Jul 23 2016
Recommended: Chris Klaxton – “Collage”
There’s a picture slideshow quality to the sophomore release by trumpeter Chris Klaxton. Imagine a vintage Kodak carousel shining a bright light on a pull-down screen along the wall, Klaxton standing beside the small table the machine rests upon, and then begins clicking slowly, methodically through the different slides and providing a synopsis of each image of each song. “Here’s where me and the band performed a straight-ahead old-school tune… you can see the swing in the background and the bop right overhead.” *Click* “And here’s where he do a modern jazz-pop crossover tune… See where the melody is wearing the soft colors of a Radiohead outfit?” *Click* “Ah, this scene is from a romantic evening, where a vocal guest sang a ballad and the moonlight shined brightly as if the night would never end.”
And it works. Typically an album that eschews a cohesive structure for an album consisting entirely of individual tracks tends to risk creative drift on the part of the album flow, and fragile attention on the part of the listener. But no one track on Collage eclipses any other, and those emotional similarities create an evenness of tone that keeps a steady ship throughout the album, and in turn, forges subtle bonds between successive tracks along the album’s path.
The track “Don’t All Go At Once Pt1” begins with the aforementioned Radiohead action and slowly transforms to something closer to a 70’s ambient jazz-rock fusion, and it touches fingertips with subsequent track “Touch and Go,” which begins as a contemplative drone and ends as a shout to the skies explosion of intensity, which in turn, holds hands with subsequent track “Rainforest Tortoise,” an anthemic jazz-rock piece that throws anchor in the territory where Chris Lightcap’s Bigmouth ensemble currently resides.
There is an exception to the point made above about similarities in tone and feel between the songs. The album ends with “Fictional Friends Remix,” a harsh jazz-hip hop fusion that cracks the spell conjured up by the rest of the album… this, even though it does fall into line with the concept of a story told through different, individualistic images. It’s not a bad tune or anything. It just doesn’t sit plumb with the rest of the album.
But that’s a small criticism of an album that has plenty of good stuff to offer.
Your album personnel: Chris Klaxton (trumpet, rhodes), Mark Small (tenor sax), Kendall Moore (trombone), Tim Jago (guitar), Mike Effenberger (Fender Rhodes), Michael Piolet (drums), Sam Weber (bass) and guests: Taylor O’Donnell, Moe Pope (vocals).
This album is Self-Produced.
Listen to more album tracks on the artist’s Bandcamp page.
Jazz from the South Berwick, Maine scene.
Available at: Bandcamp
*****
And it’s worth checking out Klaxton’s debut album, Starcode. I never wrote that album up, but it was close to making the cut, and for a variety of reasons, I wound up taking a pass. But I liked it well enough to remember Klaxton’s name when approached about Collage, and so I mention it here as a worthwhile pursuit.
Here’s a link to where you can listen & purchase it on Klaxton’s Bandcamp page.
*****
There’s an undeniable charisma to the music of 
And be sure to check out Blommor Inomhus’s self-titled debut EP. I still listen to that album every so often despite my busy listening schedule. More notable, though, is that the album earned the #10 slot on the Best of 2012 list.
This one is all about the rhythm, and specifically how it behaves as both an incubation unit for harmonic development and a delivery vehicle for some strikingly gorgeous melodies. The large ensemble 
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Jul 24 2016
Recommended: Stijn Demuynck – “Pouancé”
This is a supremely gorgeous album.
This is a supremely gorgeous album.
This is a supremely gorgeous album.
I struggle to write about this supremely gorgeous album, because each time I play it over from the start, I get lost in the music and I forget to take any notes, jot down any thoughts, do anything resembling work that might result in an album write-up. So I find myself perpetually typing, “This is a supremely gorgeous album.”
Pouancé is the debut of drummer Stijn Demuynck. He and bassist Raphael Malfliet engage in all kinds of subtle shadowplay, and the tempos tend to stalk the melody more than guide it. Those melodies are shaped by the reed instruments of Leonhard Huhn. He keeps to the lower registers, which emits a haunting beauty. It also provides some lovely contrast with the upper harmonics of the choir that joins in on some tracks.
Opening track “Pouancé” speaks to that quality right from the start. A fluttering melody, yawns of harmony, and percussion that sometimes growls deeply and sometimes throws metallic streaks of dissonance across the surface of the song, somehow, all join together in grand unison. “A Few Drops of Time” has an alluring blend of focused melodicism and random improvisation. And then there’s “Ouverture” and the impression of a song in flight, like an Autumn leaf carried along by a stiff breeze. “Eb & Vloed” has a sharp presence, as clarinet and chorus and percussion reveal some edge and exploit the inherent tension within. The approach is similar on “Blauw in de Ardennen,” which begins as a stroll through the park and ends in the heart of the storm.
The album ends with the peaceful “Ze huppelde door de nacht.” Demuynck’s acoustic guitar notes are glittering raindrops caught in the sunbeams of Huhn’s clarinet. It’s a beautiful send-off on this supremely gorgeous album.
Your album personnel: Stijn Demuynck (drums, percussion, guitar), Raphael Malfliet (electric bass), Leonhard Huhn (alto sax, bass clarinet, clarinet) and Thea Soti, Mascha Corman, Taisiya Chernishova, Maika Küster, Hanna Schörken, Lisa Müller (choir).
The album is Self-Produced.
Listen to more album tracks on the artist’s Bandcamp page.
Jazz from the Cologne, Germany scene.
Available at: Bandcamp
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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2016 releases • 0