Jan 11 2019
Best of 2018 #28: SLUGish Ensemble – “An Eight Out Of Nine”
Steven Lugerner really needs to be not so under-the-radar anymore. His audacious double-album debut in 2011 received mention on this site’s inaugural Best Of list, and since then, the multi-reedist has shown no limit to his expressionism, whether it be channeling a classic hard bop sound, creating avant-garde pieces based on religious text, exploring melodic possibilities with a dedication that rivals that of the Brian Blade Fellowship, instilling a pop tune approach to a modern jazz trio, experimenting at the crossroads of habit & improvisation, and, now, his SLUGish Ensemble and their fascinating rearrangements of modern pop tunes. The details reign supreme on this recording, because even though his ensemble unleashes a big sound that lets the melody ring clear, this sonic gem is best appreciated by the unending sparkle of its facets and how the melody reflects off each curve, bend, and sharp edge. Jazz has an interesting legacy of taking pop tunes, and by rearranging them for jazz performance, revealing aspects not even hinted at by the original compositions. Lugerner has made an excellent addition to that music legacy.
Released on Slow & Steady Records.
I wrote about the album for The Bandcamp Daily. And be sure to check back in there, because my interview of Lugerner should be posting any day now.
Music from San Francisco, CA.
No matter how you look at this album, you’ll see a statement. There’s the political context, of the idea of royalty and the fracture of racism cutting down the center of society. There’s the media context, and of who is presented to the public as role models and heroes. There’s the musical context, of the roots of folk music stretching across continents, of cross-pollination of influences, and of musicians stamping their mark on the present day scene. But in ascendance over all of those, the statement that rings most clear, is that a heavy message need not clip the wings of music that simply wants to go soaring. There is an unmissable sense of importance that radiates from every note of Sons of Kemet‘s Your Queen Is A Reptile; so are its expressions of joy.
Get the Blessing is Exhibit A that the modern jazz sound remains in a perpetual state of metamorphosis. GTB have a fresh sound all their own. It’s not post-bop or avant-garde or really belonging to any particular school… just their own formula and their own sound, inventive and innovative and, yet, a cursory appraisal returns an opinion of, yeah, this is jazz. On their 2018 release Bristopia, the quartet of bassist Jim Barr, drummer Clive Deamer, saxophonist Jake McMurchie and trumpeter Pete Judge reveal that their own personal creative evolution is also still underway, as the melodic grooves of previous recordings gain a bit more edge, and, as a result, heavy electronic effects possess an immediacy all their own, frantic almost, as if the wings of a butterfly fresh out of the cocoon. This is one of the most original groups on the scene, and every note they play proves that assertion.
When I included this recording in my
Jan 11 2019
Best of 2018 #27: Marc Cuevas – “Carta Blanca”
Released on Underpool Music.
I wrote about the album for The Bandcamp Daily.
Music from Barcelona, Spain.
Available at: Bandcamp | Amazon
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By davesumner • Recap: Best of 2018 • 0 • Tags: Barcelona, Carlos Falanga, Jazz - Best of 2018, Marc Cuevas, Toni Saigi, Underpool Music