’s refreshing to hear him coalesce into expressions of brevity and peacefulness. This is especially true when he switches over to bass clarinet.
The Chicago session, Volume 2, has an entirely different mix of instruments, with trumpeter James Davis, guitarist Bill MacKay and bassist Jeff Greene, but the only real difference between this and the Oakland set is the change in the patter of the rainfall, and perhaps a tiny bit more rumble to the sound of distant thunder. But it’s just as peaceful as the Oakland session, and it’s very easy to overlook when the first volume ends and the second begins.
Speaking of peacefulness, this album’s prevailing tranquility is a perfect soundtrack for a solemn Sunday morning, and as strong a candidate for inclusion in the Sunday Morning Jazz Album series as any album previously featured. In fact, consider it so.
Now, about that video…
Volume 1: West Coast/Oakland with Matthew Golombisky (acoustic bass guitar), Aram Shelton (alto sax, bass clarinet), Mark Clifford (vibraphone) and Crystal Pascucci (cello).
Volume 2: Third Coast/Chicago with Matthew Golombisky (acoustic bass guitar), James Davis (trumpet), Bill MacKay (guitar) and Jeff Greene (contrabass).
You can listen to more of the album, and pre-order it, on the artist’s Bandcamp page.
And for those of you who have an odd tape cassette fetish, Golombisky is offering a limited supply of the new album on your favorite medium.
Here’s an audio preview of the recording…
It’s a wonderful recording, and I’ve become quickly addicted. Go check it out.
Aug 12 2017
Preview “Slow Learner,” the upcoming release from Musicianer
If Sinton is familiar to you, it’s either via his Steve Lacy-inspired project Ideal Bread or that he’s among Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society. After checking out this new album, it’d be a good idea to get familiar with his holus-Bolus ensemble (a personal favorite).
These days, bassist Ajemian is most known for his Folklords outfit, but I definitely recommend checking out his Highlife stuff, too, especially if you can catch that live. He displays a remarkable mutability as to influence and genre, and nothing he does really sounds normal. With each collaboration, he makes his crazy fit everyone else’s crazy.
Long-time readers of this site will recognize drummer Taylor from his Chicago Underground Duo collaboration with Rob Mazurek (and its various offshoots). Of a more recent vintage, however, is his contribution to Jaimie Branch’s Fly or Die, one of the best things to come out so far in 2017 (and an album that Ajemian also contributes to).
This album is getting released on Iluso Records, a label out of Perth, Australia I’m seeing hit my radar lately.
Here’s a preview of what’s to come…
Your album personnel: Josh Sinton (baritone sax), Jason Ajemian (contrabass) and Chad Taylor (drums).
You can learn more about the album and pre-order it on the label’s Bandcamp page.
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By davesumner • Album Preview • 0