Jazz Recommendations – 2017 releases

The music of Zenophilia bounces off the walls and it sings loud and far and the musicians play with an enthusiasm that sounds like they’ve got the widest grins on their faces for every single exciting note.  The trio of drummer Zeno De Rossi, saxophonist Piero Bittolo Bon and trombonist Filippo Vignato channel their odd melodies with a hyperactivity that gives them a strange allure, warped and reshaped at high speeds.  Most illuminating is “Cats (for Joey Baron)” when the trio deconstructs their winning formula by slowly cracking open the heart of their melodicism in the song’s first third, then isolating their methods for discombobulating a tempo in the song’s middle third, before bringing it all back together at normal speed for the remainder of the song’s duration.

The trio is situated in a modern jazz territory where post-bop edge and indie-rock drive feed into the dual needs for edgy personalities and a fierce melodic perspective.  That said, they bring in other influences, and each with more than a little success.  There’s the gospel overtones of “The Daniel Quinn Theme” and the spirit of New Orleans on “Henry Zeno” and the West Coast groove of “Baboo,” and each of them add wrinkles of personality to a recording that’s got plenty to spare.

Most of the tunes are upbeat and move with a brisk tempo that isn’t made to dawdle.  Thankfully, however, they do switch things up occasionally.  “Theme From Taxi Driver” has a moody presence, and the shadows grow long on “Red Bird (for Sergio Candotti),” but then it’s up bright and early with the sunrise cheerfulness of “Marionette” and the zig-zagging “Catfight.”  And all of it screams fun.

Your album personnel:  Zeno De Rossi (drums, percussion, whistle), Piero Bittolo Bon (alto sax, bass flute) and Filippo Vignato (trombone).

Released by Auand Records and El Gallo Rojo Records.

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

Music from Ferrara, Italy.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

The thrill of Folklore Imaginaire is seeing how the melody makes it to the end of the story.  Oggy & The Phonics begin each track with a crisp melodic statement designed to get its hooks in ya.  And pretty much across the board, they’re successful in that regard.  But from there, the quintet takes the melody for a ride, like a car chase scene in an action movie, with high speeds and sudden turns and sometimes careening wildly off-road before hitting dead center the next.  Sometimes the melody takes to flight, as on the pulsing opening track “Unknown Force.”  And sometimes it skirts along the edge of a groove as on “La Réthorique du Panda” before breaking into psych-rock territory.  There’s the head full of steam on “L’alchimiste” and how electric guitar edge gives way to the slow unwinding of melodic strands.  Or how fluttering becomes drone becomes tranquility on “Canyon.”

Every track is a different melody and every melody has a different story.  It’s pretty damn fun watching each one of them play out.

Your album personnel:  Louis Billette (saxophones), Gaspard Colin (electric bass), Théo Duboule (electric guitar), Marton Kiss (drums) and Clement Meunier (clarinet).

The album is Self-Produced.

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

Music from Lausanne, Switzerland.

Available at:  Bandcamp

Songs for Solstice is an album of shifting tides, and the joy to be derived from it is discovered in the changing tones rather than its inherent motion.  In fact, despite tempos that modulate between states of turbulence and tranquility, the abiding motion keeps to a common center of gravity.  The combustible “Insomnia” kicks up some dissonance in between bouts of silence, and yet when the Aleatoric trio switches things up with the tuneful “Deep Sea Diving,” the cadence pops with the same spark of life as its predecessor.  The trio of pianist Aki Rissanen, saxophonist Robin Verheyen and drummer Markku Ounaskari seem to approach this music as would a photographer who specializes in Black & White imagery, and advance with the attitude that the existence of only two colors is belied by the focus on all of the minute shades in between.  And the album’s best evidence of this viewpoint is in how “Riverly/Reflections on Scriabin Prelude op.13 No.1” glides between expressions that span the panorama of solemn reverence to fierce intensity.  And meanwhile, the motion keeps to a tight ball of intensity, radiating strength while refraining from any wild swings in emotion.  This approach snaps right into place with the trio’s focus on all the shades in between.

An intriguing album with a neat, focused perspective.

Your album personnel:  Aki Rissanen (piano), Robin Verheyen (tenor sax) and Markku Ounaskari (drums).

Released on Eclipse Music.

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

Music from Helsinki, Finland.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | CDBaby | eMusic

The rainy day ambiance of the self-titled debut from the quartet Vulture Forest imposes a strong presence over the recording.  It’s why “Pileregn” can bring some heat as it swings ahead at a brisk pace and “Mormor” can carve out some space for vociferous phrasing, and yet they both remain couched in the abiding peacefulness.  There are times on Vulture Forest when the Amsterdam-based quartet seem ready to break into a Nordic jazz tranquility.  In fact, opening track “Flere Lysår Væk” gives every indication of it with its initial volley of melodic serenity.  But gradually the trio settles into a more general style of European Jazz, where a certain cinematic melodicism is achieved in a rhythmic environment that sits on the periphery of swing and the attitude of cool blues.  “Past Your Bedtime” reflects this approach with a quick step, while “Bittersweet” goes about it at the pace of moonlight crossing the floor.  The album comes full circle with the title-track finale… up to a point, at least.  The tranquility generated in the tune’s first half is abandoned as the quartet grows increasingly volatile before returning, in the end, to a quieter state.

Plenty here to enjoy.

Your album personnel:  Kristoffer Vejslev (guitar), James McClure (trumpet), Luka Benčič (double bass) and Love Ekenberg (drums).

Released on Microtone Records.

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

Music from Amsterdam.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic

There’s an appealing balance of cinematic melodicism of new-school jazz and an older blues-based inventiveness from this self-titled release from the quartet Odd Draft.  The mix of 1970s-style jazz and that of the present day adds some nice textures from approach and perspective, where melodies can take a sharp angle or wide curve, and the tempos are already situated on a shifting foundation that anticipates this sort of creative drift.  Adding further intrigue is how the equation flips when a tune switches between upbeat and slower tempos.  A brisk tune like “Chow Long” is cut from the cloth of Clifford Jordan’s Magic Triangle, whereas a track “Péplouze” sings with the heartbreak of a classic ballad.  The oddball “Être Bill” tries to shake its form as it speaks in hushed whispers, which makes for a nice contrast with “Two Into” and the way it changes its mind between taking the form of a Parisian jazz reverie on peacefulness and random introverted musings.  It’s why Odd Draft strikes the right amount of casual cool and drawn intensity.

Plenty to enjoy on this under-the-radar session.

Your album personnel:  Gilles Varon (tenor sax), Jacques Graindorge (piano), Clémence Gaudin (double bass) and Frédérik Bilhaut (drums).

The album is Self-Produced.

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

Available at:  Bandcamp