Jazz Recommendations

Apr 30 2018

The Round-up: Those days when the city belongs to you

 

Here is some very good new music.

 

Kasper Staub Trio – Strøg (Jaeger Community)

This is music that constantly flirts with a tranquil atmosphere but just won’t let it settle in.  The trio of pianist Kasper Staub, drummer Anders Vestergaard and bassist Jens Mikkel create pools and eddies of activity, rhythms that bubble up and set the melodies to action.  There are plenty of peaceful moments, but far more that twitch with energy that begs to be released.  Some albums are made for first thing in the morning.  They sync in with a mind, body and soul that is slow to wake and needs a gentle guide to get there.  Strøg is the first album you listen to once that process is done.  Music from Aarhus, Denmark.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Amazon

 

Ignacio Díaz Lahsen & Colectivo Los Musicantes – La Espera y el Despertar (Discos Pendiente)

There’s an appealing ethereal presence to this large ensemble session from Ignacio Díaz Lahsen & Colectivo Los Musicantes.  It’s like a thick fog, moving slowly and enveloping everything within its harmonic embrace.  There’s a sense that this entire project began with Lahsen composing a work for a small chamber ensemble project, but it blossomed into something that required a conductor when the vision grew more expansive and the desire to explore possibilities became too much to ignore.  One such possibility is the track “En Asencia” and how it just comes right out with a big sound and lets it attain all the momentum it wants… all before settling into the thoughtful “El loco que tiraba piedras a la luna” and a motion that exhibits an unrelenting patience.  Music from Santiago, Chile.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Trichotomy – Live with String Quartet (Self-Produced)

It’s nice to see the Trichotomy trio of pianist Sean Foran, drummer John Parker and bassist Sam Vincent revisit an element of strings with their quirky modern jazz sound.  Their collaboration with the chamber quintet Topology was an intriguing collision of music approaches, and led to some stunning moments.  Their newest foray was recorded live at the Declassified Music Festival, the trio incorporates a string quartet, and the electricity is way more ramped up this time around.  Where before it was a contemplative atmosphere, now it’s a brisk flow of melodic ideas.  Also, the album is retailing at Name Your Price, so if you’re new to the music of Sean Foran, it’s a nice opportunity to dive in before you go exploring his other works.  Speaking of which, I interviewed Foran for The Bandcamp Daily, and that’ll also serve as a solid primer for what else there is out there.  Music from Brisbane, Australia.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Anders Svanoe – State of the Baritone Volume 2 (Self-Produced)

Plenty enjoyable session from bari saxophonist Anders Svanoe, bassist John Christensen and drummer Rodrigo Villanueva Conroy.  Nothing fancy here, just straight-ahead goodness, sometimes from an old-school perspective and sometimes with a modern touch.  The sound of baritone sax is a fluid form of expression for Svanoe, and so the music stays light on its feet and keeps to a brisk pace, and the instrument’s bulky presence never gets in the way of the music’s flow… even when Svanoe decides to exploit its size advantage.  When Christensen counters the baritone’s deep resonance with some bass arco, it’s an arresting moment.  Music from Madison, Wisconsin.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

Honeybrandy – Deaf Sharp (Harding Street Assembly Lab)

A rather haunting sound to this project from the Honeybrandy duo of Nathan McGlothlin and Joey Wright, with a detached ominous tone as if the recording studio had a window view of the cold abyss of outer space.  On paper, their concoction of electronic effects and slide guitar would seem to be an imperfect match, but once it’s actually put into play, it makes a whole lot of sense.  The formlessness of the electronics and how they occasionally coalesce into moments of stunning imagery presents a remarkably similar interface to the slippery melodicism of slide guitar and how its fluid motion seems endless until it glides back upon its starting point and closes the circle of a melodic vision.  In guest roles, Kris Tyner and Philip Greenlief add some nice textures with wind instruments, and Chris Schlarb, naturally, via electric guitar.  Music from Lynchburg, Virginia.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

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Apr 18 2018

I can’t stop listening to this EP from Libertad’s Ernesto

 

Somsoc sounds like it’s perpetually phasing between expressions.  There’s some surf guitar action and some fierce metal stomping, a cheerful bounce of indie-rock that segues from an equally cheerful folk, a hazy psychedelic space-jazz and a twitchy soul-jazz that shakes and shivers and sighs, and it all kind of flows in a haphazard fashion that lends it plenty of charm.

Ernesto is comprised of three string instruments and drums, and while the melodic implications ultimately manifest in a breathless display of melodicism, it’s the groove that reflects the album’s strength as well as the primary source of Somsoc’s fun.

Anyways, I just wanted to give this album a quick shout-out.  I’m certain it flew under the radar.  Hopefully this helps a bit.  Three bucks gets you three tracks and thirteen minutes of cool music.

Your album personnel:  Matías Giménez (guitar), Ismael Barbé (drums), José Romero Ottonello (bass, cello) and Mario Roldós (violin).

The album is Self-Produced.

Music from Libertad, Uruguay.

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

Available at:  Bandcamp

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Apr 16 2018

The Round-up: Because there is always hope

 

Here is some very good new music.

 

Owen Broder – Heritage (ArtistShare)

This album is a beam of sunlight.  From the opening notes, it greets you with warm tones, chipper tempos and melodies like a wide smile.  Owen Broder bounces around between various early-American music forms, differentiating a bit here and there, but overall keeping things fluid by focusing on the commonalities that suggest at how everything is connected.  And it’s an interesting point of comparison to Broder’s Cowboys & Frenchmen ensemble, which hits upon works and expressions more akin to the modern scene.  It’s a nice cast joining Broder and his woodwinds: violinist Sara Caswell, pianist Frank Kimbrough, drummer Matt Wilson, trombonist Nick Finzer, vibraphonist James Shipp, trumpeter Scott Wendholt, and bassist Jay Anderson.  Wendy Gilles, Kate McGarry and Vuyo Sotashe add some vocals in a guest role.  Music from NYC.

Artist site | Buy:  Amazon

 

Janczarski & McCraven Quintet – Liberator (For-Tune)

If you’re out browsing the new release section and looking for something that hits your soul with a classic Hard Bop warmth and easy groove, then this session from the Janczarski & McCraven Quintet will definitely float your boat.  There’s some moments that shift into a modern form of expression, but, hey, the musicians live in today not 1965, so that’s gonna happen from time to time.  But when the Sunday night blues descend upon you, and you’re needing something to cheer things back up, hit the play button on Liberator.  Music from Warsaw, Poland.

 

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Meyer/Slavin/Meyer/Black – Other Animal (Traumton)

There’s an appealing melodic flow to Other Animal that is as much indebted to ambient indie-rock music as it is the type of jazz that makes its home in European alpine mountain ranges.  The driving force of this quartet’s melodic focus is through the delicate forces of pressure from an active rhythmic attack… one that’s defined by its flurries and crosscurrents of percussion, but one whose touch is more that of a cool breeze on a summer day than a thunderstorm downpour.  The quartet is comprised of guitarist Peter Meyer, alto saxophonist Wanja Slavin, bassist Bernhard Meyer and drummer Jim Black.  They settle into a particular sound and spend the entire album exploring its nuances.  Music from Berlin, Germany.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Gaute Storsve Trio – Attention: This Is Not A Toy, For Adult Collectors Only (Ellingsongs)

This personable album is the amalgamation of post-bop, modern European jazz and Cuban music.  The result is a delightful melody bouncing over the surface of a cheerful groove.  There’s an insistent sense that the trio of guitarist Gaute Storsve, bassist Petter Barg and drummer Henning Carlsen want to incite the listener into dance… or at least get the foot tapping along with the tempo and etch the melody into a memory.  It works, especially when the trio brings in a brass section to expand the textural options.  Music from Oslo, Norway.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Trillmann – FŒN (Tangible Music)

There’s a quirky personality to this recording from the quartet Trillmann.  Saxophonist Fabian Willmann, trombonist Janning Trumann, bassist Florian Herzog and drummer Eva Klesse develop tunes with a punchy attitude and a sly sense of humor.  Melodies hint at something addictive, but then get warped and misshapen, and become more of a cerebral exercise than the emotional reaction they initially promised.  There’s an appealing quality to that sleight-of-hand.  Music from NYC.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

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Apr 13 2018

“Portalis” is a random anthem generator

 

When this album gets catchy, there’s really no resisting it.  Portalis will reel you in, hook line and sinker.  But the moment of capture is a temporary state of being.  It’s not long before Zack Teran and his quartet let go and start the process all over again.

What really gets me about this album is how its thoughts seem very scattered and that it could follow any direction at any time, and yet right when it appears another random change is in the works, an anthemic passage bursts from behind the clouds like a bold ray of sunlight, making everything it touches warm and happy and alive.  It rarely manifests the same way twice.  That randomness is half the reason for all the fun.

It’s in how “Along the Mountains in the Sky” skitters about dispensing little fragments of melody and then suddenly swells up for bold, thick statements of purpose.  And there’s how sometimes Teran just leads right out with it.  “Chasm” shows its true face right from the beginning and nothing about the rest of the tune changes that first impression, even as it goes about deviating from it in any number of ways.  No different on “Meditation Space,” but where the previous track had a punchy, foot-tapping attitude, this time around the melody is treated as if it were used to paint a sky full of clouds lit up in sunset colors.  Rhythmically, each of the album’s tracks fall into one of two categories: punchy attitude or a contented sigh.  The result is that they feed off each other’s energy, where the contrast between the two tones makes each resonate that much stronger by way of comparison.  And when viewed in the context of melodies in a transitory state, the constancy of the tempo causes the changes to stand out with distinction.

Your album personnel:  Zack Teran (electric & acoustic bass, electronics, vocals), Chris Gillette (tenor saxophone), Brandon Sherman (trumpet) and Miguel Jimenez-Cruz (drums).

Released on Orenda Records.

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

Music from Reno, Nevada.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

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Apr 13 2018

The rundown of ECM Records ain’t over yet

 

We really need to have a talk about ECM Records.

 

Jakob Bro – Returnings

One of the qualities that made Jakob Bro‘s Balladeering trilogy so arresting was his willingness to be the wing man for the melodic desires of collaborators like Bill Frisell, Lee Konitz and Craig Taborn.  The guitarist can see an epic story of possibilities from the simple thesis statement of a melodic image, and that multi-perspective approach is what allowed him to simultaneously enhance and contrast his counterparts as they steered the ship (in their way).  It’s a big reason that Bro’s latest is so successful.  Palle Mikkelborg‘s trumpet beams through like moonlight, and Bro happily makes it sparkle in all the right places.  Bassist Thomas Morgan was there for those Balladeering triology recordings, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise that he syncs up with Bro seamlessly.  Morgan was also there for Bro’s ECM Records release Gefion, as was drummer Jon Christensen…  a modern master at setting down a rhythmic atmosphere where serenity thrives and volatility is allowed to flourish from time to time.  And it does, thankfully.  Title-track “Returnings” dishes out some heat and some dissonance, and some necessary context for all the beauty that came before.  Bro is one of my favorite guitarists on the scene.  Each new album is something more to treasure.

Learn more at ECM Records.  Available at Amazon.

 

Kristjan Randalu – Absence

Oh my god, this is gorgeous.  And it’s on fire.  The beauty is multi-faceted and looks to scatter in all directions.  It’s the blossoming plume of fireworks in the sky as reflected on the rippled surface of the ocean.  Pianist Kristjan Randalu and guitarist Ben Monder just keep coaxing new and exciting facets out of each melody, while drummer Markku Ounaskari keeps a steady current of electricity spurring everything forward, no matter how many directions it breaks in.  The lulls and surges in pacing just make things that much more dramatic.  Randalu and Monder put out the duo album Equilibrium a handful of years ago, and you can hear the seeds of Absence in it, but this is a diamond with an entirely different shine.  Their sympatico relationship isn’t new to Absence, but its rewards are so much greater.  I’m pretty well addicted to this recording.

Learn more at ECM Records.  Available at Amazon.

 

Arild Andersen – In-house Science

I mean no offense to tenor saxophonist Tommy Smith or drummer Paolo Vinaccia, but I’d have been just fine had Arild Andersen put out a solo album.  I can’t say that about many bassists, even those I adore the most, but there is something about the deep resonance of Andersen’s bass tones that just pulls me right in and leaves me captivated as he prowls down a melody.  It was his 1997 release Hyperborean that first riveted my attention in place.  Ironically, it was a large ensemble affair, but something how Andersen’s bass would suddenly emerge from the thick harmonic fog of a string section made me a fan for life before my first listen of one of his albums was complete.  Now, with that out of the way, his trio sessions with Smith and Vinaccia have floated my boat previously.. specifically their 2008 release Live at Belleville.  Their newest effort, In-house Science, is also a live one, this time around in Bad Ischl, Austria.  It’s no less wonderful.  My favorite moments in this session are the same from the Belleville performance… when Andersen and Smith swiftly trade melodic flurries along the back of Vinaccia’s galloping tempos.  It’s exciting as hell, and enchanting like mad in the way the melodies patiently develop at high speeds.

Learn more at ECM Records.  Available at Amazon.

 

Jarrett/Peacock/DeJohnette – After the Fall

This is a new release, but it’s not new music.  After the Fall was recorded back in 1998 at a live performance in Newark, New Jersey.  Pianist Keith Jarrett, bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette are three of the greatest jazz musicians ever.  This is a pleasant album.  There’s nothing particular notable or monumental about its release.  It wasn’t some legendary performance believed to go unrecorded and it wasn’t a one-time collaboration of three jazz giants.  It’s a pleasant live session and it’s nice that ECM decided to get it out there.  My introduction(s) to Jarrett’s music came in the form of more unconventional sounds, so sometimes I find it a bit underwhelming to hear him in a straight-ahead jazz session.  But then his immaculate lyricism shines through, and I’m reminded just how special the guy is.

Learn more at ECM Records.  Available at Amazon.

 

Nicolas Masson – Travelers

There are times that Nicolas Masson syncs up with the trio of pianist Colin Vallon, bassist Patrice Moret and drummer Lionel Friedli, and it’s always when the saxophonist settles into the prevailing serenity instilled by Vallon over the session.  But when Masson wants to go flying with a great flutter of wings, a fracture appears straight down the center of the piece, and it feels like two different visions welded together into a single album.  That doesn’t cause any great ruination, but it does leave something of a dissatisfying aftertaste.  On piano, Vallon has repeatedly shown a talent for conveying the immensity of a storm with nothing more than a whisper.  It’s an atmosphere that has to be respected, and when there’s a deviation, everything seems out of sorts.  Masson’s desire to leap through the air or paint a thick melody upon the surface of the song just doesn’t snap neatly into place.  And it goes a long way to illustrating why his trio with guitarist Roberto Pianca and drummer-pianist Emanuele Maniscalco worked so well.  The duo had a way of drawing the map of the song while adapting freely to veer off trail in a way the complemented Masson’s lyricism.  There’s some powerful moments on Travelers, but they come in small doses.

Learn more at ECM Records.  Available at Amazon.

 

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