Jazz Recommendations – 2017 releases

The remarkably genial dialog developed by the quartet BISSAP is more than a little bit impressive when viewed in the context of just how many influences are in play on their new release.  Rêves de Papillon is a map of instrumentation and origins, sticking a pin in Greek, Arabic, Iranian, Japanese, African, American Jazz, and South American and European music forms.  But the fascination triggered by its complexity is balanced by an essential, unfussy lyricism, and the quartet’s rich vocabulary becomes the vehicle, not an obstacle, to achieving a ringing clarity.  The percussive textures perpetually reveal themselves in new and surprising ways, and the quartet keeps finding the simplest path to thread its melody.  Tracks like “Mandragore” and “Chemivati” have a cheerful, upbeat personality, and this is something that remains even when a contemplative tone is introduced on tracks like “Aera” and “Full Moon.”  And all of it is seriously beautiful.

Your album personnel:  Sargam Marie dit Asse (oud, bouzouki, sitar, classical guitar), Mathias Autexier (zarb, daf, derbouka, cajon, rek, urdu), Stéphane Dumas (bansuris, flute, soprano & tenor saxophones, Jew’s harp) and Vincent Bauza (double bass).

This album is Self-Produced.

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

Music from Forcalquier, France.

Available at:  Bandcamp

There’s an appealing, almost haphazard delivery to the music of Motivos, and it’s the reason the music of Fourteto Alihuen can be dramatic and ferocious and unrestrained, and yet still be easy to embrace.  The unpredictable bursts of intensity on “La Luna y el Sol” snap right into place with its offhand murmurs of melody.  “Bizcochitos” achieves a tone bordering on solemnity, but it’s casual development is more comparable to boozy conversations between old friends.  And while the melody of “Giroscopio” flares strong and bright at the edges and its tempo is a tumble down a slick flight of stairs, the volatility comes off as whimsical chatter than it does a cry for help.  It’s this tempering of its wilder elements that transforms the music into something far more cheerful, and the music is an experience to enjoy rather than a challenge to overcome.  It’s a balancing act not easily attained, but the quartet does an admirable job threading it through this fine recording.

Your album personnel:  Santiago Beis (piano, sax), Juan Ibarra (drums), Antonino Restuccia (double bass) and Ian Alihuen Elizondo (guitar).

The album is Self-Produced.

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

Music from Montevideo, Uruguay.

Available at:  Bandcamp

There’s a nice free-flowing presence to the debut from the Tariq Amery Group.  Each track of Indefinity opens up with a clear statement of melody and gets carried along on the currents of a solid groove, but it’s how the solo improvisations transform that structure that signifies the album showing its true personality.  “Ahmad’s Clock” breaks things down with some chaotic dissonance, then immediately sets to building it back up with the same tools that gave the song form in the first place.  It’s a similar approach on “I Just Want This Moment To Last Forever,” except that it manifests with a kaleidoscopic frenzy of melodic inspirations.  And this detour from form and shape, and the eventual satisfying return, is a pattern that’s repeated throughout this fine recording.

Your album personnel:  Tariq Amery (flute, tenor sax), Dan Ko (alto sax), Ed Lister (trumpet), Clayton Connell (piano), JP Lapensée (electric bass), Michel Delage (drums), Vovo Saramanda (percussion) and guest:  Will O’Neil (guitar).

This album is Self-Produced.

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

Music from the Ottawa, Ontario scene.

Available at:  Bandcamp

There’s a smouldering intensity present in every note of the sophomore release from the Fanny Gunnarsson Quartet.  This stunning quality becomes immediately apparent on opening track “Theme,” and how it develops from a crystalized moment of melodic beauty into an expanding wave of evocative lyricism.  And it closes with the same approach on “Shine,” but goes about it with a lighter touch, letting restraint take a firm grasp of things before unleashing the song for the grand finale.  In between, Mirrors offers up a mix of vocal and instrumental pieces that adopt a nuanced approach to the changing tides of tones and imagery.  The sing-song “To Know You” is carried along upon a melody with no little edge, while “Song for Kerstin” and “By Heart” live in the melancholy place where hopefulness and heartbreak blur together into one.

Gunnarsson makes her mark on both piano and with her voice, and it’s to the great service of this recording that the shifts between instrumental and vocal sections are fluid and effortless.  Drummer Hannes Olbers makes profound statements with the gentlest crash of cymbals, though his method of generating a susurrant chatter no less comforting on drums is arguably the more impressive feat.  There’s a sharp presence to the solos from Karolina Almgren, and her soprano sax brings a bright clarity to the shape of each melody… a quality made more spectacular in how bassist Kristian Rimshult, acting as its dark shadow, generates all kinds of lovely contrast in tones.  The music comes off as heartfelt and genuine, and that’s a big reason it’s so easy to connect with it on the first pass.

One of the better albums to grace us, thus far, in 2017.

Your album personnel:  Fanny Gunnarsson (piano, vocals), Karolina Almgren (soprano sax), Kristian Rimshult (double bass) and Hannes Olbers (drums).

Released on Havtorn Records.

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

Music from Malmö, Sweden.

Available at:  Amazon | eMusic