Jun 4 2019
Now up: May’s Best Jazz on Bandcamp recommendations
And here we go. Brace yourselves, music listeners, because my latest Best Jazz on Bandcamp recommendations just posted on The Bandcamp Daily. The newest monthly installment covers albums for May 2019. There’s eleven recommendations in total, plus some bonus recommendations, to boot. There’s been no let-up on the deluge of new music in 2019, so if you were thinking about maybe settling into a prior month’s purchases, forget about it… you’ve got more excellent new music to discover. On that note, let’s begin.
Follow this LINK to read those recommendations and listen to music from each album.
And check out past recommendations by running through the archives.
Have fun going through the list!
Cheers.
There is a methodical procession of strange and beautiful sounds on the debut from Jo David Meyer Lysne. Individually, they are pretty damn compelling. But it’s over the course of time, as their lingering sonic effect accumulates in both the space of the room and the embrace of the listener’s memory, that they take on a panoramic quality that gives them more depth and expanse than originally unveiled. It’s the mirror effect of 
This is the kind of soundscaping that will erase all of the existing stress from your life, but substitute a little nervous tension of its own just as a reminder of how impermanent and precious the eye of the storm truly is. The trumpet of Hilde Marie Holsen soars and dips and blasts off with a fluidity that eclipses its suddenness, while the electronic backdrop keeps inching its way forward, as if subsuming everything in sight is the inescapable outcome. There are moments so delicate, a melodic inspiration threatens to dissipate into a haze, and there are moments on this recording of a striking imagery that never come close to fading away. Music from Oslo, Norway.
Skadedyr is an orchestral performance given while running through a carnival funhouse. The distortions and collisions of sound are thrilling to no end, and the unexpected moments of sublime beauty and dreamlike imagery bring an immense wonderment to all of the excitement. The music possesses an abiding sense of humor, but this is no joke… this ensemble takes their experimentation seriously, and it’s why the onslaught of transitions and turmoil remain gripping throughout, radiating a charisma that elicits admiration as effortlessly as it does a smile. Their previous release, Culturen, 
Folk music should feel like it’s got roots. It should exude a presence that radiates history, as if the notes that comprise it have been absorbed into the bones of musicians from long ago and, over time, into those of listeners who have nurtured its lineage by humming its melody under the breath over the centuries. A folk music tune should be caked with the dust of time.
And be sure to check out Apneseth’s 2016 recording, 
I’ll admit it right now: Initially, I didn’t spend enough time with this recording. But these last months, I’ve been revisiting a bunch of Hubro Music releases from 2017 & 2018, and this April 2018 release from Frode Haltli is floating my boat even more than it did when first I gave it a listen one year ago. The accordionist fashions a most intriguing fusion of Nordic folk, modern jazz and chamber music, and the final image ranges anywhere between jaw dropping beauty and object of fascination. There’s a whimsy to this music that builds humor with a serious intent… a combination that has driven the avant-garde expressionism of musicians like Frank Zappa, Kamikaze Ground Crew and the Flaming Lips. Avant Folk received some year-end Best Of list consideration at the time, but as I find myself hopelessly addicted to this recording on my second go-around, I realize, had I had more time, Avant Folk would certainly have been given a slot on this site’s Best of 2018 list. It’s that good. Music from Svartskog, Norway.
The tag doom jazz gets tossed about when describing Splashgirl, and it’s not without cause. The trio’s cinematic atmospherics exhibit a dramatic flair that borders on ominous, and its tendency toward ambient drones more often than not ramps up the intensity to higher and higher levels. Their latest release Sixth Sense embraces these tendencies with even greater zeal, and the result is an immersive experience that almost forbids the act of daydreaming… even as the music displays those qualities that make conditions ripe for drifting away into deep, fanciful thoughts.
There’s no end to the fascinating patterns that emerge from a Stein Urheim project. The guitarist unleashes a kaleidoscopic array of sounds and textures and imagery. Perhaps most impressive is how distinct one project is from the next, so that even though the approach and motives may be the same, the visceral experience of the music is as different one from the next as the sound manifesting from its beating heart. On Utopian Tales, there’s a space age electronic pulse and haze that drives the affair, light years distant from the rustic folk and psychedelic ambient of previous recordings. But differences aside, it is no less riveting or lovely than its counterparts. Music from Bergen, Norway.
Jun 18 2019
The Round-up: It wasn’t real, not even in my imagination
Here is some very good new music.
Atomic – Pet Variations (Odin Records)
While the tag Nordic Jazz is most commonly associated with a jazz expressionism where tranquility is the key to everything, it certainly isn’t a full encapsulation of the full breadth of sound from that part of the world. For quite a many years now, the trio Atomic has been a counterbalance of chaos and liveliness. Their newest doesn’t stray far from that approach. Pet Variations is a covers album, and it scoops up in its embrace a scattered set of influences, from Paul Bley to Brian Wilson, from Alexander von Schlippenbach to Jan Garbarek… and all of it in possession of the edgy melodicism and volatility Atomic wields with so little difficulty. Even a rendition of Olivier Messiaen work simmers with an unmistakable tension. Music from Oslo, Norway.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp – Amazon
Jay Thomas & Mike Van Bebber Quintet – The Promise (CUG Records)
Real nice hard bop session. Plenty of energy, the kind of bop locomotion that generates an embracing warmth while simultaneously lighting a fire under everything. It offers up some covers of standards and tunes by George Coleman and Lennie Tristano, but the real gems of this recording are the original compositions by pianist Yuki Hirate. Hirate builds plenty of beauty into the framework of the composition, but also leaves space for the quintet to develop things according to their own perspective. A fun recording, and in the context of a modern jazz scene where the sound is more diverse and divergent than at any other time in its history, it’s nice to encounter a straight-ahead session that is both familiar and exciting. Music from Seattle, Washington.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp
Unbound Worlds – Chengdu Dream (Self-Produced)
I can’t say enough about this delightful recording from the ensemble Unbound Worlds. This intriguing crosshatch of eastern and western musics originates from a 2018 performance at the He Duoling museum in Chengdu, China, where musicians from San Francisco and Chengdu collaborate on jazz, rock and folk songs native to China, jazz works by Ornette Coleman and John Abercrombie, and original works tethered to those influences in some shape and form. The recording features Baima Wang on erhu, Lin Shi on vocals and keyboards, Shuxen Meng on pipa, Marc Schmitz on guitar and vocals, and Dave Mihaly on drums. For many of you, this music will be unconventional listening for what you’re typically exposed to… and, yet, the melodies are so inviting and the rhythmic dialog so riveting, Chengdu Dream is an open door held open wide for the listener to walk on through and enjoy. Music from San Francisco, California and Chengdu, China.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp
Hafdís Bjarnadóttir & Passepartout Duo – A Northern Year (Self-Produced)
The music matches the inspiration on the latest from composer Hafdís Bjarnadóttir. The motion of A Northern Year is like the sun slowly arcing across the sky, methodical in its progress, awesome in its presence, while the album’s imagery and tone mirrors the changing seasons from solstice to solstice. Performed by the Passepartout Duo of drummer-percussionist Christopher Salvito and pianist-keyboardist Nicoletta Favari, this music can come off as serene or heavy, depending on the season of the composition and the scene out your own window. Just a two-part suite EP, but plenty engrossing for its brief duration. Music from Reykjavik, Iceland.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp
Cool album art by Anastasia Savinova. I really adore her architecture-collage series Genius Loci.
Ultraïa Octet – Ultraïa Octet (Self-Produced)
I normally don’t include older albums in this column, but not long ago the 2008 self-titled debut from the Ultraïa Octet was uploaded to Bandcamp, and I’ve been pretty well addicted to it ever since. Heavy on the wind instruments, this ensemble generates plenty of warmth on the harmonic side of things, and with accordion, euphonium, cello and tuba in the mix, the octet seamlessly transitions between influences of chamber and folk at will. A seriously beautiful and absorbing album. Music from Amiens, France.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp
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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations - 2019 • 0 • Tags: Amiens (France), Atomic, Chengdu (China), CUG Records, Hafdís Bjarnadóttir, Jay Thomas, Mike Van Bebber, Odin Records, Oslo, Passepartout Duo, Reykjavik (Iceland), San Francisco, Seattle, Self-Produced, Ultraïa Octet, Yuki Hirate