Jazz Recommendations

Jul 11 2018

Here’s two from Kjetil Mulelid that need to be on your radar

 

So, lately, I’ve been addicted to the music of Kjetil André Mulelid.  Previously, I’ve written about the project Wako & Oslo Strings (Modes for All Eternity) collaboration.  Here are two other albums the pianist has lent his magic to.

 

Kjetil Mulelid Trio – Not Nearly Enough To Buy A House

This is a piano trio recording to get lost in.  The melodies are open doors that draw you in, and once inside, you discover that it’s more wide open than anything you could imagine.  The trio of pianist Kjetil André Mulelid, double bassist Bjørn Marius Hegge and drummer Andreas Winther explore every facet of those crisp melodic statements, and the sensation is one of roaming far and wide, and experiencing the passing of time only when the trio suddenly returns to the opening melody.  Was the piece three minutes long?  Fifteen minutes?  More?  The track specifics will never sync up to the lingering impression.

The Kjetil Mulelid Trio works with mediums that are equally divided in influence between the Nordic Jazz of a Ketil Bjørnstad as it is the NYC approach of a Brad Mehldau.  There’s a harmonic atmosphere generated that brings cohesion to the melodies and context to the rhythms.  And it’s why music keeping to a peaceful demeanor resonates with a strength to shift the tides.  Even those rare times when the trio kicks up a little dust with a brisk tempo, as they do on “Leaving Home,” that sense of peacefulness retains its impact.

Just a gorgeous album that I’ve been quite addicted to for a little while now.  Highly recommended for those weekends when the sky is full of rain and lazing the day away as it comes down is exactly how you want to spend your time.

Your album personnel:  Kjetil André Mulelid (piano), Bjørn Marius Hegge (double bass) and Andreas Winther (drums).

Released on Rune Grammofon.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic

 

Kjemilie – Bakkekontakt

Bakkekontakt are variations on a love song.  There’s as often a bit of wistfulness as there is a pang of hope, and the weight of heavy emotions doesn’t settle in long before a lightheartedness breaks through.  With the Kjemilie trio of vocalist Emilie Storaas and violinist Håkon Aase , Mulelid approaches the music with a different melodic perspective.  Whereas on Not Nearly Enough To Buy A House, it was deep dives into the melody, but with Bakkekontakt, it’s brief glimpses of a wide array of melodic stills.  And when viewed in the context of the ephemeral nature of love, these fleeting images present them in their truest form.

A solid first impression has grown into a minor addiction, and I find myself listening to this album quite often.  You should, too.

Your album personnel:  Kjetil André Mulelid (piano), Emilie Storaas (vocals) and Håkon Aase (violin).

Released on Ora Fonogram.

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

Available at:  Amazon | eMusic

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Jul 9 2018

The Round-up: And there was no fooling myself about where exactly I stood

 

Here is some very good new music.

 

Jeremy Pelt – Noir en Rouge: Live in Paris (HighNote Records)

You can’t go wrong with this live set from Jeremy Pelt and his quintet.  Recorded at Paris’s Sunside/Sunset Jazz Club, the trumpeter brings plenty of that live performance electricity to the recorded medium.  It’s pure straight-ahead goodness, both from an old-school and new-school point of view.  Pelt’s quintet is solid, with bassist Vicente Archer, drummer Jonathan Barber, percussionist Jacquelene Acevedo and (personal favorite) pianist Victor Gould.  The thrills are immediate when Pelt ramps up the voltage, but the serious heat gets delivered when the quintet slows things down and patiently emotes on “I Will Wait For You.”  That feel is evident in every note, and that’s why each one gives the strong impression of serious and sincere meaning.  Music from Paris via NYC.

Artist site | Buy:  Amazon

 

Ksawery Wójciński & Wojciech Jachna ‎- Conversation With Space (Fundacja Słuchaj!)

The duo of Ksawery Wójciński & Wojciech Jachna are hypnotic like the storming sea.  Waves of dissonance comes crashing down and the spray of rain sometimes cuts across the face like glass and sometimes it cools the brow.  Turbulence shakes every note and every step forward is unsteady and perilous.  But there is a peacefulness inherent in that furious environment, when the senses grasp the entirety of the ocean rather than focusing on the individual waves and lightning and raindrops… and how everything is connected and moves with the patience of a planet rotating through time.  The bassist and trumpeter embody this sensation on their compelling Conversation With Space.  And sometimes, when they enter the eye of the storm, there’s a melodic tranquility that is damn near addictive and will make you never want to leave.  Excellent stuff here.  Music from Warsaw, Poland.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

Paul Bedal – Mirrors (Bace Records)

It’s the little things that make the difference on the new recording from Paul Bedal.  It’s the way in which trumpeter Jean Caze and alto saxophonist Caroline Davis suddenly come together from their separate flight patterns.  It’s how the twittering undercurrent of bassist Dion Kerr suddenly makes its presence felt in that way the cadence of grass resonates on a sun-kissed afternoon.  It’s where the conversational manner of drummer Matt Carroll falls into the stream of dialog struck up by Bedal’s melodic voicing on piano.  This is your standard straight-ahead modern jazz session, and all of these little things endow it with an individuality that is quite striking.  And enjoyable… plenty enjoyable, too.  Music from Chicago.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Fabrice Sotton – The Time Has Come (Self-Produced)

Fabrice Sotton has got a feel on piano that makes the simplest melodies resonate like mad, and only requires the gentlest coaxing to set them into motion.  This solo set is just more evidence at how little difference there is between a pretty melody and flickering candlelight when the pianist is in a mood to conjure up some imagery.  Need some music for a peaceful Sunday morning that possesses the liveliness of leaves fluttering in the breeze just outside your window?  If yes (and who doesn’t?), then download this album.  Music from Paris.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Amazon

 

Marc Sarrazy & Laurent Rochelle – Chansons Pour L’oreille Gauche (Linoleum Records)

There’s a potent chemistry activated when clarinetist Laurent Rochelle and pianist Marc Sarrazy collaborate.  It transforms succinct melodic visions into wildly blossoming imagery, and makes elastic the sense of time in which they evolve into their final shape and form.  Their enchanting 2017 release Intranquillité is a prelude to more of the same on their latest creation.  When Rochelle switches over to bass clarinet, the inherent moodiness becomes like magic unleashed.  It’s a similar effect when Sarrazy utilizes a prepared piano, though this personality trait reveals itself in the subtle effects on melody and how fragile it can appear even at its strongest articulation.  Some additional textures are arrive via guest strings and percussion, and most especially the vocals of Anja Kowalski and echoes of the OKIDOKI Quartet project.  Music from Toulouse, France.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

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Jul 5 2018

Now up: June’s “Best Jazz on Bandcamp” recommendations

 

Now up, the latest Best Jazz on Bandcamp recommendations for The Bandcamp Daily.  The newest monthly installment covers albums for June 2018.  There’s ten primary recommendations in total, plus some side recommendations to boot.  Because, really, ten is not enough.  There’s some familiar names to regular visitors of this site (and my other outlets), and, of course, there’s some names that’ll be brand new to you just as they were to me.  Have fun!

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.

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Jul 4 2018

Recommended: Jack Radsliff – “Migration Patterns”

 

Where did this album even come from?

The first it showed up on my radar, Thanksgiving approached on the calendar, which signaled not just turkey & stuffing, but also the preparation of year-end Best Of lists.  Naturally, I was still hitting the new releases lists on various sites, but not with the same zeal as I do most rest of the year.  November is a wind-down month on quality releases, and December is typically a dead zone, bleak as a Chicago winter at 3am.  I made additions to my follow-up list, sent out some promo requests, and all the while bracing myself for the inevitable meltdown of selecting a handful of albums from the hundreds deserving mention as the best 2017 had to offer.

It wasn’t too long after I’d submitted my ballots and finalized my own site’s Best Of list that I really got to sit down with Migration Patterns by Jack Radsliff.

It happens every year.  Some excellent new album hits the shelves at year-end and gets lost in the deluge of holiday theme recordings that dominate November’s and December’s release cycle.  Every year there’s a gem, some diamond in the snow, and it gets a mention in the subsequent year’s edition.  It’s inevitable.  What isn’t expected is for it to be a debut recording.  A self-produced debut recording.

Some waves are deceptive.  They roll in slowly, envelop and wash over you, seemingly harmless until the undercurrent grabs hold and pulls you away from shore, and suddenly the sheer immensity of the sea becomes imposingly clear.  That’s a melody on Migration Patterns.  The melodies ring out with a crisp beauty, but the harmonic undercurrent is what triggers the magnitude of that beauty.  The rhythmic wash that follows simply drives that point home.  Much in that way the Brian Blade Fellowship can make a ten minute piece feel like an epic journey, Radsliff’s sextet does the same with opening track “Ruby.”  The ensemble lightens the mood with the buoyant “61 North,” shifting the influence a bit from new school to old school.  The title-track hints at ballad then works a sleight-of-hand shift into something much wilder and free.  “Breathe” is melody that’s let go and watched as it drifts off to the horizon.  It’s also a precursor to “Vero” and the return to the surging melodic intensity that marks this excellent recording.  Even when Radsliff ends the recording with the sublime blues of “From the Lectern,” the accumulated emotional impact up that point amplifies the resonance of a tune that’s fit more for moonlight than magnitude.

I’m still not sure where this album came from, but it should end up in all of your music libraries.

Your album personnel:  Jack Radsliff (guitar), Joshua Hettwer (tenor sax, clarinet), Tony Glausi (trumpet, flugelhorn), Torrey Newhart (piano), Milo Fultz (bass) and Ken Mastrogiovanni (drums).

The album is Self-Produced.

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

Music from Eugene, Oregon.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

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Jul 2 2018

The Round-up: I wondered if the world would look different for me tomorrow

 

Here is some very good new music.

 

Adrean Farrugia & Joel Frahm – Blued Dharma (Gb Records)

It’s always nice to encounter one of those sax-piano duet recordings where it sounds like both musicians got together on a peaceful Sunday afternoon and played music to accompany the sunlight filtering in through living room windows.  It’s more than just listening in on a conversation and more than a glimpse of the intimacy of two musicians focused solely on the actions of their counterpart; there’s an immediacy to the affair, a solemn atmosphere that emphasizes the ephemeral nature of creativity, and were it not for someone hitting a record button before they started playing, it would’ve been a treasure that only the two musicians alone would have been witness to.  There’s something special about capturing those moments on the recorded medium, and Blued Dharma from pianist Adrean Farrugia and saxophonist Joel Frahm certainly honors that particular happening.  The heat on this session is only ever comforting and the tranquility it generates compels the listener to remain attentive as a guarantee for experiencing every last bit it has to offer.  Music from Toronto, Ontario.

Artist site | Buy:  Amazon

 

Liebman/Nakatani/Rudolph – The Unknowable (RareNoise Records)

This music is all about the motion.  Viewed in its entirety, The Unknowable is a pond.  At times, it moves like the gentle currents coaxed along by a stiff breeze.  Other times, it darts below the surface like fish seeking food or shelter or friends.  And then there are those moments when it possesses the ethereal presence of mist hanging just above the water’s surface, making indistinguishable where water becomes air becomes light.  Percussionists Tatsuya Nakatani and Adam Rudolph and saxophonist Dave Liebman are the elemental forces that guide things to final track “Benediction (Closing),” a piece as solemn as a reflection of the setting sun upon a gently rippling pond.  Music from New York and New Mexico.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

(Thanks to reader Randy Lang for the location of the album’s Bandcamp page)

 

Mike McGinnis – Singular Awakening (Sunnyside Records)

I’m pretty cool with it if Mike McGinnis, Art Lande and Steve Swallow keep cranking out one of these albums every year.  Much like their 2017 release Recurring Dream, the clarinet-piano-bass trio makes music that fits snug with any season your headspace is located in.  This is music for kicking Autumn leaves as you crunch through them on a walk down a neighborhood street.  This is music for watching snow fall from the safety and warmth of a bedroom window.  This is music for greeting a late-July sun as it arcs its way to the zenith of its heat potential.  This is the music of Spring, where every melody is a burst of new life and new delights.  Music from NYC.

 

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Florian Favre Trio – On a Smiling Gust of Wind (Traumton)

There’s something lighthearted and free about this trio session from pianist Florian Favre, double bassist Manu Hagmann and drummer Arthur Alard, and it transcends just the sound of the music.  It’s as if they walked into the recording studio with some melodic ideas scribbled down on a postcard and decided just to see where it took them.  Pretty much across the board, it takes them far and wide.  Rarely does a melody have a brief life on the trio’s 2018 release, and that time is often spent either in a state of peacefulness, a state of joyful enthusiasm or one that’s never short on thrills.  A nice example of the modern piano trio form of expression.  Music from Berlin, Germany.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Noshir Mody – A Burgeoning Consciousness (Self-Produced)

I really don’t know what to make of my predilection for the music of Noshir Mody.  It’s really not normally my kind of thing.  If we’re looking to categorize it, we’re gonna use a term like contemporary jazz, and we’re gonna qualify that with an additional descriptor of world jazz that sometimes veers close to new age-prog fusion.  This does not describe music I typically like, but I’ll be damned if I don’t keep enjoying his recordings.  The guitarist puts together a tight, unfussy melody, and rolls it out like it had a bank of spotlights covering its movement.  There are times that he hits that odd sweet spot of soothing but lively music that marked the music of latter-day Oregon, when much of the edge has been polished from their sound and became something decent to accompany a peaceful evening hanging around the house as the sun fell over the horizon.  For me personally, Mody is a great reminder that the qualities of music that connect with us are as mysterious and unpredictable as the forces of creativity that give them birth.  I like this new one from Mody. I also still find time to spend with his 2014 release Stories From the Years of Living Passionately.  Music from NYC.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Amazon

 

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