Jazz Recommendations – 2017 releases

Dec 13 2017

Recommended: Paul Jones – “Clean”

 

That this album is informed by the music of Steve Reich, Kendrick Lamar and Philip Glass isn’t sufficient backstory to prepare for this wonderful new recording from Paul Jones.  Primarily a work of modern jazz and chamber, those artist-specific influences bleed into the music of Clean with a remarkable subtlety.  Their effect is revealed in harmonic roll-outs, pulsing rhythms, a narrative-like melodic development, and moments of stunning minimalism at the eye of a storm… an undercurrent of influence like an untold strategy guiding the hand of active participants.

And of that, there are many.  In addition to his own sextet, the saxophonist receives contributions from The Righteous Girls, the SNAP Saxophone Quartet and a chamber quartet.  The personnel deftly layer their own individual expressions upon the music while simultaneously channeling those undercurrents of modern classical, hip hop and pop.

Some musicians are storytellers.  Not in the vague sense of I’m trying to send a message with this music, but with a lyrical approach that hints strongly at introductions, conflict, denouement and a concluding wave goodbye.  The music creates the story and the story becomes the listener’s, transported into another time and place.  On his sophomore release, Paul Jones is world-building.  There’s the return to familiar locales with recurring melodies on “Ive Sn Th Gra Md“ and “It Was Brgh Cold“ and “Romulo’s Raga.”  There’s the spikes of intensity on “Centre in the Woods“ and title-track “Clean“ mirroring a dramatic plot twist.  And there’s the gentle comedowns on “Trio” and “Buckley Vs. Vidal“ like the sound of everything turning out okay in the end.

This is one of the best things to come out in 2017.

Your album personnel:  Paul Jones (tenor sax), Alex LoRe (alto sax), Matt Davis (guitar), Glenn Zaleski (piano), Johannes Felscher (bass), Jimmy Macbride (drums), Mark Dover (clarinet), Ellen Hindson (oboe), Nanci Belmont (bassoon), Susan Mandel (cello), The Righteous Girls of Gina Izzo (flute), Erika Dohi (piano), and The SNAP Saxophone Quartet of Nicholas Biello (soprano sax), Andrew Gould (alto sax), Sam Dillon (tenor sax), Jay Rattman (baritone sax).

Released on Outside In Music.

Listen to more of the album on the artist’s Bandcamp page.

Music from NYC.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic

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Dec 12 2017

Recommended: Rebecca Martin & Guillermo Klein – “The Upstate Project”

 

Though both had made their respective marks while on the NYC scene, it wasn’t until after Rebecca Martin and Guillermo Klein had each relocated to upstate New York that the two ultimately collaborated.  It should have happened a long time ago.  Having worked with an all-star cast of jazz musicians throughout her career, Martin has forged her own personal style of vocals and composition, sometimes situated firmly in a folk music styling, sometimes in jazz, and sometimes in that unmasked space between genres where a simple song can move mountains.  And Klein, in his unique vocalization of NYC modern jazz, the element of Argentinean folk has always been an essential component of the pianist’s work.  On The Upstate Project, those shared qualities snap right into place.  As does their approach to melody.  Like an icicle, sometimes the beauty manifests in the patient melt of individual droplets of notes and sometimes it’s when the body of song captures every facet of a sunbeam… there’s an appealing confluence of free flowing verse and song structure that keeps the attention riveted in place.

Martin adapts a few pieces from previous works, where Brad Mehldau, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Larry Grenadier, and others had their hands in the original creation.  Most notable is a reworking of Bill Frisell’s “Throughout” (renamed “Hold On” for this session), in which Martin’s lyrics amplify the original’s instrumental enchantment.  That said, it’s the pieces original to this project where this album is at its strongest.  Opening track “Just as in Spring” is a case in point, with its lullaby melody matched up with a rise-with-the-sun tempo.  It’s about as beautiful as a song gets, and also the basis for locking Martin and Klein in a recording studio for additional recordings.

Your album personnel: Rebecca Martin (vocals, guitar), Guillermo Klein (piano, keyboard, vocals), Larry Grenadier (acoustic bass) and Jeff Ballard (drums, percussion).

 

Released on Sunnyside Records.

Listen to more of the album on the label’s Bandcamp page.

Music from Kingston and Beacon, NY.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

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Dec 7 2017

The Round-up: Your life in messages

 

Here is some very good new music.

 

Geof Bradfield – Birdhoused (Cellar Live)

That this live set at Chicago’s Green Mill could be considered straight-ahead by today’s standard illustrates just how much things have changed since the bop era, and, tangentially, how much things still sound like they ever did.  The post-bop delivered at this 2017 show has a greater willingness to stomp than to swing, and a predisposition to giving its melodies some edge and sharp angles than an effortless flow.  It was like that, too, decades ago when musicians began to search for the next stage of evolution after hard bop.  This music sounds like it could be just at home in 1967 as it does 2017… the same as it ever was.  And like many of those inside-out musicians from back in the day, tenor saxophonist Geof Bradfield keeps roots tethered to the blues, even if he’s so disposed to warp them beyond recognition at times.  There’s always a sense of his music being part of something greater and more lasting than the date on a particular recording session.  2013’s Melba and 2015’s Our Roots established this characteristic.  His newest, Birdhoused, is just part of the evidence trail.  Representing Chicago strong with trumpeter Marquis Hill, alto saxophonist Nick Mazzarella, trombonist Joel Adams, bassist Clark Sommers and drummer Dana Hall.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Guilhem Flouzat Trio – A Thing Called Joe (Sunnyside Records)

There’s a very laid-back feel to this set, and it comes off as seriously old-school, like those wonderful Red Garland Trio recordings on the Prestige label, where the fading electricity of Saturday night bleeds into the peacefulness of Sunday morning, and things are both lively and tranquil at the same time.  It makes sense, too, because the trio of drummer Guilhem Flouzat, bassist Desmond White and pianist Sullivan Fortner play it straight on old tunes from Monk, Byard, Arlen, Zawinul and others.  Old-school feel on old-school tunes, and it’s Sunday morning whenever this album plays.

 

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Erika Stucky – Papito (Traumton)

If the challenge were to create an album that possessed a Tom Waits holiday ambiance, Papito might just win the prize.  Vocalist Erika Stucky has a delivery that sounds half don’t-give-a-shit boozy and half soul-laid-bare.  Sometimes her backing strings lay it on nice and thick, and sometimes there’s some odd effects and haunting accompaniment.  In addition to some original compositions, there’s renditions of pieces by Cole Porter, Randy Newman, Billie Holiday and Stephen Sondheim.  Something about the whole production gives the sense of singing holiday songs in a tavern, near the fireplace, and maybe improvising most of the lyrics because the originals just won’t do.  It’s cheerful and depressing and pretty damn intriguing.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Bryant/Fabian/Marsalis – Do For You? (CAP Music)

This is music you want playing when you’re sitting alone at the neighborhood dive, elbows on the bar, whiskey glass in your hands.  The blues have a starring role on this trio set from saxophonist Lance Bryant, bassist Christian Fabian and drummer Jason Marsalis, and when the music swings to and fro or bops right along, it’s with a bit of the heaviness of knowing what the world is all about.  When Bryant adds some vocals, it’s a straight-forward delivery of those same facts imparted by the music on its lonesome.  You want this music playing, because you already got the blues in your heart, and the whiskey just won’t kill it, so it’s nice to hear some music that lets you know it’s not just you, you’re not all alone in feeling that weight, and that somebody out there is making music for just those moments for people just like you.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Amazon

 

Ghost Train Orchestra – Book of Rhapsodies Vol. 2 (Accurate Records)

Ghost Train Orchestra does their own thing.  The source of inspiration may change a bit, but mostly it’s re-imagined music from the Roaring Twenties and straight through the Depression Era.  That’s their thing.  The newest thing is Volume 2 of their Book of Rhapsodies, and for this one, they re-imagine the works of 1930’s ensembles who were dabbling in the Third Stream classical-jazz fusion thing.  This is what GTO does, and they do it really really well.  They make it pretty damn enjoyable, even if it’s not necessarily your thing.  Each one of these albums, I’ve gone into it with a poor attitude of, well, I’ll give it a listen even though I know what I’m getting into and it’s not something I’m much into.  But it isn’t long after I’ve hit the play button that I find myself really into it, and then it becomes my thing.  Especially their third album Hot Town.  It really grew on me the more times I popped it into the stereo, and with each subsequent iteration, my motivation to give it another listen increased, and sometimes I found myself raving about it on social media.  So, that’s the thing with this ensemble.  Go give their new album a listen.

Artist site | Buy:  Amazon

 

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Dec 6 2017

Recommended: Tony Allen – “The Source”

 

There’s no use trying to pigeon-hole the music of Tony Allen.  The drummer is most often associated for his tenure with Fela Kuti, but Allen’s music passport is ragged from the stamps of different genres and a diverse set of projects.  That creative elasticity is a big reason for the success of his debut on Blue Note Records: African folk song melodies ride the currents of hard bop rhythms, an afro-beat rhythmic pulse opens the door for big-band-sized harmonies to glide on through, a melody shaped with a pop music sensibility and a rhythm that hints at an electronica beat gets swept up into the arms of Afro-Jazz enthusiasm… and these are just a few of the nuanced derivatives of a life spent exploring new music.  The culmination of the experience gained from that journey is why Allen is able to bring all of it together in one cohesive voice.  The ripples of influence and expressionism on The Source never fully divert the attention away from the singular entity of the pond.  This give and take between the changing details and seamless transitions is an understated way of making a pretty thrilling album.

Your album personnel: Tony Allen (drums), Mathias Allamane (bass), Indy Dibongue (guitar), Jean-Philippe Dary (piano, organ), Yann Jankielewicz (soprano Sax), Nicolas Giraud (trumpet, flugelhorn), Jean-Jacques Elangue (tenor sax), Remi Sciuto (baritone & alto saxophones, flute), Daniel Zimmermann (trombone, tuba) and guests: Damon Albarn (piano), Vincent Taurelle (clavinet).

Released on Blue Note Records.

Listen to more of the album on the artist’s Soundcloud page.

Music from Paris, France.

Available at:  Amazon

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Dec 4 2017

The Round-up: Isolation games are a game of you

 

Here is some very good new music.

 

Burke/Chakrborty/Magnusson/Evans – Barlines & Beyond (Jazzhead Records)

The fusion of modern jazz and Indian Classical on Barlines & Beyond is more than a little bit fascinating.  Saxophonist Rob Burke, Indian Classical slide guitarist Debasis Chakroborty, electric guitarist Stephen Magnusson and tabla-percussionist Sam Evans create melodies that can either flicker like a candle flame or melt like its wax.  And in either instance, that melody is likely to be a little catchy.  The talkative chatter from tabla is an essential balance to all of the melodic intrigue, and gives strange music a friendly personality.  There’s a meditative quality to many of these tracks, which is kind of remarkable considering how effusive things get.  Music from Agra, India and Melbourne, Australia.

No artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Hunter Gather – Getting To Know You (Table & Chairs Music)

There’s a charismatic quality to the dreamy folk-jazz of Hunter Gather.  Whether the trio adopts a solemn tone on “I Want To Be An American” and “The Expatriot” or jack up the heat a bit on title-track “Getting To Know You,” the way in which melodies drift hazily across the horizon of a song keeps the attention riveted in place.  Saxophonist Levi Gillis, electric guitarist Ronan Delisle and percussionist Evan Woodle don’t perform these tunes so much as exhale them, and the patience in which they develop doesn’t prevent spikes in intensity anymore than it becomes a default stance of tranquility.  Music from Seattle, WA.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Ernesto Cervini’s Turboprop – Rev (Anzic Records)

Ernesto Cervini‘s sophomore release with his Turboprop ensemble is even more delightful than the eponymous debut.  Rev keeps mostly to new-school territory, but isn’t afraid to show its roots, either by slipping in a streak of blues on “The Libertine” or just swinging the time machine by for a quick stop in the sixties with a take on “Pennies From Heaven.”  On Rev, Turboprop expands by two, adding saxophonist Tara Davidson and trombonist William Carn.  The sextet formation works in all kinds of benefits, drawing out dimensions of Cervini’s sound that might not have emerged so clearly on the debut.  Bonus points for a nifty cover of Blind Melon’s “No Rain.”  Music from Toronto, Ontario.

 

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

FAB1 – Fab1.2 (Self-Produced)

Drummer Alexander Belkov and pianist Araik Vietinghoff take a simple melodic phrase and then spend as much time as necessary exploring every little facet.  This results in a series of lovely melodic ripples that continuously layer atop one another.  The sense of repetition is mitigated by the nuanced changes from passage to passage.  Every now and then, with a track like “Bad to the Power of 2,” they’ll toss in something with the succinctness of a pop music tune.  And then there are moments, like on “Bipolar Disorder Intermezzo” where the sense of structure is allowed to erode.  These qualities simply add definition to the longer melodic reveries.  Music from St. Petersburg, Russia.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

Alkestrand-Pedersen Duo – Medium (Self-Produced)

This is a pretty stunning work.  This EP by saxophonist Rasmus Alkestrand and drummer Jonas Pedersen is a heavy drone that comes on like a thick fog and fades away only after hitting its peak.  Extra percussion and some healthy servings of electronics go a long way to achieving that effect.  Just three songs, and all of them seriously mesmerizing.  Music from Malmö, Sweden.

No artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

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