Jazz Recommendations – 2017 releases

Trombonist Michael Dease can always be relied upon for some tasteful straight-ahead bop.  Sometimes it ventures back to Hard Bop days and sometimes it lands square in modern post-bop territory, but the music is typically going to drive down the middle of the road and not go off-trailing anywhere.  There’s a certain comfort to be gained from that, especially in the context of a modern jazz scene that is as fractured and diverse as any genre out there.  That said, it’s nice to encounter something a little different from him on his new album All These Hands.  Front and center is the way his trombone meshes with the acoustic guitar of Randy Napoleon.  On his latest, Dease looks to reflect the spread of jazz through the United States, from its origins in New Orleans then with the Great Migration up to Chicago and the Midwest, and then over to NYC.  Whether the album meets those goals is up for debate.  Most of this music falls within Dease’s comfort zone, and how much that will allow him to truly represent the evolution of a music form over the course of decades is a matter of opinion more than anything else.  It’s also an ancillary issue as far as this music goes.

The marriage of trombone and guitar on songs like “Territory Blues,” “Delta City Crossroads” and “Memphis BBQ & Fish Fry” brings out a vibrant facet of Dease’s sound.  And while it doesn’t stray far from what falls before or follows after in the succession of album tracks, it comes off as something new and exciting.  It’s definitely not an anomaly to encounter the blues in Dease’s work, but to hear it coming from its roots rather than its stem is more than a little illuminating.  The sections of All These Hands that address other time periods in Jazz’s lifespan are perfectly nice.  In some cases, like the hopping “Good and Terrible,” the music shines with incredible strength.  But it wouldn’t be wrong to be a little hopeful that the next Dease recording would send himself and Randy Napoleon a little deeper into the territory to which they make a tantalizing visit.

Your album personnel:  Michael Dease (trombone), Renee Rosnes (piano), Gerald Cannon (bass), Lewis Nash (drums), Steve Wilson (flute, alto & tenor saxophones), Etienne Charles (trumpet), Randy Napoleon (acoustic guitar), Rodney Whitaker (double bass) and guests:  Jason Hainsworth (tenor sax), Diego Rivera (tenor sax), Dan Pratt (tenor sax) and Rufus Reid (bass).

Released on Posi-Tone Records.

Listen to more of the album on the label’s Soundcloud page.

Jazz from NYC.

Available at:  Amazon

The sense of perpetual forward propulsion is the key to the self-titled debut of Radament.  It is as if the duo of pianist Juanjo Fernández and drummer Giorgio Fausto Menossi are shaping melodies from the forces of momentum, and crafting the melodies in-transit.  It makes for a riveting presentation, and it rivals their simple, resonant beauty.  The thing of it is, that constant forward propulsion of Radament also has the effect of giving these tunes a seriously personable demeanor, a sort of focused chatter that is arresting dialog on its face, but also has the quizzical charm of a hyperactive speaker who fluidly moves from one subject of adoration to the next.  It keeps the attention fixated, even if the subject is ever undergoing change.

The duo lays off the gas pedal on “Los Pájaros Gobiernan La Ciudad Vacía” with no lessened effect on the resonance of the melodies or, for that matter, on the sense of constant forward propulsion.  And “Lucy” allows for some thoughtful pauses where the melody is allowed to take root.  And then there’s how the pretty, sing-song melody of “Bebelle” reveals its substance through a full revolution of each of its facets.

I took to this album immediately, and continue to find it equally charming with each additional listen.

Your album personnel:  Juanjo Fernández (piano) and Giorgio Fausto Menossi (drums).

This album is Self-Produced.

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

Music from Barcelona, Spain.

Available at:  Bandcamp

Guitarist Max Frankl has been a favorite of this site since first discovering his 2011 release Stories, with his trio Francis Drake.  His 2015 release Fernweh also received some warm words on Bird is the Worm.  Now, kicking off 2017, he’s releasing the three-track EP, Live In Munich.  The presence of trombonist Nils Wogram adds a wonderful sonority to the session, and the way it melts up with the gentle harmonic waves from Frankl’s electric guitar and how his trombone intertwines melodic threads with Ulrich Wangenheim’s clarinet and sax adds rich textures everywhere.  The moody opener “Feya” is heavy with emotion, as is the three-minute “Interlude.”  Final track “Sturmvogel,” on the other hand, gets the heart beating faster and takes things from a contemplative tone to something sunnier and upbeat.

Just a seriously enjoyable recording.  Everything about this live performance recording gives the indication that Frankl’s sextet was completely in sync that evening.  The dialog between musicians and the way their individual sounds coalesce into expressions fuller and richer than the sum of the individual contributions gives the impression that it was probably a magical show to see in person.

Your album personnel:  Max Frankl (electric guitar), Nils Wogram (trombone), Ulrich Wangenheim (tenor sax, clarinet), Christian Elsässer (piano), Andreas Kurz (bass) and Silvio Morger (drums).

The album is Self-Produced.

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

Music from Zurich, Switzerland.

Available at:  Bandcamp

There’s an appealing moodiness to this alt-contemporary jazz album from the quartet Leaf.  The music’s contemplative nature provides an essential balance for those passages where the shine of the jazz-rock fusion threatens to get a bit too bright.  There’s nothing fussy about the melodies; nicely crafted and rolled out simply, they’re easy to embrace even when a soloist takes it for a ride.  Of this, the quartet displays a nice patience in developing them into something more, and that preference of the soloists to stay within the fold is what allows them to go wandering far and wide and never let their melodic starting point fall out of view.

There’s nothing particularly groundbreaking about this album.  No new territory is struck.  But it’s plenty enjoyable, and for those of you who prefer the modern contemporary jazz sound, this is a nice option.  Besides, for a debut album, Leaf is a promising start.

Totally obscure reference: Anyone who is familiar with (and likes) Azure’s When She Smiles should give this one a listen.  Absent the Nordic jazz influence, it falls within the same family.

Your album personnel: Eric Kappauf (piano), Olivier Grenier Bédard (guitar), Jonathan Arseneau (double bass) and Dave Croteau (drums).

This album is Self-Produced.

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

Music from Montreal, Québec.

Available at:  Bandcamp