Jazz Recommendations – 2016 releases

Rust is a storm.  Sometimes it’s admired passively from a distance for its beauty, sometimes it’s felt uneasily at the fringes of its arrival and sometimes it’s experienced dead center of its fury.  The trio of drummer Laurent Paris, clarinetist Robin Fincker and guitarist Pascal Maupeu wield dissonance to create an array of different but related expressions to where the changes between different states are as dramatically vivid as they are a seamless flow.  “Edelweiss” is the contrast of an unsteady tranquility juxtaposed against the hint of conflict.  And then there are tracks like “Big Fish” and “Crab” where a hazy form and muddied melodicism is provided definition by rhythmic outbursts and a slowly emerging sense of cadence.  Title-track “Rust” phases in and out of subtlety and the profane.  And “Mini,” that’s merely a hint of a rumor of a mystery, and it’s told in a whisper.  The album finale of “The Old Mariner” closes the loop, but the serenity feels battered and marked by the experience.

There’s something rather admirable about how this trio uses the raw material of dissonance, and rather than try to obscure it with distractions and sleights-of-hand to make it more palatable, they just put it out there in its best light, its truest imagery, and show it for what it is.  There is a beauty in decay, and the gradual erosion of something pretty can leave, in its wake, visions no less compelling that those which preceded them.  Rust is a reminder of that notion.  It’s also seriously compelling music.

Your album personnel:  Laurent Paris (drums), Robin Fincker (clarinet, tenor sax) and Pascal Maupeu (guitar).

Released by the Loop Collective.

Listen to more album tracks at the label’s Bandcamp page.

Available at:  Bandcamp

What’s particularly cool about the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and their newest Sound Rhythm & Form is how the harmonic flow becomes the recording’s skeletal system, binding up each song no matter how different its personality might be from the others.  A song like “Gagut” brings down the harmonies like a sky full of snow, a warm and gorgeous view that seamlessly leads right into the slow groove of “Oyibo” before scooting off with a slick melody on “Diodorus.”  A track like “Seer” shows that there’s no obstacle between laying both the harmony and the groove on thick, dampening none of the warmth and inhibiting none of the dance action.

The ensemble features Kelan Phil Cohran, who, in addition to being a Sun Ra, AACM and Earth Wind & Fire alum, is also the father to a band comprised of siblings.  That mix of challenging and embraceable music, of smart motion and lovely flow is all on display on this recording.  “Zenith” sends things spinning with a cyclical motion while “The Levant” juxtaposes a hopping motion against something more resembling flight.  And then there’s the seriously tuneful “Francis,” which is the kind of catchy song nobody’s gonna mind getting lodged in their head.

This album is all kinds of wonderful.

Your album personnel:  Gabriel “Hudah” Hubert (trumpet), Saiph “Cid” Graves (trombone), Amal Baji Hubert (trumpet), Jafar Baji Graves (trumpet), Seba “Clef” Graves (trombone), Tarik “Smoove” Graves (trumpet), Uttama “Rocco” Hubert (baritone horn), Hashim “Hash” Bunch (bass), Kevin “VoEra” Hunt (guitar) and guest: Kelan Phil Cohran (voice).

Released on Pheelco Entertainment.

Jazz from the Chicago scene.

Available at:  Amazon | CDBaby

There’s a sense of grand unison on this session from bassist Thomas Fonnesbæk, pianist Aaron Parks and drummer Karsten Bagge.  It’s not so much a conversation between each of the trio members as it is a high-speed game of Scrabble and each word they play is part of the same, extended sentence.  With Groovements, you get some modern straight-ahead and some old-school stylings.  Of the latter, covers of Cedar Walton’s “Bolivia” and the Arthur Schwartz classic “You and the Night and Music” have got plenty of hop and swing.  But it’s the modern pieces that hold the most sway.  Tracks like “Alcubierre’s Law” and “Shapes ‘N’ Colors” and “Winter” eschew traditional bop form to spend more time diving into the depths of gorgeous melodies.  But perhaps the most intriguing juxtaposition of old and new is a take on Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire,” which the trio makes sound like the song was born in the alleys and thoroughfares of New Orleans.

A very strong album from first note to last.

Your album personnel:  Thomas Fonnesbæk (bass), Aaron Parks (piano) and Karsten Bagge (drums).

Released on Stunt Records.

Listen to more album tracks at the artist’s Soundcloud page.

Available at:  Amazon | eMusic

The Mingus Suite is a little bit tribute to jazz legend Charles Mingus, a little bit extrapolation of the life and perspective of composer Adriano Clemente and a whole lot of the creative spirit of both musicians.  Rooted in the blues yet full of avant-garde swagger, this large ensemble work featuring the Akashmani Ensemble is true to the music and musician that inspired this project while still sounding very much rooted in the present day.  There’s some old-school swing with “Blues in Rags” and there’s some old-school experimentalism with “Inner Fires” and the way it keeps surging forward then suddenly receding into a contented peace.  There’s the lovely reveries like “Memories of Duke” and “For My Father” and the way they walk the dividing line between serene and funereal, and counterbalanced by the energetic chatter of the two-part “Urban Jungle” keeping things from ever getting drowsy.  And then there’s the song “Circus,” which hints at a whimsical nature, but the gorgeous harmonic development of woodwinds, bowed bass and piano envelops the affair with its serious beauty.

Mingus fans can’t go wrong with this one.  And, really, music this good, nobody should be unhappy loading this one up into their library.

Your album personnel:  Adriano Clemente (composer, piano), Francesco Lento (trumpet), Mario Corvini (trombone), Daniele Tittarelli (alto sax), Marco Guidolotti (baritone sax, clarinet, bass clarinet) , Riccardo Fassi (piano), Dario Rosciglione (double bass), Andrea Nunzi (drums) and guests: Roberto Ottaviano (soprano sax) and Raffaele Toninelli (bowed double bass).

Released on Dodicilune Records.

Jazz from the Lecce, Italy scene.

Available at:  Amazon | eMusic