Jazz Recommendations

Let’s talk about Clean Feed Records

Orquesta del Tiempo Perdido – Stille

This bizarre yet immaculately orchestrated session from Jeroen Kimman’s Orquesta del Tiempo Perdido is one of the most intriguing things I’ve heard all year.  In that way a Rube Goldberg contraption requires a clockwork precision to effect its insane series of events across an obstacle course of randomized components, so, too, is this inconceivable assortment of instrumentation and influences.  Post-bop, modern classical, an array of folk musics, electronic music, avant-garde, children’s lullabies are just a few of the expressions in play, as are instruments that range from lap steel to bass clarinet to accordion to concertina to trombone to bass harmonica (and so many more).  This is what is sounds like when creativity is allowed to roam wild and free.

Released in conjunction with the Shhpuma label.

Read more about the album on the Clean Feed Records site.

Music from Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

Mia Dyberg Trio – Ticket!

Stare long enough at a raging fire, and the tiny detailing of the flames begins to emerge… the little curls and the flickering shades of yellow and orange and black and pop of sparks disappearing into heatwave haziness.  That’s how it is with the saxophone of Mia Dyberg.  And while there’s plenty of appeal to the smoky presence of a patiently expressed melody, it’s when she unleashes her sax with all its got that the music attains an effect bordering on hypnotic.  Bassist Asger Thomsen and drummer Dag Magnus Narvesen join in the enchantment.

Read more about the album on the Clean Feed Records site.

Music from Berlin, Germany.

Available at:  Amazon

Zack Clarke – Mesophase

This album sounds like it is constantly undergoing a disassembly, except that sometimes all of those parts falling off to the side accidentally come together and form a brand new construction.  This never-ending cycle of deconstruction-unity is pretty damn fascinating.  Zack Clarke gives equal weight to his piano and electronic effects, and the inclusion of Chris Irvine‘s cello and Leonid Galaganov‘s percussion and shakuhachi flute add additional layers of strangeness.  Special mention of Nick Dunston on double bass and Charlotte Greve on wind instruments… their complementary textures of shadow and light provide a sense of structure to all of the moving parts.

Read more about the album on the Clean Feed Records site.

Music from NYC.

Available at:  Amazon

C.B.G. – Lili & Marleen

There’s something not quite normal about the C.B.G. trio of clarinetist Joachim Badenhorst, electric guitarist Guillermo Celano and drummer Marcos Baggiani.  Their catchy tempos and deep melodic reveries present an approachable demeanor, but it isn’t long before wild divergences and curious eruptions of volatility take over, leaving a paradoxical amalgamation of just what is what.  The resulting confusion is the source of this album’s charm.  The perpetual challenge of reconciling the embraceable passages with those more abrupt and acerbic is a limitless source of fun and intrigue.

Read more about the album on the Clean Feed Records site.

Music from Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Available at:  Amazon

Carlos Bica & Azul – Azul in Ljubljana

I’ve never hidden my adoration for the music of Carlos Bica, especially his Azul trio with drummer Jim Black and guitarist Frank Möbus.  What I find particularly compelling about this live performance recording is how it radiates much of the same mysterious presence as his finely crafted studio sessions.  And as many times before, the trio attains that seriously addictive balance between tunefulness and volatility that draws me in each and every time.

Read more about the album on the Clean Feed Records site.

Music from Berlin, Germany & Lisboa, Portugal.

Available at:  Amazon