Jazz Recommendations – 2012 Releases

There are times I want to give advice about albums similar to how I would about a slowly-developing book or tv show. I want to say things like, “The first couple episodes move a bit slow, but then things take off after that” or “Don’t quit on the book after one chapter, because it gets much better.” But the thing of it is, perhaps those kind of warnings ruin the wonderful surprise that comes later. It’s that type of conundrum that some albums leave me with when I write for this site.

The Chris Greene Quartet recording A Group Effort is one such album. Recorded live at Chicago’s Mayne Stage Theater, the first album track is an introduction by William Kurk. It’s amusing in its way. Second album track “Bride of Mr. Congeniality” is a perfectly nice post-bop tune with a lighthearted groove. With the deluge of new jazz releases that drop from week to week, we live in a time when first impressions raise the stakes and early connections are king. Sometimes we move on to the next thing a bit too quickly.

And that’s why I’m saying just hold on a bit.

Your album personnel: Chris Greene (tenor & soprano sax), Damian Espinosa (piano, keyboards), Marc Piane (double bass), and Steve Corley (drums, percussion).

Third track “Shore Up” is why I’m glad I didn’t move on too quickly to the next CD on the stack of new arrivals. It opens with a simple yet potent repetition by bassist Piane, followed by Espinosa’s quixotic piano lines and the gentle tap of drums by Corley. When Greene enters on tenor sax, it has that evocative slow burn sound of Clifford Jordan’s Magic Triangle quartet, echoing the smiling weariness of “One for Amos” in how it’s both dark and hopeful simultaneously. I don’t think one can understate the value of a song that presents a contrasting emotional template within the same set of notes while giving complexities one simple sole voice. It doesn’t happen near as often as it should. It’s also why I hesitated bringing it up at all. It’s the kind of thing best discovered on one’s own. I almost feel like I should’ve written “Spoilers Ahead” at the top of the article.

But the thing of it is, this album isn’t simply strong echoes of past music. Greene expresses his post-bop sound through different facets. The rapid Latin rhythms of “Future Emperor of Evanston” mesh nicely with Greene’s sudden shifts between languid stroll and mad dash. “Stat” sees Espinosa switching from piano to keys to provide the soul of a funk groove, while Greene switches to soprano to provide some buoyancy in contrast to the nifty grind. “Three & Six” is a ballad at heart, but Greene’s tenor sax gets the blood pumping strong and Espinosa, who begins with a whisper on piano, builds up to match Greene’s pulse on sax. Their rendition of Kenny Dorham’s “Blue Bossa” has Corley throwing down a gauntlet on drums that dares the other quartet members to match his fervor.

And there’s a lot of that throughout A Group Effort. Live recordings are tricky for a variety of reasons. Sound quality, obviously, being one. Having listened to both the CD and MP3 versions of the album, I feel comfortable stating that fidelity won’t be an issue for anybody. Another potential obstacle to overcome on a live recording is making sure that the energy of the performance makes it to the recorded medium, while simultaneously avoiding a tendency to overdo it. Plenty of times I’ve heard live recordings, intended for retail distribution, that just sounded like the musicians got a bit too exuberant in their attempt to bring the stage to the stereo. The thing of it is, the best live performance recordings don’t leave their mark as a measurement of kinetic energy or volume. The key lies in how faithfully the recording reflects the live experience. Does it make the listener feel as if they were present when it happened? Does it provide the listener an approximation of having been there? On this, the Chris Greene Quartet sounds to have succeeded. The fervor of the quartet comes through best of all, but it would mean nothing if the hushed moments didn’t make it across, too.

This is one of those solid albums that deserves some attention, both as a quality recording, but also as a signpost of who to follow down the road. Greene appears to keep an active performance schedule, so you lucky bastards back in Chicago should take advantage.

Self-Produced, but released on Greene’s Single Malt Recordings label.

Jazz from the Chicago scene.

You can stream the entire album, and purchase it, on Greene’s bandcamp page. Worth noting that the Bandcamp version of the album has three bonus tracks totaling an additional 35 minutes of music from the same performance. These bonus tracks don’t appear to be on the CD or on the MP3 albums available at other retail outlets.

Available at eMusic. Available at Amazon: CD | MP3

It’s been over four decades since the Oregon ensemble first formed.  Over that time, the World Jazz subgenre has evolved both in terms of sound and also how it’s viewed as a concept.  Generally speaking, the World Jazz subgenre tag began getting used in the transition years from the 60s to the 70s, and referred to the use of various ethnic musics and instruments in a jazz setting.  Tablas and sitars accompanied sax and trumpet, African and Brazilian rhythms were utilized with swing rhythms, and so on.  The term World Jazz, though a relatively new concept in the States, was a very U.S.-centric term, and pretty much lumped an entire planet of indigenous musics into one World category.  Considering that Jazz is original to the U.S., and genre tags are meant only as basic categorizing tools, the World Jazz tag is an understandable result.  But it’s important to keep in mind that what bears as World Jazz in one part of the planet can sound dramatically different from how it sounds elsewhere, especially as the expression of Jazz has changed over the years, too.  It all sounds different from each other and from back then.

Back then, Oregon began as a quartet of Collin Walcott, Ralph Towner, Paul McCandless, and Glen Moore.  Their music had strong Folk and Indian music elements, and was more likely to induce daydreams than foot tapping.  Following the tragic death of Walcott, the group went through a series of personnel changes in the quartet’s percussion seat..  Along with that, their sound also changed.  This was a result of not just different musicians bringing different influences to the table, but also the ripples of changes that the tides of time bring about in music forms.  The 1980s saw more fusion voicings of Jazz, and Oregon reflected that in their music.  Much of the original edge was gone from their music.  Oregon had found a new way to express the beauty in their music’s identity.  It wasn’t a sea change or anything, but the difference between their sound from one decade to the next is apparent.

The new millenium saw some consistency return to the Oregon line-up.  The current quartet has now been performing together for awhile.  Their sound has returned home, though changed, as is oft to happen with time and experience.  Recent recordings have a bit of the old edgy improvisation, some sharp teeth to go along with a softer gentler fusion sound.  It’s a lovely thing.

For someone like myself, who has been listening to the group for a couple decades and who owns most of their recorded music, their newest release Family Tree has a comforting effect… a sense of nostalgia and happy memories of music from my/their past, but also by way of the assurance that, in the end, after all the changes and passing of time, I can still be greeted with new beautiful music from “old friends.”

Your album personnel:  Paul McCandless (oboe, bass clarinet, soprano sax, flute, horns), Ralph Towner (classical guitar, piano, synthesizer), Glen Moore (double bass), and Mark Walker (drums, drum synthesizer, percussion).

The album opens with a couple up-tempo pieces.  The rapid chatter of percussion on “Bibo Babo” gives it an impression of speed, and negates any need for the rest of the quartet to help in getting the heart rate up, allowing them to take their time soloing over the top.  Meanwhile, second track “Tern” has the quartet galloping alongside together, offering one brisk section after the other.

Third track “The Hexagram” reigns things in a bit, and returns the quartet to the particular strain of serenity more commonly associated with them.  The flutter and soar pattern of McCandless on soprano sax is front and center, but it’s the combination of Towner’s classical guitar and Walker’s percussion that gives the song its lazy afternoon ease.  It leads into “Creeper,” which attains a bit more rapid gait, but the addition of bass clarinet pretty much guarantees that no one will get left in dust.  Moore has a pleasantly resonant section on bass, part of a series of solos each member takes with group support.

The two-song combo of “Jurassic” and “Family Tree” is totally old-school Oregon.  On “Jurassic,” cymbal washes, eerie percussion, bass arco, and an ominous bass clarinet… and yet so inviting and warm.  This leads immediately into the title-track, which starts with an elegant turn on piano by Towner, and then the entrance of soprano sax… inquisitive, moody, and blithe.  These are the types of songs that get me nostalgic for the Oregon of the past.  It’s heartwarming to hear them come together, with a different line-up and a different decade, and yet still giving voice to the music of their past.

On the other hand, “Moot” presents something a bit different.  It starts out with a thrilling bit of bass arco, then moves into a Middle-East inspired piece.  Moore glides on bass in the background, and remains the strongman throughout the song.  It’s not a complete overhaul by any means, but it does reflect both the change of influences the artists bring to the table, as well as the trend in Jazz to explore the fusion of U.S. style Jazz with Middle-East music.  It’s a nice development, and interesting to hear these veterans tackle it.

The album ends on a strange note.  First is “Max Alert,” a minute long interlude full of dissonance and the clash of alien sounds.  This leads right into the fusion-heavy “Carnival Express,” a syrupy tune with too large an infusion of pop music.  Individually, these two are the only weak spots on the album, and combined together, it kills the nice flow that had been building up to this point.  Had they ended the album with “Julian,” a lighthearted buoyant tune that precedes the “Max Alert”/”Carnival Express” combo, the album would’ve been stronger for it.

That criticism aside, Oregon fans will likely find more than enough music here to put a smile on their faces.  It did mine.  It’s been a rewarding experience to hear Oregon’s new iteration in the new century.

Released on the Cam Jazz label.

You can stream, and purchase, the entire album on the Cam Jazz site.

Available at eMusic.  Available at Amazon: CD | MP3

Following on the success of his 2011 release The Big Picture, Jacob Karlzon brings his trio back into the recording studio for More, and continues to solidify his status as one of the vanguards of the New Piano Trio sound, as pioneered by the Esbjorn Svensson Trio.

The album title More is terribly on point, for not only is Karlzon’s latest recording a fine continuation of what came previously, he offers it in much greater abundance.

Your album personnel:  Jacob Karlzon (piano, keyboards, synthesizer, programming), Hans Andersson (bass), and Jonas Holgersson (drums).

The album opens with “Running,” aptly named, as the tune begins at breakneck speed and doesn’t let up off the gas pedal.  And, really, it continues for much of the album.  Where The Big Picture had an ebb and flow between tension and explosion, More is a series of fireworks that explode dramatically one album track at a time.

The use of effects is more prodigious on More than it was on The Big Picture.  I’ve commented previously that Karlzon is one of the primary torchbearers of Esbjorn Svensson’s New Piano Trio sound, and much like Svensson on later recordings such as Leucocyte, on More, Karlzon treats the effects like incendiary devices, setting off one conflagration after the other.  On a track like the heavy-octane “Dirty,” it begins with sizzling distortion that blooms into anthemic piano choppy and ends with synthesizers adding dramatic harmonies.  “Departure” is also heavy with the effects, possessing a pounding dance rhythm that’s easy to enjoy, but negates much of Karlzon’s natural elegance on keys.

Considering that Karlzon’s trio is pretty effective at eliciting dramatic tension with their plain ol’ instruments, I’m not sure how much any of that is needed.  On the other hand, these are nifty tunes easy to bounce along to, so it’s hard to level any criticism at music that is, in fact, enjoyable.  Even tunes like second track “Nilha,” which has the whiff of restraint with some understated drumming by Holgersson and basswork by Andersson that seems to want to glide more than dash, ultimately scoots along with Karlzon leading the way on keys.

Karlzon lets off the gas pedal for the alluring “Between Us.”  Effects are the pulse of a beating heart and the burn of it breaking.  The composition gives the musicians some room to breathe, and it displays Karlzon’s strong talent for exploring simple yet powerful melodies.  As the tune draws to an end, the effects grow stronger and start to swirl about the trio.  Karlzon switches to keys, which puts different schemes of light in play.  And though the song grows in intensity, it drifts weightlessly away.  Very reminiscent of what made The Big Picture so strong.

“Epiphany” goes even further driving this point home.  The trio’s ability to create thick clouds of harmony over which they skip melodies like stones across the water, it effectuates a dreamy atmosphere while remaining inexhaustibly dynamic.  Speaking of dynamic, “The Riddle” is one of those tunes that builds up to a strong gait while giving the impression of flying swiftly just a few inches off the ground.  The sense of flight derived from what boils down to a rhythmic exercise is the kind of interaction-in-flux that makes much of Karlzon’s music so captivating.

A track like “Fool’s Gold” is Karlzon’s trio at their strongest.  Karlzon can do so much with jaunty piano phrases as he polishes off yet another immaculate melody.  And the rhythmic accompaniment he adds to the enchanting bass solo by Andersson and brushwork by Holgersson could coax an infant to sleep.  This is the kind of song that separates Karlzon from the crowd.  Engaging, yet so damn catchy.

The album ends with “Rhododendron Rites,” a solo piano piece that sounds a bit out of place when considering the bombast of the entire album that preceded it.  However, it does provide a nice comedown from More‘s excitement, and it’s also worth noting that he also ended The Big Picture with a solo piano piece (“At the End Of the Day”), so this might just be his thing.  On general principle, I think it’s a nice way to go out.

Released on the ACT Music label.

Jazz from the Gothenburg, Sweden scene.

Download a free album track at AllAboutJazz, courtesy of the artist and label.

Available at eMusic.  Available at Amazon: CD | MP3

Read my review of Karlzon’s previous release The Big Picture –> LINK

Tiny Reviews, featuring: Roller Trio Roller Trio, Greg Duncan Chicago, Barcelona Connections, and Old Time Musketry Different Times.

*****

Roller Trio – Roller Trio

Roller Trio‘s debut album is best approached as modern Jazz with some Avant-Pop tendencies, which means it’ll give you your jazz fix while at the same time present flirtatious allusions to pop rock music. Chaotic and scarred sounds that seamlessly shift into melodic beauty, post-bop intensity that can grow into a rock conflagration, and avant-garde disassemblages that coalesce into everyday songs.

Your album personnel: James Mainwaring (tenor sax), Luke Wynter (guitar), and Luke Reddin-Williams (drums).

Opening track “Deep Heat” gets right down to business. What begins as a jaunty bop-n-hop tune shifts into post-rock ambient melodics. In fact, several of the album tracks begin quite similar, but each head off in their own direction. “The Nail That Stands Up” veers off into trip-rock ambiance with some Motown R&B sax blowing. “Howdy Saudi” also echoes the post-bop of the opening track, but descends into Rock dissonance, whereas “The Zone” takes a course that drives right through prog-rock territory. “The Interrupters” pretty much stays the course, but hiccups out some saxophone screeching and electronic bursts at opportune spots.

However, some tracks stay away from traditional post-bop motifs. “Roller Toaster” begins with a murmur and a drone, then builds intensity with a fiery sax section. “R-O-R” floats a languid sax atop a pleasantly insistent rhythmic chatter, a beautiful song and one with many of the same talking points as more-rock-than-jazz counterparts In The Country.

The type of album that will keep the listener guessing throughout, and one that’s has some pretty exciting moments to bring ’em back for repeat plays. Good stuff, and a pretty ambitious recording for a debut.

Released on the F-IRE Collective label.

Jazz from the Leeds, UK scene.

Available at eMusic. Available at Amazon: CD | MP3

Greg Duncan – Chicago, Barcelona Connections

This is about Flamenco Music and this is about Jazz. It’s also about neither of those things. Chicagoan Greg Duncan set out to present the differences between the two, and yet fuse them together and present them in a straight-forward way. On Chicago-Barcelona Connections, Duncan delves into the various forms of Flamenco, displays how they differ from what is commonly referred to as Latin Jazz, and yet has recorded a Jazz album that can be enjoyed on the listener’s own terms, without needing awareness of artist motivations or goals, without requiring a background knowledge in music theory or genre categorization… just simply kick back and listen to some good ol’ fashioned Jazz. A result of time spent in Barcelona immersing himself in the music and culture, and also his participation in Chicago flamenco pop groups, Duncan has produced an thoroughly pleasant and accessible recording. I find it reminiscent of flautist Miho Wada‘s similar immersion in Cuban music, and the solid jazz album, Para Ti, which resulted from it. Good stuff.

Your album personnel: Greg Duncan (trumpet, flugelhorn, palmas), Corbin Andrick (alto & tenor sax), Stewart Mindeman (piano, Rhodes), Jon Deitemyer (drums, percussion), Patrick Mulcahy (acoustic & electric bass), and guests: Javier Saume (cajón) and Patricia Ortega (vocals, palmas).

Self-Produced, though released on Duncan’s own New Origins Records label.

Jazz from the Chicago scene.

Available at eMusic. Available at Amazon: CD | MP3

Old Time Musketry – Different Times

Interesting debut album from the Old Time Musketry quartet. As is the case with many debut albums by younger musicians, the recording is a bit unfocused when viewing the album as a singular whole. But when regarding each of the separate album facets on their own, there’s plenty of promising signs for things to come.

Most of interest to me personally is their expression of a folk-jazz sound that comes very close to walking the same territory as fellow Brooklynite Jeremy Udden. The album opens with “Star Insignia,” the type of tune that I would refer to as “back porch serene” were I reviewing a Udden recording. “Cadets” follows that same path, and brings a nice contrast of lilting sax and accordion lines with march formation rhythms. At first blush, “Hope For Something More” might seem to fall in line with that, too, but slips in a bit of a pop music for a nice bit of softness. “Floating Vision” ends the album much as it began, but with a whisper.

A couple tracks have some Balkan flavor to them, though breaking out the accordion and putting it out front can sometimes give that impression, especially if an accompanying saxophone wants to take the tune in a boisterous direction. “Anger Dance” is interesting in how it breaks down in the middle, and dispenses with form and structure, then coalesces for the big finale.

There’s also a more standard post-bop nature to this recordings. “Underwater Volcano” has ax taking the lead, but it’s the keyboard notes gurgling up from beneath that gives the tune its foundation. “Parade” is another straight-ahead tune with a pleasant shuffle rhythm, and buoyant statements of melody. “Different Times” begins as standard post-bop fare, then spends the rest of the song methodically deconstructing itself.

Your album personnel: Adam Schneit (sax, clarinet), JP Schlegelmilch (keyboard, accordion), Phil Rowan (bass), and Max Goldman (drums).

Released on the SteepleChase Lookout label.

Jazz from the Brooklyn scene.

Download a free album track at AllAboutJazz, courtesy of the artists and label.

Available at Amazon: CD | MP3

*****

The Greg Duncan and Old Time Musketry reviews are original to Bird is the Worm, but I originally used the intro paragraph of the Roller Trio review for my Jazz Picks weekly article for eMusic, so here’s some language protecting their rights to that reprinted material as the one to hire me to write about new jazz arrivals to their site…

“New Arrivals Jazz Picks“ reprint courtesy of eMusic.com, Inc.
© 2012 eMusic.com, Inc.

Floriaan Wempe – Flo’s Flow

When a young musician records a strong straight-ahead jazz album that for all intents and purposes is effectively flawless, I immediately become hesitant.  It’s one thing to hear sparks of brilliance.  It’s also another thing for the recording to be highly regarded, but somewhat outside the box.  But when the album covers well-established territory like 1960s Hard Bop, an area that some of Jazz’s greats created and thrived in, well, I try for an extended pause before expressing anything that might resemble effusive praise.  But, really, even after repeatedly listening to Floriaan Wempe‘s debut, Flo’s Flow, I really can’t find much of anything wrong with it.

It’s a remarkable album, and one that should delight Jazz fans who prefer when modern artists elicit strong echoes from Jazz’s past.

Your album personnel:  Floriaan Wempe (tenor sax), Karel Boehlee (piano), Jos Machtel (double bass), Willie Jones III (drums), and guests:  Tom van der Zaal (alto sax) and John Ruocco (clarinet).

Wempe has a strong presence on tenor sax, displaying an awareness of the best spots to add an extra ounce of delicacy to accentuate the intensity of a string of notes that preceded it, and when to step out and when to join hands with his veteran cast.  Seven of the eight tracks are Wempe compositions (the sole exception a Coltrane tune).  Guest appearances of alto sax and clarinet illustrate Wempe’s talents as a composer extend to layering in ingredients that add some pleasant texture to the album’s overall feel, with Ruocco’s clarinet being especially enjoyable.

Just an all-around impressive debut.  I’m very excited to see where all this leads.

Released on the Challenge Records International label.

Jazz from the Hague, South Holland, Netherlands scene.

Available at eMusic.  Available at Amazon: CD | MP3

John Turville Trio – Conception

There are two sides to John Turville‘s magnetic piano trio album Conception.  There’s the straight-ahead modern piano trio album… brooding melodies that cook in immaculate jazz rhythms.  And then there are the chaotic tunes that subversively emit avant-garde messages of deconstruction.

The duality of these two facets combine for a winning album.

Your album personnel:  John Turville (piano), Chris Hill (double bass), Ben Reynolds (drums), and guest:  Eduardo Vassallo (cello).

Tracks like “Arc-en-Ciel,” “Conception,” “Pharoah-ant,” and a cover of Radiohead’s “Scatterbrain” allow Turville’s trio the opportunity to display both their knack for the right solos at the right time and solid group-interaction.  Whereas tracks like “Barrio Once,” “Elegia,” and “Milonga” incorporate guest cellist Vassallo and Turville’s background in tango for songs that make an intriguing composite of an undercurrent of schisms.

The flow from one album track to the next can be startling, as a soft-spoken pretty tune can immediately shift to a song wielding sharp flashes of strings and crooked piano lines.  But this is a big part of what makes this a winning album, those sudden jolts of differentiation, keeping the ear attuned to what might come next, while, in the meantime, enjoying the track that’s offered in the moment.

Really, just one of those recordings that has slowly accreted my appreciation with subsequent listens.

Released on the F-IRE Collective label.

Jazz from the UK.

Available at eMusic.  Available at Amazon: CD | MP3