Jazz Recommendations – 2017 releases

Jan 30 2018

Recommended: Stefanie Kunckler Ymonos – “Le Jour Avec les Yeux Fermés”

 

The presence of the accordion is such that it almost dictates a direction toward folk music.  The instrument’s voice is practically an assertion of intent.  But that’s not how the enchanting 2017 release from Stefanie Kunckler Ymonos plays out.  The double bassist infuses the music with a deep melodicism that speaks more of the modern European jazz form of expression, and the way it easily flows into chamber and other classical music forms.  There are times when the music of Le Jour Avec les Yeux Fermés sets down roots on the brink of transformation from jazz to other music, and just lets the tension simmer endlessly away.  With bass clarinet and piano adding soul and grace as balance, Kunckler’s Ymonos ensemble frees the accordion to add subtle harmonic textures and voicing that ranges far outside the simple role of adding personality via a folksy charm.  Instead, it’s just one voice in the mix, and it’s why every voice in the ensemble shines so brightly on this lovely album.

I’m still writing about 2017 releases, because I keep finding wonderful albums like this.

Your album personnel:  Stefanie Kunckler (double bass), Thomas Lüscher (piano), Philipp Hillebrand (bass clarinet), Raphael Ochsenbein (accordion), Marius Peyer (drums, percussion) and guest: Karin Meier (vocals).

Released on Unit Records.

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

Music from Zürich, Switzerland.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic

By • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2017 releases • 0 • Tags: , ,

Jan 29 2018

The Round-up: Naming the places you’ve dreamed

 

Here is some very good new music.

 

Slivovitz – Liver (MoonJune Records)

It’s pretty easy to imagine this band being a whole bunch of fun to see perform live.  The septet Slivovitz kicks up a party-hard tempo that is all but a command to dance.  They keep the melodies simple and unfussy, and watching their shape evolve under a heavy rhythmic pressure is not only an essential ingredient of the enjoyment, but also adds some cerebral intrigue to the affair.  This recording of a 2016 Milan concert gives a pretty decent indication of the electrical charge a live show can generate, while hinting that buying the ticket for an actual seat brings so much more.  Cool stuff, and certainly in line with their 2015 studio release All You Can Eat.  Music from Naples, Italy.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

TOLV – Électrons Libres (Label Manivelle)

There’s a seductive quality to this collaboration by the TOLV duo of guitarist Jaime L. Pantaléon and flautist Etienne Lecomte.  That allure is particularly effective in the way it provides balance and contrast with the album’s electronic frisson.  The music is ambient as hell, but something about how the duo warps the ethereal melodies of Électrons Libres results in sound with a bite to it.  Music from Barcelona and Paris.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Peter Kenagy – Standard Model (Self-Produced)

There’s a simple charm to this straight ahead session from Peter Kenagy.  It’s like pulling a random Prestige Records CD off the shelves and feeling confident that no matter which one it is, there’s a certain reliability that some quality bop is going to fill the air.  The trumpeter eschews any compositions that date back to those times when bop was was the reason for the season, but each of his originals certainly could travel back in time and find a home there.  He’s joined by alto saxophonist Jeremy Udden, pianist Carmen Staaf, bassist Greg Ryan and drummer Austin McMahon.  Music from Boston.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Andrew Bain – Embodied Hope (Whirlwind Records)

Good god, this whole album explodes with life.  The melody is where it’s at, possessing a tightly focused intensity that branches off like a tesla coil.  Drummer Andrew Bain captures some of the Noir-bop of Clifford Jordan’s 1970’s Magic Triangle sessions, situated in a place where poetry and chaos fall into an easy embrace.  With tenor saxophonist Jon Irabagon, double bassist Michael Janisch and pianist George Colligan in the fold, Bain has assembled a cast with a proven track record of working the transitions between form and freedom, composition to wild improvisation and back again.  This is a seriously thrilling album.  Music from Birmingham, England.

 

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Alfred Artigas Quartet – Permiso (Underpool Records)

This session from guitarist Alfred Artigas is at its best when his quartet bubbles with excitement, causing the rhythm to stretch outside the lines of its prevailing structure.  That perpetually disjointed state of rhythmic existence incites a seriously lively chatter and makes the melody crackle with life.  There’s nothing wrong with those tunes that work methodically through the blues, but the dynamic qualities of this music shine strongest when the quartet is in motion.  Pianist Toni Saigi, double bassist Marc Cuevas and drummer Oriol Roca round out that quartet.  Music from Barcelona.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

By • Jazz Recommendations - 2017 releases • 0 • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jan 24 2018

Recommended: Trio S – “Somewhere Glimmer”

 

This music is about water.  It’s also about dreams.  Were that not stated up front, it wouldn’t really have mattered.  The nebulous presence of Somewhere Glimmer would’ve inspired imagery of a similar, ethereal nature.  The melodies twist and rise like plumes of smoke… or perhaps rivulets of water breaking free from the pool and searching out new directions, or just the hallucination of one.  It all comes back to the same place.

This is Doug Wieselman‘s second such album, three years after the release of 2014’s From Water.  For his newest, the clarinetist expands from the solo project to include cellist Jane Scarpantoni and percussionist Kenny Wollesen.  The impact is immediate.  Whether it’s the rising tide of intensity on “Dreambox” or the cry and hum of “New River” or the amicable chatter of “That Way,” Wieselman’s vision is much more fleshed out with the additional melodic and harmonic possibilities the trio format affords him.  The wildly creative expressionism that his Kamikaze Ground Crew work elicits was present in the solo set From Water, but by sharing some of the workload, it emerges with more nuance and an enticing dash of restraint.

As part of the year-end wrap up of 2017, I wrote a column that included some of my favorite albums of the year.  That column could’ve been much longer.  Somewhere Glimmer would’ve been one such reason.  I’ve lost count of how often this gorgeous album has hit me right in the heart.

Your album personnel:  Doug Wieselman (clarinets, loops, banjo), Jane Scarpantoni (cello) and Kenny Wollesen (drums. wollesonics).

The album is Self-Produced.

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

Music from NYC.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

By • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2017 releases • 0 • Tags: , , , , ,

Jan 22 2018

The Round-up: Dancing with distance

 

Here is some very good new music.

 

Barry Altschul & The 3dom Factor – Live in Krakow (Not Two)

For some musicians, the process to the performance is 1.) Pour gasoline, 2.) Light match.  On this live set from drummer Barry Altschul, bassist Joe Fonda and saxophonist Jon Irabagon, the flames are unleashed on the city of Krakow, and there’s just no end to it.  Even the brief reprieve of “Irina” barely serves as a breather with its insistent extrapolation of the blues.  This album really only has gears that operate at high speeds, and that’s exactly the reason you want to scoop this one up.

Artist site | Buy:  Amazon

 

Henrique Eisenmann – The Free Poetics Of (Red Piano Records)

That way in which a roomful of conversations can take on a life of its own, and achieve a unity that verges on a distinct dialog all to itself… that’s the sensation from this new release by Henrique Eisenmann.  The crosscurrents of melody ripple across the dotted surface of multi-rhythmic expressions, and it crackles with life.  Even during contemplative interludes, that electricity hums quietly just beneath the surface and gives off an animated charge.  The pianist has soprano saxophonist Gustavo D’Amico, double bassist Jorge Roeder and percussionist Rogerio Boccato at his side.  Music from Boston, MA.

Artist site | Buy:  Amazon

 

Tony Burkill – Work Money Death (ATA Records)

Some soul, some bop and plenty of heat to drive it all ahead.  This throwback recording to the old school when hard bop was looking inward at its soul and outward to other musics is plenty addictive.  Saxophonist Tony Burkill finds a way to make the music catchy when at its most intense, and introspective when it’s time for the intensity to catch its breath.  It’s a pattern he has on repeat, and it never grows old, not even a little bit.  The rhythmic attitude of Work Money Death is let’s dance, and while the tempo might not point to any formal method of motion, it elicits a compulsion to move all the same.  Music from Leeds, UK.

No artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

John McNeil & Mike Fahie – Plainsong (Destiny Records)

Nice straight-ahead set from the trumpeter John McNeil and trombonist Mike Fahie.  They stick to the area where hard bop and post-bop can blend into the same crowd and remain relatively indistinguishable one from the other.  “Rain Song, Plain Song” is one of a couple exceptions where the modern influence reigns supreme, and the decision to take this course gives the album its personality.  This doesn’t stray far from the winning formula of McNeil’s Hush Point group.  For this session, it’s pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Joe Martin and drummer Billy Hart rounding out a quintet.  Music from Brooklyn, NY.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Giovanni Di Domenico & Abschattungen – The Ear Cannot Be Filled With Hearing (El Negocito Records)

This large ensemble performance led out by pianist Giovanni Di Domenico goes big and gives it everything they’ve got.  They toe the line where sonic wildness becomes random dissonance, and so each of the four extended pieces of his 2017 release perpetually cycle between states of dispersal and reformation.  The thing that triggers the transition back to structure is a groove.  It’s as if it suddenly emerges from beneath the surface of the song, like the earth swelling up and grumbling out a heady tempo.  It’s an arresting feature of an interesting album.  Music from Brussels, Belgium.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

By • Jazz Recommendations - 2017 releases • 0 • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jan 19 2018

Recommended: Taylor Haskins & Green Empire – “The Point”

 

The first impression delivered by a Taylor Haskins recording is that an entirely new plateau has been achieved.  Everything is different would be a pretty normal reaction.  And that reaction wouldn’t necessarily be wrong.  But then the first impression leads to more considered assessments.  Patterns emerge, and the poetry of the trumpeter’s evolution reveals familiar landmarks.  Everything new with Taylor Haskins is a series of loops, cutbacks and arcs reconnecting with the primary trail of his creative path.  It’s why the astonishing expressionism of his 2017 release The Point isn’t a plateau at all, but simply new ground with roots extending way back.

2002’s Wake Up Call is the echo of stringed melodies and electronic voicings.  The rustic twang and the synthetic bleed of melody from 2010’s American Dream bubbles up to the surface on Haskins’ newest, as does the deep dive into electronics from 2011’s Recombination and its full and complete embrace on his early-2017 release, Gnosis.  It comes out all different, but the lines can be drawn from today to the past.  This quality amplifies the impact of the changes, even at their most subtle.

Haskins goes solely with an EVI for this session.  His sound with the Steiner/Crumar analog EVI isn’t going to get confused with his sound on trumpet, but more than a particular sound is how Haskins goes about expressing it, and there are times on The Point where it becomes easy to forget that the switch was made.  And the lovely way it contrasts with the acoustic guitar and pedal steel of Michael Chorney and Brett Lanier is no less startling than how the EVI synchs up with the hum and chatter of bassist Robinson Morse and drummer Geza Carr.

There isn’t a Taylor Haskins project that doesn’t generate serious intrigue.  His newest is just more of an abundance of evidence to this fact.

Your album personnel:  Taylor Haskins (Steiner/Crumar analog EVI), Brett Lanier (pedal steel), Michael Chorney (acoustic guitar), Robinson Morse (bass) and Geza Carr (drums).

Released on Recombination Records.

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

Music from Westport, NY.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

By • Jazz Recommendations - 2017 releases • 0 • Tags: , ,

« Older Entries Newer Entries »