Jazz Recommendations – 2015 Releases

I tend to shy away from the descriptors used by musicians for their own music, but the septet Slivovitz describes their sound as “progressive gypsy electro-eclectic jazz,” and that’s really about as good as anything I could have come up with myself.  Comprised of saxophone, guitar, trumpet, violin, harmonica, bass and drums, they spend as much time on All You Can Eat working a folk or rock angle as they do jazz, and that slippery genre action is one of the elements that really brings out the music’s charged personality.  No less notable, though, is that no matter how far out on the fringes the ensemble travels, they always take care to turn back and give a big wave to the melody.  Those melodies, by the way, are often as catchy as anything you’ll find on the pop music scene.

Album opener “Persian Night” immediately gets around to showing that this group is unlikely going to just stand in one spot for very long before moving on to the next, unexpected landing point.  It also goes a long way to proving that their diversity of sound is no obstacle to providing some seriously tuneful music.  The way that violin swoops in and takes the pretty melody out for a ride is one of many thrilling moments on this recording.

The exuberant bounce of “Passannante” gets balanced out with some electric guitar crunch and grind, resulting in a song that serves up both a wide smile and a sharp edge.  “Mani In Faccia” works similar territory, but focuses in tight on the groove while occasionally breaking with some lovely melodic interludes.  “Hangover” does away with the concept of interludes, and provides the sole instance of conventional strong structure… it also allows the group to show how their melodic talents extend to expressions of a greater duration than introductory statements and transitory passages.

“Barotrauma” gets up to dance, but some nice harmonic action between saxophone and harmonica infuses the motion with a dose of atmospheric fuzziness to counterbalance the crisp rhythmic moves.  On the other hand, “Yahtzee” leads out with a slow exhalation of the prettiest melody, and then manipulates the imagery when they release the melody to the soloists and watch it drift away… not unlike a child letting go their balloon and giving it up to the sky.

The album closes out, first, with “Currywurster,” a song that stomps its feet while etching a thick groove into the surface of the song.  In an interesting turn of events, the song dissipates, loudly, with dissonance, effects and an undercurrent of harmony that softens all the harsh edges just enough to bring it all together.  They close the album out with “Oblio,” a song that opens with a gentle embrace, transitions to a stomp and twirl, and then just runs off to the horizon with the melody held out before them.

A very cool album, constructed with a smart balance of beauty and intelligence.

Your album personnel: Pietro Santangelo (tenor & alto saxes), Marcello Giannini (electric & acoustic guitars), Riccardo Villari (acoustic & electric violins), Ciro Riccardi (trumpet), Derek Di Perri (harmonica), Vincenzo Lamagna (bass guitar) and Salvatore Rainone (drums).

Released on MoonJune Records.

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

Jazz from the Naples, Italy scene.

Available at: Bandcamp | eMusic | Amazon

In 2013, the quartet of drummer Emil de Waal, pianist Søren Kjærgaard, clarinetist Elith “Nulle” Nykjær and saxophonist Gustaf Ljunggren (who also performs on banjo) released a self-titled recording that was among the year’s best.  An impromptu recording of a live performance, it captured the supreme joy and sublime melodicism that can result from a group of talented musicians all coming together in unison, where the sum is greater than the individual parts and where group interplay can be just as dramatic as the solos it invites.  There is a warmth and intimacy to that recording that is positively intoxicating.

The success of that collaboration led to a sophomore release.  This one, the 2015 release Handmade in Denmark, clearly sounds more planned out, as the musicians attempted to build on what came before.  This leads to songs that stretch further out, and forms of expression that aren’t as content with keeping to the same patch of turf.  So, now you get “Christiania” diving head-first into a thick groove while rearing back and letting the woodwinds roar.  It’s part 1970s tv theme song, part new cool collective jam, and 100% catchy.  There’s also the cagey dance of “Den Dumme Prins,” with its slippery cadence and a melody that can’t sit still.  And then there’s the keyboard effects shadowboxing with the darting banjo lines on “Almerida,” a song that is as whimsical and it is tuneful.  A similar approach is taken to their rendition of “Sound of Silence,” which begins with a music box and then follows through with a laid-back, sunny delivery.

But don’t think for a second that they’ve dispelled the magic they conjured up on their initial foray.  “Min Nordiske Bror” could sub in as a children’s lullaby or just as easily snap into place with whiskey neat, a view from the window and the hope that the full moon will shine down on your one true love.  “Gräns” is plenty playful, but its gorgeous, heartbreaking melody means serious business.  And both “Dukko” and title-track “Handmade in Denmark” hit that dreamy sweet-spot between wakefulness and a night of peaceful sleep.

The quartet closes out the album with “Hans-Henrik Ley-Medley,” displaying one final time the strong magic that bound them together on their first recording… an inviting melody, a chipper attitude, and plenty of personality to spare.

I cannot possibly recommended both of their recordings more enthusiastically.  They are, both of them, a delight to hear.

Your album personnel:  Emil de Waal (drums, music box, percussion), Gustaf Ljunggren (tenor sax, banjo, guitar), Søren Kjærgaard (keyboards) and Elith “Nulle” Nykjær (clarinet).

Released on Danish Music & Entertainment.

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

Jazz from Denmark.

Available at:  eMusic | Amazon CD | Amazon MP3

And be sure to read up on their excellent first recording (LINK).

There’s some serious imagery conjured up by the Trabant Echo Orchestra on their 2015 recording, the four-part Winter Suite.  Describing the music as cinematic really doesn’t do it justice, because their blend of jazz, chamber and pop is too finely textured, further complicated by the way it’s presented with a delivery that flirts with an expansive scope.  A quintet of three strings (viola, cello and bass), piano and percussion, their interplay of tranquility and dissonance is a dance between sunlight and shadows.

Typically those two qualities work in tandem, shifting back and forth like the ebb and flow of the same ocean surface.  “Part I” is a sprawling landscape of introspective vibraphone murmurs, the spry dance steps of piano, string sections that, sometimes, are a surging undercurrent of tension and sometimes they cut through that tension with concise, gorgeous harmonies.  At times, “Part I” just drifts peaceably along until suddenly the quintet tightens its formation and charges ahead.  The emotional tone of any one particular section is unlikely to be repeated at any other point in time on this recording, and nowhere does this observation hold true more than it does in part one of the four-part suite.  In a nice turn of events, “Part II” counteracts the dramatic changes of the opening with a series of passages that layer softly atop one another.  The interplay between tranquility and tension continues its dance in “Part II,” but expresses it with gentler tones.

Other times, though, one of the album’s primary two qualities will gain dominance.  “Part III” is the peaceful whisper of comforting words, making everything okay.  Strings swirl about, weaving harmonies in mid-air and vibes are a gentle patter of raindrops on a porch roof, and the occurrences of tiny disturbances do more to aid the atmosphere of serenity than they do to disrupt it.  There are moments when it hints at something more volatile.  Those hints become reality on “Part IV,” which crashes and fumes and loosens dark skies portending massive storms and flash floods.  But true to form, the scene eventually shifts to one of focused melodicism and modulated intensity.

Just a beautiful album, possessing a sprawling vision that’s expressed with elegance and care.

Your album personnel:  Simone Keller (piano, toy piano), Martin Lorenz (drums, vibraphone, percussion), David Schnee (viola), Nicola Romanò (cello) and Tobias von Glenck (bass).

Released on Qilin Records.

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

Jazz from the Zurich, Switzerland scene.

Available at:  Bandcamp | eMusic | Amazon