*** This Is Jazz Today ***

Erik Friedlander – Rings (SkipStone)

A beautiful new recording from cellist Friedlander, who is joined by percussionist Satoshi Takeishi and pianist Shoko Nagai (who also adds some electronics & accordion to the mix) for this session.  Friedlander has shown an ability to wreak all kinds of dissonant chaos with his cello, especially on a number of John Zorn Tzadik albums, but the last handful of recordings on his own SkipStone label have revealed an intoxicatingly peaceful side to his vision.  The current one seamlessly fuses together expressions of jazz, folk and chamber, creating an ambiguity of influence that really draws the ear in.  Pretty easy to fall for this one.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

*****

Danny Green Trio – Altered Narratives (Origin Records)

Unapologetically cheerful and light, this trio set from pianist Danny Green, bassist Justin Grinnell and drummer Julien Cantelm offers up a pop music style of jazz that beams a wide smile that means it.  Intriguingly, planted smack dab in the center of the recording are three pieces that bring in a string quartet.  The shift in sound is very much plumb with what preceded it, but the emotional impact provided is one that balances nicely with the lighthearted warmth of the trio tunes that surround them.  It’s the kind of thing that makes a recording a little less ordinary, as well as a motivation to keep giving the album a spin.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Amazon

*****

Will Goble – Consider the Blues (Origin Records)

An appealing hard bop sound from bassist Goble, finding that right mix of buoyant activity and melodic warmth.  His quartet goes out of their way to prove that the inclusion of the word “blues” in the title is anything but misleading.  The up-tempo tunes are plenty fun, but it’s when the quartet slows things down and really lets the melody patiently draw its breath is when the album really burns strong with emotion.  That quartet, by the way, is rounded out by pianist Louis Heriveaux, drummer Dave Potter and tenor saxophonist Gregory Tardy, who really shines bright on this session.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – eMusic – Amazon

*****

WorldService Project – For King & Country (RareNoise Records)

Maybe it’s just me or maybe it’s the music itself, but I’m inclined to say that this is a recording that isn’t likely to make a good first impression.  This punk-jazz session gets right in your face from the opening notes, and it really never dials it in as far as respecting your personal space.  But damn does this music become more friendly and agreeable with each passing track.  Before long, any discomfort from its abruptness falls away and it’s easy to enjoy this recording for the fun music it is.  And that’s just within the span of one listen.  Each subsequent listen and the music had me feeling like we were old buddies.  I mention all this by way of saying, hey, go and give this one the benefit of the doubt… don’t go shutting the door in its face before it really gets a chance to properly say hello.  It’s a quintet of keyboardist Dave Morecroft, saxophonist Tim Ower, trombonist Raphael Clarkson, bassist Arthur O’Hara and drummer Happy Pope.  Fun, enthusiastic music that just can’t help but excitedly bounce off all the walls in the room.

Artist site | Buy:  Amazon

*****

The Remote Viewers – November Sky (ReR Megacorp Records)

A film noir soundtrack that takes the form of the saxophone quartet of David Petts, Caroline Kraabel, Andrian Northover and Sue Lynch, adding John Edwards on double bass and Mark Sanders on all kinds of percussion, and then goes about rolling out an extended exhalation of rhythmic curiosities and melodic deconstruction.  A strange beauty to this one, riveting in its own peculiar way, and quite unlike anything else I can remember.  It’s one of those albums where the music is especially unpredictable, but makes sense when viewed through the rear view mirror.

Artist site | Buy: Amazon – eMusic

*****

Have a great time digging through the list!

And remember, it’s simple:  You like what you like.

Cheers.

***

An interesting project I’ve encountered is from Paris-based quintet Baeshi Bang, who have put out a couple recordings that dive into the songbook of 1960s K-pop crooner Bae Ho.  Between their two recordings, a 2014 release and one that just came out in April of this year, Baeshi Bang find a range of expressions for the Korean pop singer’s original works.  Some tracks hit a modern Parisian jazz sound, which lays on the melody thick with heavy ambient attributes while counterbalancing it with tempos that punctuate the beat to get the point across.  Then there are tracks that drawl out a heavily sweet pop music influence, and possess a personality that’s shiny and bright.  And then, interestingly, there are tracks that exhibit a classic Motown R&B groove or an Ennio Morricone cinematic flair that flirts with surf rock.  There is also an instance where some electronics and effects blend into a classic late hard-bop period piece, when long strides were being made by artists into free and spiritual jazz forms of expression.  The use of traditional Korean instruments like the gayageum and non-traditional like the French horn add even more texture to this intriguing music.

The range of expressions is likely to guarantee that some tracks will sit better with your ears than others.  That’s something that can be said about most projects by most bands, but this quintet’s willingness to vastly expand their perspective on the original source of their inspiration increases the likelihood of that effect.  It was something I encountered myself.  That said, there were several tracks found in their output that I really took to.  Add that to the interesting theme of the project, and, well, I really wanted to post something about this project.

They’ve got a new album out, Vintage K-Pop Revisited, released on the Buda Musique label.  Their first album, Old School K-Pop Revisited, was a Self-Produced recording released back in 2014.  The two albums share some compositions, but it does appear from available information found online that they are different renditions recorded in separate years.

The personnel are:  Etienne de la Sayette (tenor sax, flute, clavioline, gayageum), Victor Michaud (French horn, electronic organ), François Chesnel (piano, hohner bass), Loïc Réchard (guitar) and Stefano Lucchini (drums).

There’s all kinds of opportunities out there to listen while deciding whether to purchase the album.

Here’s an embed of some album tracks off their newest release, which you can find on the Buda Musique Soundcloud page…

You can listen to more music on the Baeshi Bang Soundcloud page as well as their Bandcamp page (linked to below).

Also, on the Baeshi Bang site, they have a page where you can listen to their versions and the Bae Ho originals side-by-side, which is pretty cool.  Here’s a LINK to that page.

You can buy their first album on Bandcamp (LINK).

Their most recent album is on Amazon (LINK).

And here’s a nifty video with an album track from their latest.  The song is called “Ilchul,” but it also seems to be called “Sunrise” on the album…

*****