Jan 2 2014
Best of 2013, An Addendum: Beyond Jazz
There were a few albums that would’ve received a slot on my Best of 2013 list, had I not gotten a strong twinge of jazz purism at the last moment. These three recordings are all quite wonderful, but as wide as I try to stretch my own subjective Jazz boundaries, I couldn’t extend them far out enough to bring these three albums into the fold. Hell, in at least one instance, I don’t think even the musician considers it a jazz album (though I’d have to check my notes to be sure of that assertion).
In any event, here are three recordings by jazz musicians that weren’t really jazz albums. They’re all quite wonderful, and despite my busy listening schedule, I always find time to listen to each frequently.
Let’s begin…
*****
RJ Miller – Ronald’s Rhythm
Miller’s debut album is a blissful session of ambient minimalism, with brief infusions of Alice Coltrane-like space-y spiritual jazz. Drummer Miller, who’s a mainstay of the New York scene, and who has appeared on albums by Jeremy Udden, Mike Baggetta, and Nancy Harms (all having received mention on this site), retreated to his home state of Maine and used the seclusion and beautiful landscapes as inspiration for this serene recording. There is a peacefulness and a warmth to this music, and I listen to it often first thing in the morning… each time expecting to see snow drifting down when I look out the window. Miller creates a wonderful ambiance with this music. He made the album he wanted to make, and certainly wasn’t taking my definition of Jazz into account when creating it. I just couldn’t justify including it in my Best Jazz of 2013 list, even though it is one of the thirty best albums I heard in 2013.
Released on Loyal Label.
A Bird is the Worm review HERE.
*****
Christian Wallumrod Ensemble – Outstairs
Wallumrod was only vaguely in the jazz realm earlier in his career, mostly getting slotted in the Nordic Jazz category. But with each successive album, he’s become increasingly daring in his inventiveness and expressionism… bringing together Nordic jazz, folk musics, chamber music, modern classical, and anything else that floats his boat. I find his music fascinating, and his newest Outstairs continues that trend. Some moments of stunning beauty. But this ain’t a jazz album, and it just didn’t seem right to include it in my Best Of 2013 list. That aside, it deserves a mention as one of the best things to come out during the year.
Released on ECM Records.
A Bird is the Worm review HERE.
*****
Chris Schlarb – Psychic Temple II
Part two of Schlarb’s Psychic Temple project was no less profound than the first, but it was interesting to hear the latter’s focus on proper song structures… a different facet of the music, though entirely cohesive. Schlarb had some background in the genre via his free jazz improvisation duo I Heart Lung, and he’s brings in a solid assortment of jazz artists to perform on his projects (Kris Tiner, Steuart Liebig, Dave Easley all come to mind immediately), but his music really transcends genre. Ironically, in a perfect world, this would be pop music… catchy melodies couched with amicable percussion, music that could be listened to in a variety of settings and moods, possessing different facets that would appeal to a variety of people. Of course, it’s not a perfect world, and pop music, instead, sounds like, well, don’t get me started. Until the world wises up and becomes like I think it should be, music like Schlarb’s is more underground than music for the masses. But all of that static is irrelevant in the face of the music itself, which is pretty damn amazing. Listen to this one, and then go listen to the first Psychic Temple installment. You can’t go wrong here, and 2013 was better because of it.
Released on Asthmatic Kitty.
A Bird is the Worm article (and interview) HERE.
*****
Welcome to the Best of 2013.
This music has a boundless energy, and it grabs me each time I hit the play button. Teubal brings both modern jazz and Argentinean music to the table, but infuses it with other influences to where it’s not so easy to draw a clear lineage. Apparently this was Teubal’s intention, and it clearly worked. A stunning album of immaculate beauty. It’s about as near perfect as an album could be, and I still find it hard to believe it didn’t end up as my Album of the Year. On saxophones, Sam Sadigursky puts out some of the best moments on a jazz album in 2013. Cellist Erik Friedlander had a quietly massive 2013, putting out a beautiful album under his own name, and also performing on some of 2013′s top recordings in a supporting role. On the fourth and fifth tracks, “El Acrobata” and “Un Dragon Dormido,” which could be considered the same composition, Friedlander interacts with other ensemble members to create some heavenly sonic expressions, of a supreme elegance and stately beauty. Jazz is more diverse than ever, and the internet age has opened up new avenues for jazz artists to record and produce their own music, thus making it tougher for the general public to decipher what they should be listening to… but when someone asks you what will be considered the classic albums of this modern jazz age in fifty years time, you should point to this recording as one of them. As near to perfection as you can get.
Clarinettist Ghosh has one of the more original sounds on the modern jazz scene. His style of Indo-Jazz is both eccentric and amicable, diverse and complex, yet so easy to connect with. I was taken with his previous recordings quite a bit, but on his newest recording, he brings an even fuller sound to the table, one more rounded out and self-assured. Melodies that strike to the heart of the matter and rhythmic architectures that offer up plenty of ornamentation and structural fireworks. Or said differently, this album sounds like it has a lot going on, and it does, and yet by crafting rich, beautiful melodies, Ghosh makes this gregarious album so easy, and enjoyable, to spend time with. His mix of modern jazz approaches with that of regional musics from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka spin a breathless weave of influences, all which abide comfortably under the same roof of one album, and which import a sense of excitement as the sound shifts from scene to scene. Just an outstanding album.
Goldberg opened 2013 with two strong recordings, released simultaneously at the outset of the year. Unfold Ordinary Mind was the stronger of the two (though Subatomic Particle Homesick Blues was certainly no slouch), courtesy of how Goldberg’s ensemble managed to create challenging music cloaked in catchy melodies and intermittent grooves. It’s not unlike an avant-garde rendition of a Motown recording session. Goldberg has always been an innovative sort, delving into projects that probably shouldn’t work, but producing engaging, often very listenable music despite the odds. He does that here, too, and the result is no less impressive or fascinating with many many subsequent listens. An outstanding achievement in a career marked by them, and a fun album, to boot.
This is an album of beautiful melodies. The melodies aren’t stated… they’re slowly exhaled. Tenor sax man Bill McHenry is the perfect musician for this type of album, with songs of a languorous demeanor, even when they’re moving at a brisk pace. His big sound is delivered with a peaceful ease, and matches well with Moreaux’s ensemble, which utilizes a dynamic percussive approach that serves more as an undercurrent of crackling electricity, and allows the melodies to serve up the heavy voltage. Bassist Moreaux has been collaborating with jazz-folk saxophonist Jeremy Udden, and this album clearly illustrates that those two are peas of the same pod… they both have that eminently peaceful sound, of a warmth that provides sufficient heat to prevent the music from ever getting terribly sleepy. This is a strong album that, unfortunately, seems to have flown a bit under the radar. Hopefully this will kick-start some interest. It should, because this is a gorgeous recording.
– MP3
Jan 9 2014
Olivier Bogé – “The World Begins Today”
Strong melodies dance on the surface of chattering rhythms, insinuating a motion not unlike dance, all the while just motoring along. The melodies, however, are able to drift serenely across their surface, providing a dreamy presence to speedy music.
The result is some terrifically gorgeous music.
Your album personnel: Olivier Bogé (alto sax), Tigran Hamasyan (piano), Sam Minaie (bass), and Jeff Ballard (drums).
Probably worth noting at this point that Boge’s alto sax contributed that same potent mix on Nicolas Moreaux‘s Fall Somewhere, an album with a similar disposition, and which recently was named the #5 album of the year on the Bird is the Worm Best of 2013 list.
Jeff Ballard and Tiger Hamasyan kick the album’s kinetic energy into motion right from the start. On album-opener “Poem,” they dart about one another like fireflies on a lazy Summer evening.
Bogé displays his ability to draw out a melody’s beauty on “Rising Lights,” developing it, reshaping it, revealing something new about that melody with each pass while never letting it become unrecognizable from that which it began.
“Be Kind” features some nice teamwork in showing how shifting tempos can re-frame the way in which the melody is viewed. Same with “Dance of the Flying Balloons,” which twists like smoke in a still room. Tiny gusts of tempo shape the melody, bend it, send it floating away before coaxing it back in the direction from whence it came.
“Little Marie T.” features Hamasyan cutting a melodic path on piano, constantly moving forward, developing vertically, and though he proceeds with a determined gait, his contribution is still a little bit breathless in its beauty.
“Relieved” features Ballard’s tiny explosions on drums, and even Bogé’s strong expressiveness on sax isn’t enough to eclipse Ballard’s intensity.
“Inner Chant” brings some spiritual jazz to the table. A haunting melody soulfully cries out, and a cauldron of activity bubbles up from the rhythm section. Ballard’s drums are the more noticeable, but Minaie’s bass possesses the essential resonance.
The title-track “The World Begins Today” sees the quartet building intensity until the sound is Big, and that sense of an ambling peacefulness is a distant memory. It’s one of the rare instances where that occurs, and it accentuates the peculiar serenity that abides on this lovely album.
Released on Naive Records.
Jazz from the La Garenne Colombes, France scene.
Available at: eMusic | Directly from Naive Records
And here’s a LINK to my review of Boge’s debut album Imaginary Traveler. Worth noting that Nicolas Moreaux (and Pierre Perchaud, another related musician) contribute to the recording.
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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2013 Releases • 0