Jul 21 2015
On the air tonight, 6-8pm (EST): ArtXFM Mingle
I’ll be returning as a guest tonight on the Louisville-based ArtXFM show Mingle, hosted by Kevin Coultas.
Tonight I’ll be featuring music from four smaller, but strong labels: Hubro Music, Songlines Recordings, Traumton and PJCE.
I think I’ll be taking this approach for the next couple of monthly guest appearances. I’ve already got El Negocito Records lined up for August, and making some plans for some others.
I think it’ll be a helpful discovery method for some of you to explore more music without having to necessarily remember a bunch of artist names.
The show runs from 6-8pm (EST). If you can’t check it out live, I’ll be posting the audio archive of the show, as well as some micro-reviews of some of the albums featured on the show.
Cheers.
Robert Middleton
August 5, 2015 @ 5:30 pm
Hi Dave, hey I’m missing you. It’s been two weeks. I hope you’re away on a nice vacation or something! Every time you post I find a album or two that really resonates with me. Recently, I especially like “Silent Understanding” by Doublepulse and “Madeline” by Ghost Rhythms, amongst others.
Keep up the great work!
Cheers, Robert M.
davesumner
August 5, 2015 @ 5:37 pm
Hey, Robert.
Yeah, the day job got in a solid one-two combination on my schedule. Between the state fiscal year-end and a week out of town for a conference, all my time and energy got eaten up real fast. But I’m starting to get things revved up again and should have a new This Is Jazz Today column going this weekend as well as getting back to doing some consistent stand-alone recommendations, too. I’ve got all kinds of music that I want to be writing about.
That Ghost Rhythms albums makes me all kinds of happy.
Cheers,
Dave
Robert Middleton
August 5, 2015 @ 9:40 pm
Hi Dave,
Glad you’re alive and kicking! I’m pretty amazed that you can peruse all of these albums, let alone give brief and pithy reviews. You are my sole source for independent jazz and this year there was a lot of it and much of it stellar.
Others I’ve really enjoyed this year that came from the column are “All In” – Beats and Pieces Big Band, “Katamon Cherry” by same, “Chuffdrone” by same, Turboprop” by Ernesto Cervini, “Strata” by Ivo Neame, “Il Mondo Che Vera” by Rafaello Pareti and “Olmstead’s Whistle” by Corbin Andrick.
One you should catch, if you haven’t, is “The Bell Garden” by Israeli piano trio Shalosh. As you might say, “All kinds of energetic.”
Cheers, Robert
P.S. Have you heard alto sax player, Sarah Manning? “Dandilion Clock” from 2010 and “Harmonious Creature” from 2014 are extraordinary. Best new talent I’ve heard in years.
davesumner
August 5, 2015 @ 10:15 pm
I’m still really enjoying that new one from B&P Big Band. I still give the occasional listen to their previous one, too. The electricity that outfit generates is all kinds of addictive.
Speaking of all kinds, here’s what I wrote about The Bell Garden for Wondering Sound back when the album was released…
… I immediately recognized their name and album title when I read it in your comment, but I’m gonna have to give it a refresher listen. It’s been a long while since I gave it a spin… which is one of the sacrifices one makes in keeping my listening schedule.
That’s awesome that you’re returning to that Pareti recording. I’ve got it on my one of my lists for possible stand-alone recs. Very under the radar it seems, and one that could use another turn beneath the spotlight.
I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard Manning’s Dandelion Clock, but I gave Harmonious Creature a decent write-up for Wondering Sound and/or BitW (I think both, actually). I like the entire album, but damn it opens strong with “Copland on Cornelia St.” Manning is an interesting person to follow on Twitter… she addresses a nice mix of music, politics, art and ephemera… and every time I see her little avatar pop up on my screen, I have this Pavlovian response of immediately hearing the melody to “Copland on Cornelia St.” in my head.
I’ve been pretty happy with 2015 thus far. I don’t know that it’s top-to-bottom (think: Top 100 albums) as strong as, say, 2012 or 2013, but when I try to form a Top 10 of 2015 list at the halfway mark of the year, there are more legitimate contenders for those top spots than I can recall from any recent years. Ever since I first began making my various lists, I’ve often said that picking the top five of a particular year is pretty easy, but the difference between #6 and #50 is usually the slimmest margins. But in 2015, if the second half of the year is anything like the first, it’s gonna be the top slots of my year-end list that’s gonna present the biggest challenge.
Off the top of my head, some other 2015 albums I return to most often are: Catfish “Restraint,” Matt Owens “The Aviators Ball,” Oded Lev-Ari “Threading,” Chris Lightcap “Epicenter,” Udden & Moreaux “Belleville Project” and Reijseger/Fraanje/Sylla “Count til Zen.” Doubtless, there are many others that keep getting repeat listens that I have forgotten to mention.
Cheers.