Jazz Recommendations – 2017 releases

This is protest music at its best.  The tonal changes between unrestrained fury and celebratory cheer mirror the shifting emotions that strike the heart during those moments of despair when we rise up and shout ‘no.’  Time and again, the Angles 9 ensemble capture that with their new album Disappeared Behind the Sun.  There’s how “Equality & Death (Mothers, Fathers, Where Are Ye?)” transitions between states of raw intensity and joyful enthusiasm and the way that “Ådror” has a martial cadence matched up with a fluttering melody.  There’s also how “Pacemaker” moves like a Mardi Gras second line sent forward into the battlefield and also how the title-track enters a state of self-reflection even when the tempo spurs things on relentlessly and the song explodes into a thousand pieces.  And wrapping up with “Love, Flee Thy House (In Breslau),” a piece that emphasizes the heartbreak of the blues in both a solitary and collective context, speaks to the meaning behind the album’s title.

There is a power in overcoming fear, surmounting despair, and fighting back.  And there is a great relief, bordering on euphoria, of discovering you are not alone and that others, too, are rising up in opposition.  It is a time when we are reminded of the best of humanity at the very same moment we are facing down the worst of it.  Those conflicting emotions are also complementary, and the music of Angles 9 addresses it with an immediacy that strikes a mainline to the heart.

Your album personnel:  Martin Küchen (alto & tenor saxophones), Alexander Zethson (piano), Mattias Ståhl (vibraphone), Magnus Broo (trumpet), Goran Kajfes (cornet), Mats Äleklint (trombone), Eirik Hegdal (baritone sax), Johan Berthling (double bass) and Andreas Werliin (drums),

Released on Clean Feed Records.

Music from Lund (and many other parts of), Sweden.

Available at:  Amazon | eMusic

There’s a folk music soulfulness to the new release from tenor saxophonist Nicolas Kummert, and it’s directly attributable for the album’s friendly demeanor and intimate warmth.  Central to this presence is Kummert’s interactions with guitarist Lionel Loueke.  Near half of the tracks that comprise la diversité are duets with the guitarist, and their sympatico melodic approach is a big reason for the album’s friendliness.

And this doesn’t change, simply expands to greater fullness when it’s the entire quartet joining in, with the resulting abundance of generated warmth.  “Harmattan” and “We’ll Be Alright” explode right out of the gate with tons of cheerful exuberance, and the way they carry the tune as the enthusiasm continues to spike is just one of many reasons these tunes are so likable.  And this effect still applies in a state of tranquility, as it does on the contemplative “Lighthouse.”  Speaking of tranquility, working in a rendition of Erik Satie’s “Gnossienne” enhances the prevalent serenity to an even greater degree.  And the shifts between peaceful and chipper tunes create a sense of anticipation that builds directly into the album’s amiable flow.

Just a seriously enjoyable recording.

Your album personnel:  Nicolas Kummert (tenor sax), Lionel Loueke (guitar), Nicolas Thys (bass) and Karl Jannuska (drums).

Released on Edition Records.

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

Music from Belgium.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic

There’s an appealing nonchalance to this session from the Just Another Foundry trio of tenor saxophonist Jonas Engel, double bassist Florian Herzog and drummer Anthony Greminger.  The casual looseness of Bouwer is why opening track “Elle” is able to spit out all kinds of fire and “Wurzel” can show flashes of humor with a grin of sharp teeth, and any recoil from aggression is negated.  And when the trio brings a focus to the delivery, as they do on the galloping “Stanislaus” and “Rheinfahrt” with its shifting tides, it illuminates the likability of the loose delivery with a bit of contrast.

The album’s heart prefers a rapid beat, but when the trio slows things down on the blues-inflected “Low-Key” and the structurally dispersed “Mädchen Aus Dem Rosengarten” and the soulful “Tikva,” the blood flows with no less intensity.

A fun little session.

Your album personnel:  Jonas Engel (tenor sax), Florian Herzog (double bass) and Anthony Greminger (drums).

Released on Double Moon Records and JazzThing.

Music from Cologne, Germany.

Available at:  Amazon | eMusic

Today’s recommendation is this lively straight-ahead session from trumpeter Josh Lawrence.  His newest, Color Theory, is old school and new school, but straight-ahead on both fronts, and textured in a way that the demarcation between eras is fuzzy at worst, irrelevant at its best.  Lawrence’s quintet plays like they have fuel to burn, and the motion from the up-tempo action infuses simple lyricism with a substantive vibrancy.  When they slow the pace down on “The Conceptualizer,” that vibrancy loses none of its effect, just becomes softer to the touch.  And on “Black,” the melody’s smoky presence makes a brisk pace seem cool and casual.

Orrin Evans and Adam Faulk take turns at the keys- the former on piano, the latter on Fender Rhodes- and the textural shifts that occur are a nice subtle effect.  Speaking of subtlety, the tribute “Purple (4 Prince)” has a lovely voicing and melancholy tone, and there’s something especially likable in the way heartfelt emotions are given resonance through restraint.

Just a solid recording, top to bottom.

Your album personnel:  Josh Lawrence (trumpet, flugelhorn), Anwar Marshall (drums), Caleb Curtis (alto sax, flute), Orrin Evans (piano), Adam Faulk (Fender Rhodes), Madison Rast (bass) and guest:  Brent White (trombone).

Released on Posi-Tone Records.

Jazz from Philadelphia, PA.

Available at:  Amazon

P.S.  If you want to hear another side to Lawrence’s creativity, he and drummer Anwar Marshall and trombonist Brent White are members of Fresh Cut Orchestra, and their 2015 debut From the Vine was an excellent session.  It just barely missed getting included in this site’s Best of 2015 list, but that album definitely was of that caliber and one of the very best things to see the light of day in 2015 (go check it out).

The newest from Mostly Other People Do the Killing lands in territory staked out by Dixieland bands and stride at the birth of the jazz tradition.  With half of the ensemble comprised of wind instruments, the way they employ a quirky lyricism to attain some thrilling moments of intertwining melodicism is pretty damn cool even when viewed in isolation.  But the heart of this music beats strongest through its rhythm section, and it’s from here that the unsubtle command to move those feet originates.  Every tune on Loafer’s Hollow shouts from the ground up, joyful and alive, and that effusiveness is contagious as hell.  The interactions between wind instruments is clever dialog, and there’s a little intrigue generated by trying to match up the music to the literary authors each piece is dedicated to, and it’s an amusing curiosity how ensemble-leader Moppa Elliott titles his compositions after town names from his native Pennsylvania… but this album forms its best connections when the music is inhaled like smoke, downed like whiskey, and then channeled back out in the spirit of fun in which it’s played.

MOPDtK has made a career out of re-envisioning the music of past eras in a way that is inventive while honoring the originals.  This is arguably their most enjoyable foray yet.

Your album personnel:  Moppa Elliott (bass), Steven Bernstein (trumpet, slide trumpet), Jon Irabagon (tenor & sopranino saxophones), Dave Taylor (bass trombone), Brandon Seabrook (banjo, electronics), Ron Stabinsky (piano) and Kevin Shea (drums).

Released on Hot Cup Records.

Jazz from NYC.

Available at:  Amazon | CDBaby