Jazz Recommendations – 2011 Releases

Dec 27 2011

Review of Lama “Oneiros” published on MiG

My review of Lama‘s new release Oneiros just got published on the Music is Good site.

You can find it here.

Here’s a taste of what the album sounds like…

 

 

Enjoy! And spend some time on that Music is Good site… there are some very cool articles on there.

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Dec 26 2011

Diego Barber – “The Choice”

 

The Choice is the sophomore release of guitarist Diego Barber, following up the wondrous debut Calima, arguably the best album of 2009.  Infusing his classical guitar into a jazz setting, he presents a sound both terribly refreshing and quite unlike anything else on the scene.

Your album personnel:  Diego Barber on guitar, Larry Grenadier and Johannes Weidenmueller share duties on bass, Ari Hoenig on drums, Mark Turner and Seamus Blake take turns on saxophone.

Inspired by and written during a trip across West Africa, Barber has created a series of musical vignettes of small moments in a vast big sky country.  The opening track “Annie” is simply Barber’s unhurried guitar lines backed by the gentle patter of drums and wash of cymbals, an introspective moment further enhanced when Weidenmueller makes an entrance by bowing his bass, creating an effect like a lullaby whose intent is not to aid the listener to sleep, but to intrigue into wakefulness.

“Annie” leads into the second track “Contraste” without a note of silence.  Barber’s guitar becomes more insistent.  Mark Turner enters with a series of simple and unfussy sax lines that glide across the tune like tumbleweed across desert sand.  And then the wind picks up… Barber’s intensity on strings grows, Turner’s sax rises in temperature, Grenadier’s bass lifts up to the higher registers, and Hoenig’s drum work could be trailing right behind or maybe it’s really pushing the whole thing along.

The pace continues to increase as the album progresses.  This was an equation that worked well for Barber on Calima, and it continues to reap rewards on The Choice.  Both albums began with openings that were serene but not sleepy, not unlike those mornings when a person wakes up to the sun, refreshed, not a bit drowsy, and just very there In The Moment.  Barber’s guitar emanates that In The Moment feel, and it’s why even during frenetic tunes on the album like “Jose’s House”, it still feels like a calm album.

The heart of the tempo is at the heart of the album, and just as the The Choice opens with a languid atmospheric vibe, so it also ends.  The wind down begins with “Pittaluga” (arguably the strongest track on the album), as Barber slowly takes his foot off the gas pedal.

The album ends with a beautiful solo guitar sonata, closing things out on the same notes of serenity and solitude that the album began.

Over an hour and ten minutes of modern jazz guitar w/classical influences.  Released on the Sunnyside Records label.

Originally from the Canary Islands, Barber is now a part of the New York jazz scene.

2011 was a very strong year for jazz album releases, and Diego Barber’s The Choice deserves to be considered among the best 2011 had to offer.

Available at: Bandcamp | eMusic | Amazon CD – MP3

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Dec 24 2011

Recommended: Chris Dingman – “Waking Dreams”

 

It’s the warmth of vibes that I believe is that instrument’s quality I most enjoy, and it’s not a coincidence that vibraphone-led albums tend to display an uptick in playtime on my stereo during the autumn and winter months.  But just because vibes sound like one big ol’ cozy hug doesn’t encapsulate their identity; if they put their mind to it, vibes can can string nighttime icicles all over the place.

That brings us to Chris Dingman.

On Waking Dreams, Dingman states that it’s a retrospective of the last 12 years of his life.  That’s a hell of a lot of ground to cover on one album, a hell of a lot of emotions, and it’s why sometimes the music will make the room all cozy and sometimes it’ll leave it colder than the sub-zero on the other side of the windows.

The music is a series of vignettes, some tunes that fall under the jazz avant-garde of the sixties, some under the post-mod jazz of today, some tunes that are straight-ahead jazz ballads, and some that stray closer to neo-classical or moody indie-rock.  There is a lack of cohesion between the songs, and it’s not just a strong point of the album but also likely how Dingman intended it.  Looking back on any of our lives, cohesion is a tough element to suss out.  We look for commonalities, for foundations, for people and objects that provide a sense of permanence, and then all the crazy unspeakable emotions they inspire inside us.  No way any of us fit twelve years of our lives onto an hour long album in a way that makes any sense.  Honesty and sincerity are all that can be asked, and it’s what Dingman gives us here.

I’m just glad he didn’t give us an album that could be described as cinematic or a soundtrack, something that pushes us to imagine parts of a movie as we listen to the album.  Ah, the opening scene, where the hero makes his entrance.  Oh, this is a tense song where the hero faces his Big Conflict.  And now a calming song; we must have reached the denouement of the story.  No, not here.

Waking Dreams is not an emotionally linear album.  There are bursts of tension where vibes and piano bite ferociously at one another just to be interrupted by the calming voice of sax.  Flute and bass clarinet should be at odds, but instead appear on the same page, voicing the same opinion in their very different ways.  A dreamy interlude followed by a serene ballad immediately juxtaposed against an ominous tangle of free jazz and children’s lullaby.

After the last note had played, it felt like a lot of information had been thrown at me.  Tough to interpret it all as it happened, tough to do the same in the silence that followed.  Unsurprising, since Dingman is encoding his music with a complex soup of thoughts and emotions.  This is the kind of album that requires, and deserves, repeated listening.  The good news is that even though it’s a challenging album, it’s also quite enjoyable to hear on its face, too.  This ain’t some doctoral thesis masquerading as a jazz album; this album is a nice bundle of listening happiness all on its own.  But I’d be lying if I said it didn’t take a couple listens to form that opinion.  Nice, though, to learn that when the dust has cleared that I’ve been listening to an album that deserves mention as one of the Best of 2011.

Your personnel for this album:  Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet), Loren Stillman (saxophones), Fabian Almazan (piano), Joe Sanders (bass), Justin Brown (drums), and Chris Dingman (vibraphone)

With special guests: Ryan Ferreira (guitar) Erica Von Kleist (flute), Mark Small (bass clarinet).

Released on the Between Worlds Music label.

Here’s Dingman’s bandcamp page, where you can stream the album in full (and purchase it, too).

A free album track is available on AllAboutJazz, courtesy of the artist and label.

Available at Amazon: CD | MP3

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Dec 23 2011

Jazz New Releases: Week Ending November 15, 2011

Tiny Review recs of new jazz releases, featuring:  Arun Ghosh, Tito Carrillo, Corey Wilkes, Hal Galper Trio, David Budway, Kaimaki, and Ramsey Lewis.

*****

The following is sort of copied from the weekly article I write for emusic.com, giving a rundown of mini-reviews of interesting jazz new releases.  Once I get caught up on the older recs (of which there are five installments), I’ll post them once a week, adding some artwork and extra links and modifying the text a little bit.  When I write the mini-reviews initially, I’m under a serious time constraint, but now I’ve had time to listen more closely to the music and think about it, so some of the reviews will change, but some may not.  They were initially called “Jonah’s Jazz Picks”; the reason why is not a complicated story or a long one, but sufficient banal to just overlook.

This was the fourth installment of my recs.

 

Hey, again.

Well, it was probably unreasonable to hope that the avalanche of new jazz releases would continue for a fourth week in a row. After joyously being greeted by over twenty five pages of new jazz releases each of the last handful of weeks, this week’s Freshly Ripped didn’t bury me alive. Of course, the flip side to a smaller offering is the time in which to savor the new discoveries. Case in point…

 

Arun Ghosh, Primal Odyssey

Very happy to be able to lead off with a new Indo-jazz release, and a strong one at that. Generally speaking, Indo-jazz is Indian music when the seed of the song is planted, but which sprouts from the ground in the form of jazz improvisation. What often results is a joyous music that is right at home in dark smoky jazz clubs. In addition to Arun Ghosh’s clarinet, other instruments making an appearance include bass clarinet, sax, double-bass, and drums, and they layer atop one another in wondrous long sonorous drifts of sound, propulsed by a rhythm section that takes command of the listener’s foot. If you only buy one jazz album this week, this should be it. Highly recommended.

02 Unravel by Arun Ghosh

08 Damascus by Arun Ghosh

Released on the Camoci label.

Album can be purchased on emusic here.

 

Tito Carrillo, Opening Statement

It’s a story line that jazz fans encounter from time to time… long-time session player finally records an album under his or her own name. I can’t help but cheer that effort and hope it works out. Being a team player is a noble calling in any field, but in jazz where the performance of the various pieces in the ensemble can create a whole so much greater than the sum of its individual parts, I can’t help but want to cheer on the underdog who steps out from the bandstand and into the spotlight for the first time themselves. Of course, when the result is an extraordinarily strong album like Tito Carrillo’s Opening Statement, cheering takes a backseat to listening. This is straight-ahead jazz, though it might be a mistake to describe the development of the tunes as linear. Each song takes a round-about path from first note to last, giving the songs a sense of adventure even when Carrillo’s trumpet is giving sound to a standard series of notes. This was an album that had me already looking forward to his next.

Released on the Origin/OA2 label.

Album can be purchased on emusic here.

 

Corey Wilkes, Kind of Miles: Live at the Velvet Lounge

A nice live set from trumpet player Corey Wilkes covering a set of Miles Davis tunes. Wilkes has a strong position in the Chicago jazz community, being a member of the AACM as well as receiving the honor of sitting in with the Art Ensemble of Chicago following the passing of long-time member Lester Bowie. Performed at the historic Velvet Lounge, Wilkes does more than just run a standard cover set, though. With four tunes running between 15 and 26 minutes each, he gives his group time to explore and expand on Davis’s original themes. Especially rewarding is their take on “Yesterdays”, which builds on Davis’s take (of, originally, a Jerome Kern song), building oh so slowly and drawing out every drop of emotion from the notes. Equally intriguing is the ensemble’s mash-up of Davis’s “So What” and Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place.” This is definitely a live album; you can hear the sounds of the Velvet Lounge throughout the album. Fortunately, it adds to the ambiance of the album experience rather than detracts. This album won’t be for everybody, but there is a large contingent of jazz fans who need to buy this. Me, the samples compelled me to buy it.

Unsure if this is self-produced or not.

Album can be purchased on emusic here.

 

Hal Galper Trio, Trip the Light Fantastic

Jazz piano vet and highly regarded educator, Hal Galper offers another solid recording to his lengthy discography. Galper has a very identifiable sound, not sure I can adequately compare him to anyone. The way in which he strings notes together, it always leaves me with the impression of falling down a flight of stairs without ever leaving my feet… a controlled cohesive randomness that’s just a wee bit dangerous and could prove fatal. With Jeff Johnson and John Bishop on bass and drums, Galper’s trio puts out a strong recording, and the Origin label continues to impress with their selection of talent.

Released on the Origin/OA2 label.

The album can be purchased on emusic here.

 

David Budway – A New Kiss

The always reliable MaxJazz label gives session vet David Budway a platform for his debut A New Kiss. Accompanied by a strong line-up that includes (among others) Marcus Strickland, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Eric Revis, and a guest performance by Branford Marsalis, Budway delivers a warm set of contemporary numbers. Well, except for the final track on the album that brings guitar and keyboards into the mix for a nifty tune with Arabic stylings. Neat end to a very enjoyable album.

It appears that the album can be streamed on David’s myspace page.

Released on the MaxJazz label.

The album can be purchased on emusic here.

 

Kaimaki – Mataroa

Ridiculously pretty album.  Kaimaki is a French quintet of sax, piano, drums, bass, and vocals. Shimmering melodies sway gently in place as sax flutters just overhead, entwined with intermittent vocals. Engaging, yet uncomplicated. Just a series of beautiful songs. A promising debut recording, which appears to be Self-Produced.

Album can be purchased on emusic here.

 

Ramsey Lewis – Take Another Look

Putting out recording number eighty with Take Another Look, Ramsey Lewis , a jazz icon, revisits some of his favorite compositions with his Electric Band. Ramsey’s music these days is pretty mainstream, perhaps lacking the sound that beboppers and modern jazzers alike prefer, but, for me, Ramsey’s immense talent has always transcended that. Some of his early jazz-R&B fusion albums, like the fun Sun Goddess, in which he collaborates with members of Earth, Wind, & Fire, fit into that personal category of “Albums With A Sound That I’m Not Into But Listen To All The Time Anyway” (my personal categories have always been especially verbose). I highly recommend poking around his discography, since there’s something there for everybody to like.
Ramsey Lews – Living for the City by hiddenbeach

Released on the Hidden Beach label.

Album can be purchased at emusic here.

 

I think that’s where I’ll call it a wrap for this week. I hope you find some cool new music.

Cheers.

-Dave

 

Here’s some language to protect emusic’s rights as the one to hire me originally to scour through the jazz new arrivals and write about the ones I like:

“New Arrivals Jazz Picks“, courtesy of eMusic.com, Inc.
© 2011  eMusic.com, Inc.

My thanks to emusic for the freelance writing gig, the opportunity to use it in this blog, and the editorial freedom to help spread the word about cool new jazz being recorded today.

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Dec 22 2011

Colin Stetson – “New History Warfare Vol.2: Judges”

I so badly want to throw out a Neuromancer reference here, to comment that if Wintermute ever recorded a jazz album, that New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges is how it would sound.  AI Robots manipulating instruments with human-like precision, rapid saxophone lines like strings of binary digits, inverted melodies not quite human but proof of a creative soul, an electric undercurrent beneath a beating heart, and an acute sense of humor not easily translatable.  I don’t know if William Gibson ever envisioned this type of album in his cyberpunk novel, but he should have.

With Judges, Multi-reedist Colin Stetson has created a recording of epic breadth and vision.  A solo recording that uses no looping and a bunch of mic positions.  Mixing jazz, drone, and avant-garde, Stetson has put down an indescribable monstrosity of vast beauty.

Warbling cornet like the honking of birds heading south for the winter, mesmerizing vocal chanting and murmuring bits of dialog from discarded conversations, twisting sax lines veer through tunes bending sound, moments of tranquility broken with tension and panic then back to tranquility, percussion the sound of broken bones thrown down stairs with scientific control. Stetson’s sound experiments are wondrously textured, and the music’s indefinable qualities result in an album that isn’t out of anybody’s reach.  By sounding like no kind of music at all, it transforms into everybody’s music.

That’s not say that it’s an album everyone will like.  It’s probably not.  No album is. But the experimental and creative driving forces of Judges are elements that everyone can relate to.  An outstanding album.

A current member of Bon Iver, Stetson has worked with a variety of non-jazz artists, including Tom Waits, David Byrne, and Arcade Fire.  Guest vocals on Judges by Laurie Anderson and Shara Worden.

Released on the Constellation Records label.

Available at Amazon: CD | MP3 | Vinyl+CD

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