Jazz Recommendations

Apr 11 2018

I’m rather liking the place Mathias Eick has settled into

 

There’s nothing substantially new offered up by the latest from Mathias Eick, and that’s really not a criticism.  The trumpeter’s melody-driven form of Nordic Jazz has kept to a tight focus in terms of expression.  Sometimes, like on his debut, The Door, it possesses some eccentric quirks that give melodies curious shapes and emergent patterns.  And then there was the push into contemporary lite territory on 2011’s Skala… an album that was undeniably pretty and satisfied to keep it at that.  2015’s Midwest shifted back in the direction of The Door‘s intriguing qualities, adding undercurrents of tension and outpourings of edginess in well-placed spots and well-measured doses.  2018’s Ravensburg is the triangulation of those three albums, borrowing a bit from each for a homogeneous sound that has plenty of appeal.  It’s not unusual for the crystalization of developing voices to land in a spot that seems awfully familiar to territory traversed along the way.

These are beautiful pieces.  Melodies beam like a wide smile.  Sometimes the tone is a bit melancholy and sometimes it shines like the purest optimism.  A melody from Eick’s trumpet is the closest approximation to the sound of an eagle soaring majestically overhead, though he’s at his strongest when he’s altering that trajectory into unexpected directions.  With its interwoven strands of melodic electricity, “Family” attains an alluring sort of intensity.  It’s also a nice reminder of Midwest at its strongest.  And the moonlight drama of “Children” recalls how The Door would circle endlessly back upon itself until the accumulation of melodic streams became a surging wave come crashing down.  And “August” would sit pretty right next to any of the tracks on Skala.

Andreas Ulvo returns on piano.  He was there for Skala in much the same way Eick was there for Ulvo’s Eple Trio on 2014’s Universal Cycle… complementing existent qualities and amplifying them further.  I think that touches upon what I liked best about Jon Balke sitting at piano on previous Eick recordings.  Balke behaved as a foil to Eick’s tendency to go soaring with a melody.  Even at his most ambient, Balke brings some ominous tones and underlying tension to his works, and that was a nice fit for Eick’s warmer tones and smoother delivery.  I like that Eick keeps bringing in some strings to his recording sessions.  It’s Håkon Aase this time around, and the violinist has much the same melodic sensibilities as Eick, which provides an interesting contrast to the way in which Gjermund Larsen interacted with Eick on Midwest.  Bassist Audun Erlien drummer Torstein Lofthus and percussionist Helge Andreas Norbakken all return to the fold, with Erlien and Lofthus absent for Midwest, whereas Norbakken returns from that session.  That Ravensburg comes off so strongly as a synthesis of everything that has come before, it only makes sense that the personnel would also be comprised of those different projects.

Life is good when Mathias Eick puts out this kind of album every so often.  Our lives need it.

Your album personnel:  Mathias Eick (trumpet, voice), Håkon Aase (violin), Andreas Ulvo (piano), Audun Erlien (electric bass), Torstein Lofthus (drums), Helge Andreas Norbakken (drums, percussion).

Released on ECM Records.

Music from Oslo, Norway.

Available at Amazon.

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Apr 10 2018

A rundown of some recent stuff from ECM Records

 

We really need to have a talk about ECM Records.

 

John Surman – Invisible Threads

I am convinced that John Surman lives somewhere the sun never quite breaches the horizon, where the soft glow of twilight forever hangs just tantalizingly out of darkness’s reach.  Time and again, the saxophonist captures the magnetic tranquility of those moments between nighttime’s end and daybreak’s release… where the hush settled over the earth is accompanied by the anticipation of those sitting awake and waiting for the change into day.  Surman’s latest is arguably his loveliest synthesis of those moments to date.  Joined by pianist Nelson Ayres and vibraphonist Rob Waring, the saxophonist rolls out variations on peacefulness.  Sometimes it possesses the vibrant ambiguity of dreams, sometimes it twitters with the pulsating light of a night full of stars, and then there’s those moments that sink into a simple melodic image and each of its facets, as if exploring the individual droplets of waves crashing the shore.  This is one of the most beautiful things I’ve heard all year.

Learn more at ECM Records.  Available at Amazon.

 

Bobo Stenson Trio – Contra La Indecisió

Look, I get the appeal of a Bobo Stenson recording, even if I don’t much feel it myself.  There’s something to the way the pianist lulls you into drowsiness with the sparsest outline of melody and then slowly pulls back the shades to reveal the liveliness at the heart of the piece.  For me personally, the atmosphere just gets too thick, and when a few fireworks are allowed to explode, the brilliance isn’t able to escape the gravitational pull of the torpor that came before.  But I can see how that approach could develop a following.  Hell, the dreariness of rain season can be oppressive without relinquishing its beauty.  Stenson exists in that convergence.  If kicking back on a peaceful evening and drifting off to the sounds of previous Stenson releases is something that rocks your world, you’re gonna enjoy adding his latest to your collection.  Stenson is joined by double bassist Anders Jormin and drummer Jon Fält.

Learn more at ECM Records.  Available at Amazon.

 

Andy Sheppard Quartet – Romaria

I’m liking this collaboration between Andy Sheppard and Eivind Aarset.  Sheppard has a touch on saxophone that provides acute reminders that the beauty of the sunrise is countered by its potential to burn.  So many of his works hints at a tranquility before surging up with a searing melodic heat.  Guitarist Eivind Aarset is responsible for some of the most atmospheric music this side of an Arve Henriksen recording, and while he’s certainly capable of generating plenty of heat all his own, it tends to possesses an ethereal presence.  Sheppard and Aarset meet each other half way, and how they temper one another’s tendencies toward either extreme really brings out their best qualities.  There’s a consensual embrace of perspectives that allows the music on their latest to really settle in and breathe.  That said, it would be a mistake to overlook the contributions of bassist Michel Benita and drummer Seb Rochford on this enjoyable recording.  Both Benita and Rochford have a proven track record working with mediums where cinematic atmosphere and nuanced lyricism are best able to flourish, where melodies are adaptable to either drifting aimlessly or following a specific arc.  The duo’s ongoing collaboration with Sheppard continues to pay dividends.  I’ve always been partial to Sheppard’s work, but I’m really enjoying this divergence.

Learn more at ECM Records.  Available at Amazon.

 

Shinya Fukumori Trio – For 2 Akis

This is one of those albums that starts out as a whisper… the rustle of drums, the sigh of saxophone, some raindrops on piano… and so strongly is it all woven together, that even when the temperature rises upward, the peacefulness of that opening whisper is the guiding force from first note to last.  Much of this winning quality can be attributed to the gorgeous craftsmanship applied to the melodies, where clarity rings loud and clear with their introduction so that any amount of exploring where the melody might go never allows the memory of what it once was to fade.  Drummer Shinya Fukumori, tenor saxophonist Matthieu Bordenave and pianist Walter Lang have put together a flawless performance on For 2 Akis.  This is the kind of gem that marks the modern-era ECM Records catalog… where tranquility reigns supreme, even when the intensity ratchets up to levels that would not seem conducive to calming effects.  Just a beautiful album.  (Also, a very cool video to accompany it.)

Learn more at ECM Records.  Available at Amazon.

 

Kit Downes – Obsidian

I’ve really got to give ECM Records credit for signing Kit Downes to put something down from his organ explorations.  The pianist has been doing this organ-saxophone duo with Tom Challenger over the last handful of years, as well as his Tricko Tareco duo with cellist Lucy Railton.  It’s really quite different, especially in the context of his other projects:  Albums where Downes is the session leader, his contributions to The Golden Age of Steam, Threads Orchestra, Troyka, and as part of Thomas Strønen’s Time Is A Blind Guide ensemble.  For this session, Downes hits up some churches in London and Suffolk and makes use of their organs and their acoustics for some dramatic effects.  It’s all solo, except for one piece that Challenger sits in on.  I go back and forth on this recording.  I find it works best first thing in the morning, myself.  In any event, I wanted to get a quick mention in about this recording.  I think it’s pretty cool for ECM to be featuring one of the new generation on a project that doesn’t take a conventional path.

Learn more at ECM Records.  Available at Amazon.

 

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Mar 27 2018

Anat Cohen & Fred Hersch: Sadists

 

I haven’t always made the best decisions.  One path chosen sometimes becomes the wrong path chosen.  And since there’s really no going back, I simply have to keep deviating course ’til I get to where I’m on a path that closely mirrors the one I should have been on all along.  Sometimes I don’t realize I’ve been taking the wrong path all along until much much much later than would’ve been helpful.  For instance, I was recently made aware that the best choices in life would have led me to be in California for the 2016 Healdsburg Jazz Festival.

There is evil in this world.  Each of us know this is true.  But rarely does it make its malicious intentions so plainly obvious as it does on this recording from Anat Cohen and Fred Hersch.  These sadists… the former on clarinet, the latter on piano… want to inflict some hurt on us for not choosing to hear their live performance at the Raven Performing Arts Theater that evening in June.

Look, you and I both know that seeing the show live will always eclipse the experience of hearing it on a recorded medium.  That’s just the way it is.  Steve Moon and Mark Wilder do an outstanding job of bringing this lovely music into our homes, but there’s no amount of recording or studio talent that will compare to being there in person the night the show went down.  I know it, you know it, and Cohen & Hersch know we know it.  And they use that knowledge against us.  Why else would they taunt us with this exquisite recording?

What were you doing on the night of June 11th, 2016?  Not in Healdsburg, California?  Well, that was a big mistake, and both Cohen and Hersch want to drive that point home.  Don’t live anywhere nearby?  Well, maybe you should have made different decisions when you were younger… chose a different college, applied for jobs in California, entered into a different romantic relationship, taken a different road trip, followed a different path… because the alternative might have led you to Healdsburg that night.  You have no one to blame but yourself, and Cohen and Hersch want to be sure that point is made clear.  They have made it clear to me.  Big time.

“Child’s Song” is the tranquility of those Sunday mornings when sunlight floods the room and the world seems to have settled into a consensual peace.  “The Purple Piece” is the majesty of two hawks soaring overhead, close enough to see the flutter of their wings, far enough to appreciate how they shrug off the effects of gravity.  And the playful trades of melody on “Lee’s Dream” mimic the joy of butterflies dancing on the surface of a breeze carrying along the distant sound of children playing.  That’s the sense of things, at least.  Too bad you weren’t there to witness it in its totality.

Every now and then, between songs, the recording picks up the enthusiastic applause of the audience that was blessed to be in attendance that night.  They’re just twisting the knife.  I hate them all.

So, if you want to experience undiluted pain and regret and angst and depression, you should buy this album.  And if you want to experience joy and beauty and delight and amusement and confirmation of the enduring belief that creativity reveals the best humanity has to offer, then you should buy this album.  If I hear from either Cohen or Hersch inre: their preference for the former or latter, I’ll update you immediately.  But go buy this album.

Your album personnel:  Anat Cohen (clarinet) and Fred Hersch (piano).

 

Released on Anzic Records.

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

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic

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Mar 26 2018

The Round-up: It was Sunday night and warm light filled the room as darkness sat outside the window and watched

 

Here is some very good new music.

 

Danny Fox Trio – The Great Nostalgist (Hot Cup Records)

Thoughtfulness at high speeds, of notes hanging in the air even when the space between them is ever so slight.  That’s the lingering impression made on this straight-ahead session from the trio of pianist Danny Fox, bassist Chris van Voorst and drummer Max Goldman.  The brisk pace never gets in the way of an articulate voicing of melody or its eventual development into an engrossing conversation.  This session is in the mold of a standard modern piano trio recording, but the little turns of phrase and keen modulations of pacing have the great impact of raising things up to something outside the accepted archetype.  Those nuanced differences are one way to make cerebral music extroverted and fun.

Artist site | Buy:  Amazon

 

Wooley/Dumoulin/Flaten/Verbruggen – kaPSalon (Ratrecords)

“This music,” Buster Keaton, reincarnated, would announce. “It will be the soundtrack for my next silent film.”  And why not?  This live performance recording by trumpeter Nate Wooley, pianist Jozef Dumoulin, double bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and percussionist Teun Verbruggen is all about emoting through motion.  Idiosyncratic and volatile as hell, the music signifies the personality quirks of characters and their physical manifestations… the relation of many things that defy the need for words.  And though wholly avant-garde in nature, the blues and jazz bubble up to the surface frequently and at just the right moments, making a resolute statement that this wild, untamed music willingly tethers itself loosely to music of the past.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Tamaya Honda – ICTUS Trio (Song X Jazz)

Much in that way Paul Motian could imply the whisper of a hurricane during the recitation of a lullaby, the trio of drummer Tamaya Honda, bassist Takashi Sugawa and pianist Koichi Sato establish an appealing balance between serenity and volatility.  This modern piano trio recording is perfect for a rainy day, and that means for when it’s a torrential downpour or when the comforting patter of raindrops soothes the soul.  The Motian comparison isn’t happenstance.  This album is dedicated to Masabumi Kikuchi, a pianist who thrived in exactly this kind of environment, and, logically, collaborated with Motian himself on a number of recordings.  Carla Bley compositions comprise nearly half of the album tracks, which adds an interesting quality, as does Sugawa switching over to cello.  Music from Tokyo.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

Ed Jones – For Your Ears Only (Impossible Ark)

There’s something particularly resonant about this straight-ahead release from Ed Jones.  Perhaps it’s the beautifully crafted melodies or perhaps it’s how the saxophonist’s quartet keeps referencing it as the pace and distance from its introduction increases, and maybe it’s the way a patient exhalation of the melody contrasts with a galloping tempo.  But whatever the reason, this is one of those albums that sparkles like stars with each volley of notes, each turn of phrase, each expression of melody.  Pianist Ross Stanley, bassist Riann Vosloo and drummer Tim Giles round out the quartet, plus a guest spot from vocalist Brigitte Beraha.  Music from London.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

The Housewarming Project – at_home/at_play (Self-Produced)

There’s a special kind of chemistry to the trio of pianist Jeremy Siskind, vocalist Nancy Harms and multi-reedist Lucas Pino.  There’s a sense of musicians fated to come together because it was willed by elemental forces.  Their 2012 release Finger-Songwriter was one of the very best things to come out that year, and since that time, the trio has released another recording and been on a dedicated tour of living room shows.  Their new release compiles some of the moments from those shows, and it displays that the magic conjured up by the three is nowhere even close to waning.  Harms’s smoky delivery is a perfect match to Pino’s languid expressions of melody, especially when he switches over to bass clarinet.  On piano, Siskind’s accompaniment is almost reverential.  It all plays out like moonlight on a small patch of earth, where everything inside the beams seems more alive than anything else on the planet and nobody wants to move or speak for fear of breaking the spell of enchantment.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

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Mar 21 2018

The Round-up: The path to you

 

Here is some very good new music.

 

Indigo Kid – III: Moment Gone In the Clouds (Babel Label)

Dan Messore’s Indigo Kid unit keeps switching things up, and every damn time the changes kick up all kinds of interesting developments.  For the third installment, much of the quirky, angular expressionism is swapped out for a free flowing lyricism.  The guitarist also brings in a new line-up with flautist Gareth Lockrane, bassist Calum Gourlay and drummer Tim Giles.  The addition of Lockrane has the most obvious effect on the transformation in sound from previous albums to the current one, but if it weren’t for the Gourlay’s and Giles’ ability to keep light on their feet while adding depth to the melodies, the music might get so light as to be insubstantial.  Instead, the feathery presence unleashes the presence of a bird in flight, wings flapping mightily as it soars effortlessly skyward.  Music from London.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Kelp – Intake (Self-Produced)

I can’t help but like this album.  Its raw energy and wild enthusiasm are pretty damn addictive.  Intake is a recording that is likely to make you react with an amused smile and a jaw dropped to the floor.  The hyperactive piano trio Kelp starts out the album slow, then gradually acquires a head of steam that sees them hurtling to the finish line like runaway train that left the tracks encased in a ball of flame.  And exploding.  Definitely some explosions should get included in the metaphor.  Crazy fun music from Fukuoka, Japan.

No artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

The Mo’ Times – The Mo’ Times (Self-Produced)

The Mo’ Times really sink their teeth into a classic hard bop sound.  Plenty of warmth and exuberance generated by this quartet of saxophonist Mickaël Pernet, pianist Jules Le Risbé, bassist Charles Huck and drummer Valentin Jam, and it’s catchy as hell.  Their reference of McCoy Tyner’s “Passion Dance” during an interlude of their own “Garlix Blues” and the opening stanzas of “Les Indiens” is probably all you need to know about how this quartet’s heart beats.  So much fun.  Music from Montpellier, France.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

Dreaming of White Horses – Dreaming of White Horses (Self-Produced)

There’s an appealing laid-back feel to the self-titled debut from Dreaming of White Horses.  Front and center is how soprano sax and fiddle fall into a comfortable lyrical embrace.  Guitar, piano, bass and drums circle around, occasionally enfolding the pair, and creating an ebb and flow of nuanced intensity that makes all the difference.  That the temperature perpetually hovers near fireplace cozy is why the music is always just a little bit lively and just enough conversational to ever let things devolve into sleepy territory.  Easy to like this one.  Music from Glasgow, Scotland.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

Chris Whiter – Encapsulation (Self-Produced)

There’s an enveloping moodiness to this experimental work from Chris Whiter.  Joined by tenor saxophonist Riley Stone-Lonergan and pianist Vince Webb, Whiter infuses live electronics into the mix with his own baritone sax and bass flute.  The deeper tones present some startling contrasts with the electronic frisson and effects, as well as the burgeoning tension from his counterpart’s instruments.  The pattern is a melody slowly emerging from a steady pulsing drone, as if a dream of harmony transforming into a brand new melody.  Music from London.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

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