Jan 22 2020

Best of 2019 #51: Steve Lehman Trio + Craig Taborn – “The People I Love”

 

In describing the music of Steve Lehman for The Bandcamp Daily, I wrote, “There is an immediacy to Steve Lehman’s music. Sometimes, it’s aggressive and in your face; other times, it just draws you in with its personal magnetism. You can’t look away; it’s as if the music is revealing something hidden about you, or is so alien that you stare in fascination.”  It’s about as close as I’ve ever come to describing the saxophonist’s music, and how it hits me.  It wasn’t easy coming by.

There is a decisively combustible nature to Lehman’s sound.  It has much to do with why it’s so arresting and so fun.  But there is also clearly more to it, though that more is not easily identifiable.  His 2019 release The People I Love brought some clarity to the subtleties of the music’s defining characteristics.  Yes, the immediacy of the music is still an omnipresent force, but this album reveals that the aggressiveness is simply a byproduct, and that the immediacy has more to do with the subject of focus.  In this specific instance, The People I Love celebrates ten year of the alto saxophonist’s trio with bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Damion Reid.  There’s your focus.

This is an album of ballads.  They certainly don’t all present themselves that way, but they strike the heart with the same thoughtfulness and care as those tunes that gift wrap the ballad in soft tones and slowly poured melodies.  This quality, as much as any the album presents, is what makes it so damn special.

For this session, the trio are joined by pianist Craig Taborn, which is a good reason to celebrate for any reason at all.

Your album personnel:  Steve Lehman (alto sax), Craig Taborn (piano), Matt Brewer (acoustic bass), and Damion Reid (drum set).

Released on Pi Recordings.

Music from New York City.

I wrote about the album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Bandcamp – Amazon

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Jan 22 2020

Best of 2019 #52: Synestet – “Les Usures”

 

The music is menacing at its most serene, smiling at its most furious.  The counterintuitive tones of Synestet result in colorful explosions of melody and rambunctious rhythmic dialogues, and a constant hum of electricity throughout, as if tapped into the heart of the city.  Even when the quintet of bass clarinetist Hélène Duret, tenor saxophonist Sylvain Debasieux, guitarist Benjamin Sauzereau, double bassist Fil Caporali and drummer Maxime Rouayroux dive deep into contemplation, it’s made understood that this is merely a temporary condition before volatility strikes yet again. That abiding uncertainty is what drives this album and makes it so much damn fun.

Your album personnel:  Hélène Duret (clarinet, bass clarinet), Sylvain Debasieux (tenor sax), Benjamin Sauzereau (guitar), Fil Caporali (double bass), and Maxime Rouayroux (drums).

The album is Self-Produced.

Music from Paris, France.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Bandcamp

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Jan 22 2020

Best of 2019 #53: Christophe Panzani – “Les Mauvais Tempéraments”

 

Christophe Panzani paints a sunrise on his 2019 release, and it’s a different one with each of the seven pianists he duets with on Les Mauvais Tempéraments.  Sometimes the music is pure tranquility and other times it kicks out some heat, but each piece on this lovely album radiates the contemplative atmosphere when the day is only just beginning and the world still retains a state of sleep peacefulness.  It’s a continuation of his 2016 release Les Âmes Perdues, and no less a joy to hear.  The pure intimacy between two musicians, locked in conversation in the same room with just their instruments as the method of communication is the kind of thing that leads to profound moments and insights that can never be fully encapsulated with mere words.  We need more recordings like this, and hopefully Panzani is only just getting started with this phase of his creative journey.

Your album personnel:  Christophe Panzani (tenor sax) and guests: Yonathan Avishai, Edouard Ferlet, Eric Legnini, Leonardo Montana, Yael Naim, Tony Paeleman, and Guillaume Poncelet (piano)

Released on the Jazz & People label.

Music from Paris, France.

Listen |  Read more | Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

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Jan 22 2020

Best of 2019 #54: Trond Kallevag Hansen – “Bedehus & Hawaii”

 

There are so many different reasons a particular album will connect with me, and often, it’s more than one reason.  It’s a joy to attempt to convey those emotions and thoughts in the written form, to bring the imagery in my head, heart, and soul to life on the page.  But occasionally I encounter an album that is so damn beautiful in some ineffable way that all I want to do is simply type the words this is pure beauty over and over again.  This is pure beauty this is pure beauty this is pure beauty this is pure beauty.  Guitarist Trond Kallevåg Hansen has crafted an album that captures the Nordic countryside and the Pacific ocean shore, and he’s joined by musicians who have a talent at doing the same, especially fellow guitarist Geir Sundstøl, who, also, creates music of pure beauty and has left me equally captivated.  2019 has had its share of gorgeous recordings see the light of day, but perhaps none more oso than Bedehus & Hawaii.  This is pure beauty.  Sometimes that’s all that can be said, and really, there is nothing more that needs saying.

Your album personnel:  Trond Kallevåg Hansen (guitar, electronics and field recordings), Ivar Myrset Asheim (drums and percussion), Alexander Hoholm (double bass), Geir Sundstøl (guitar, pedal steel, marxophone, optigan, xylophone) and Adrian Løseth Waade (violin).

Released on Hubro Music.

Music from Oslo, Norway.

I wrote about this album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Amazon – Bandcamp

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Jan 21 2020

Best of 2019 #55: Paulo Gomes – “MAP + Chris Cheek”

 

Paulo Gomes’ Guerra e Paz was one of the very best things to come out in 2017.  How it unleashed immaculate melodies and let them wander freely off to the horizon created the sense of an epic journey while keeping the listener immersed simultaneously in the present microcosm of melodic expression.  It was also a nifty example of how the cadence of the new jazz era has altered dramatically from the swing and bop days, while its reliance on a well-crafted melody as a base foundation is as relevant today as it was when John Coltrane was creating mad vortexes of sound circling around the gorgeous melody to “My Favorite Things.”  On his 2019 release, Gomes adds saxophonist Chris Cheek to the mix.  The fourth installment from his MAP ensemble, Paulo Gomes documents the music performed from two separate concerts:  One at the Rivoli Theater and the other at the Coimbra Conservatory of Music.  It goes a long way to showing that the electricity generated by the ensemble in the studio carries seamlessly to a live setting, and that the addition of new personnel just amplifies the charge of the music to even greater heights.  There is no way any of this striking music should be falling under the radar.  It is just too damn good.

Your album personnel:  Paulo Gomes (piano), Miguel Moreira (guitar), Miguel Ângelo (double bass), Acácio Salero (drums), and Chris Cheek (saxophones).

The album is Self-Produced.

Music from Porto, Portugal.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Bandcamp

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