Jazz Recommendations – 2017 releases

Estafest cooks up an entierly different kind of serenity.  Their mix of Nordic jazz, folk and chamber generates a kind of tranquility that is far more active and involved than your typical work that gets tagged as ambient.  The main driver of this quality are the thoughtful interactions between the quartet members.  No matter how volatile a series of expressions may become, the contemplative nature of the decisions made as they advance their dialog bleeds through into the sound, and it’s why when “Cookies” lays down some blues or when the heat gets turned up on “Taborn” or melodic lines go tumbling along on “Gimpy” or how they dissolve completely into “Impro 1013,” there hangs in the air a strong suggestion of tranquility.

Their 2014 release Eno Supo was as lovely as it gets, and the quartet’s new recording Bayachrimae builds on that foundation with songs that express even more distinct personalities.  And most frequently to emerge are those most peaceful, with tracks like “Polderlucht,” “Floating,” and the two-part suite “Bayachrimae” displaying the potency of the quartet’s approach when the contemplative elements are the focus rather than the residue.

The beauty of Bayachrimae is equal to that of its predecessor, and gets there by revealing an even greater depth of personality.

Your album personnel:  Anton Goudsmit (guitar), Mete Erker (tenor & soprano saxophones), Jeroen van Vliet (piano) and Oene van Geel (viola, cajon).

Released on BMC Records.

Music from Amsterdam.

Available at:  Amazon | eMusic

Marco Santilli brought together his CheRoba ensemble and il Fiato delle Alpi for this performance recorded live at Musikinsel, Rheinau in Switzerland.  It is filled with vivid imagery, often quite majestic, and yet also displays a keen precision, so no matter how intensely the music may reflect the stuff of daydreams, La Stüa maintains a focus that keeps the ear aware and active and engaged.

Opening track “Sächsilüüte” gets right to it.  The strong folk element meshes perfectly with the chamber music expressionism, and together they create a home where furious jazz-influenced solos can thrive and take the music on intriguing detours and side-trips.  And on a track like “Giorni di Giornico,” those three elements work in tandem to provide alternate shaping to a melody through the transformation of the tempo likes scenes in a movie.

“Sette” shows how Santilli is able to be wildly expressive on bass clarinet as he is succinct and to the point.  The deep resonance of that instrument, and the addition of musicians who specialize in the lower registers adds darker tonal qualities to music that is apt to shine as bright as the noontime sun.  This leads to all kinds of rich textures, as does the use of 12-string and classical guitars.

An absolutely stunning album.

Your album personnel:  Marco Santilli (clarinet, bass clarinet), Lorenzo Frizzera (12-string & classical guitars), Ivan Tibolla (piano, accordion), Fulvio Maras (percussion), Isabell Weymann (alto flute, piccolo, flute), Davide Jäger (cor anglais, oboe), Tomas Gallart (French horn), Alessandro Damele (bassoon) and Filipa Nunes (contrabass clarinet, clarinet).

Released on Unit Records.

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

Music from Zürich, Switzerland.

Available at:  Amazon | eMusic

Telepathy & Bop is the cinematographer hijacking the movie.  The director is thrown off a cliff.  The actors are chased into the streets.  Executive Producers go missing, never heard from again.  And everyone who remains on the set is dedicated to the vision of the person in control of the camera.

It’s a movie where the idea of plot is discarded as an unnecessary distraction.  Dialog is frivolous, and a soundtrack is useful only in its service to the imagery.  And the debut from Josh Green & The Cyborg Orchestra has got plenty of that.

It’s a deluge of imagery.  Sometimes it’s a curious beauty, and sometimes it’s jaw-dropping gorgeous.  It exists in a perpetual state of change, and rarely does a manifestation occur with anything resembling logic or causality.  The music is either deeply cerebral or emotionally thrilling, and never does it venture far from either of those extremes.  Sometimes a bit of personality emerges… a melodic thread that carries a moderate distance, a harmonic passage that hints at similar such moments before, a rhythmic device that seems on the verge of conveying a message of import… but those traces of character dissolve just as quickly as they appear, and the focus of the ensemble returns to a goal of drawing up another scene of lovely imagery.

It’s the kind of album that you’ll enjoy immensely, even if you can’t entirely explain why.  And, ultimately, as you keep hitting the play button, you’ll find that you really don’t care.

Your album personnel:  Charles Pillow (oboe, alto sax, tenor sax), Todd Groves (EWI, flute, alto sax, tenor sax, Eb clarinet, contrabass clarinet), Jay Hassler (Bb clarinet, bass clarinet), Nathan Schram (viola), Nick Revel (viola), Clarice Jenson (cello), John Lake (trumpet), Chris Misch-Bloxdorf (trombone), Nathan Kochi (accordion), Sungwon Kim (guitar), Michael Verselli (piano), Brian Courage (bass), Josh Bailey (drum set) and PUBLIQuartet of Curtis Stewart (violin), Jannina Norpoth (violin), Nick Revel (viola) and Amanda Gookin (cello).

The album is Self-Produced.

Listen to another album track on the artist’s Soundcloud page.

Music from NYC.

The album releases February 24th.  Retail links will be added at that time or as they become available.