These are videos that I like

John Zorn may be better known for his free jazz full of skronks and screeches, but to dismiss him as such and move on is a pretty unfortunate mistake.  Over the course of his career, he’s expanded his personal sound and the scope of his compositions to where his most recognizable aspect is the difficulty in which it is to categorize him.  His albums with the Dreamers ensemble is an excellent case in point.

On the 2009 release O’o, he’s cooked up a soup of jazz, klezmer, surf, rock and field sounds resulting in a mesmerizing set of tunes, often quite ambient even when they show some bite.

This first video is the track “Laughing Owl” and set to the passing landscape.

Your album personnel:  John Zorn (conductor, arrangements), Kenny Wollesen (vibes), Jamie Saft (keyboards), Marc Ribot (guitar), Trevor Dunn (bass), Joey Baron (drums), and Cyro Baptista (percussion).

I’m a sucker for home videos like this.

The next video is a live performance of the song “Little Bittern,” which also appears on the album O’o.  The personnel on this live performance at the 2010 Jazz in Marciac festival are the same as the video above.  It shows that the ensemble is perfectly capable of bringing some edginess to their tranquil sound.

You can buy the album either at Zorn’s Tzadik label site or at Amazon.

The first couple weeks of the new year will see a few posts giving rundowns of various Zorn-Tzadik label recordings.  O’o will be just one of the Dreamers ensemble recordings covered by those columns.

I detest the theme song to Game of Thrones.  If I don’t hit the mute button when that corny, melodramatic atrocity comes on, it ruins that nifty clockwork castle opening montage.  I mean, seriously, nobody likes the GoT theme, right?  As messed up as this world is, I can at least count on that.

Well, the New Orleans Swamp Donkeys make the theme not so bad.  Tolerable, even.

Here’s their 2014 performance of the GoT theme at B.B. King’s Blues Club in Times Square.

Your video personnel:  Wes “Quad” Anderson IV (sousaphone), Sam Friend (vocals, banjo), Joe Goldberg (clarinet, saxophone, piano), Josh “Jams” Marotta (percussion), Jon Ramm (trombone) and James Williams (vocals, trumpet).

You can buy their version of the song at Amazon.

*** And now your (video) watch has ended ***

Today’s videos feature an artist who has recently made an appearance in a This Is Jazz Today column and another who will be shortly.

First up is Christophe Dal Sasso and a trailer from his new album Les Nébuleuses.

You can read more about the album here (LINK).

Your album personnel:  Christophe Dal Sasso (flute), David El-Malek (tenor & soprano saxophones), Pierre de Bethmann (piano, Fender Rhodes), Manuel Marches (bass), Lukmil Perez (drums), Youri Bessières (violin), Martin Rodriguez (viola) and Jean-Philippe Feiss (cello).

And if you want to skip the write-up and just immediately go buy the album, you can scoop it up at the artist’s Bandcamp page.

And the trio Inventions and Dimensions, and their new EP Wabi Sabi, will be receiving some This Is Jazz Today attention in the very near future.

Here’s a live 2016 performance at Jazz Central, on their home turf of Minneapolis, MN.

Your video personnel:  Joe Strachan (piano), Chris Bates (bass) and Matthew Buckner (drums).

And if you don’t feel like waiting for the write-up and just want to buy the album right now, you can scoop it up at the artist’s Bandcamp page.

Let’s get right to today’s featured videos…

The first video is a solo saxophone performance from Harald Lassen, in Emanuel Vigeland’s Museum at Slemdal.  Lassen’s latest recording, Rainbow Session, has him performing with a quartet, and was one of the recommendations in the latest This Is Jazz Today column (LINK).

Your video personnel:  Harald Lassen (tenor sax).

You should check out the actual YouTube page this video resides on.  It provides some cool background on the venue.

And if you want to buy his latest album, Rainbow Session, you can scoop it up at Bandcamp.

And our second video is from the quintet PHD, whose self-titled recording will be featured later today.

Your video personnel: Peter Delannoye (trombone), Peter Hertmans (guitar), Thomas Decock (guitar), Pol Belardi (bass, moog) and Matthias De Waele (drums).

And if you don’t feel like waiting for the write-up and just want to buy the album right now, you can scoop it up at the artist’s Bandcamp page.

Today’s featured videos comes courtesy of saxophonist Jacob Duncan.  All three are promos for his new album The Busker, a solid folk-jazz recording that features a trio of Duncan on alto sax, John Goldsby on double bass and Craig Wagner on acoustic guitar.

You can read the recommendation of that album in the most recent This Is Jazz Today column (LINK).

Now, about those videos…

This first video features the song “Down by Monk’s Pond.”  It’s set to a number of photos.  Since The Busker is Duncan’s attempt to put music to the memories of his time in Europe, it’s a fair assumption that the photos are from those travels.  It’s a cool effect, especially when combined with the contemplative music.

This was probably my favorite track on the album.

The second video features the song “Backyard Self Portrait.”

It’s a nice example of how a simple promo video can possess a nice bit of impact.

And the third promo features the tune “Yuni et Anais” set to the movie The Beloved Rogue.

And if you’ve decided you’ve heard enough and just want to buy the album right now, you can scoop it up at the artist’s Bandcamp page.