Aug 20 2017
Your Sunday Morning Jazz Album: Abdullah Ibrahim – “Cape Town Revisited”
Sunday morning is when the serenity comes down. Sunday morning is the cocoon from the heavy exhaustion of too much Saturday night fun. Sunday morning is when the city agrees to use its inside voice. Sunday morning is when a hush settles in over the land. It is a time for sitting still and listening to quiet music and silently praying the aspirin and coffee do something to stop your head from exploding. Drama and stress are strictly forbidden on Sunday morning.
Your Sunday Morning Jazz Album is just for you, for times just like these. If you possess the freakish compulsion to get-up-and-go when the clock strikes Sunday morning, this music is not for you. Go and listen to a Spotify EDM playlist or something. But whatever you decide, just do it quietly and far away from those of us who appreciate the true solemn nature of a Sunday morning.
Abdullah Ibrahim‘s vast discography has something for everyone, and that includes those of us who prefer a little tranquility to our Sunday mornings. This live 1997 performance on the South African pianist’s Cape Town home turf is one such offering. Yes, the pace picks up on tracks like “Someday Soon Sweet Samba” and the “Capetown to Congo Square” suite, but there is something so immensely contemplative about Ibrahim’s personal sound on piano that it tempers the effect of a speedy tempo or outburst of intensity. This album may not always sound like a Sunday Morning Jazz Album, but it will always treat you like one.
“Water From an Ancient Well” has a cheery demeanor with its wide smile melody and a cadence that incites the foot to tap along, but nothing about it risks shattering the serenity of the room. And quietly thoughtful pieces like “The Mountain” and “The Wedding” have melodies cut from the raw materials of tranquility, and transmit a fireplace warmth that comforts and makes everything okay again. And that’s where this album’s heart beats strongest, in those moments when it is able to conjure up sparks of joy and melancholy tones, simultaneously.
You need this album today, right now.
- Artist-Title: Abdullah Ibrahim – Cape Town Revisited
- Personnel: Abdullah Ibrahim (piano), Marcus McLaurine (bass), George Gray (drums) and guest: Feya Faku (trumpet).
- Proper Use: 1) Transitioning from I-am-not-leaving-this-sofa to oh-god-I-really-do-have-to-go-outside-today, 2) Soundtrack for throwing the cat’s favorite toy mouse across the room in a game of fetch, or 3) Sofa, coffee, book, read.
Released in 2000 on Enja Records.
Music from Cape Town, South Africa.
Available at: Amazon
There’s a sense with Tyst of music existing in a perpetually emergent state. It’s an enticingly languorous motion that carries through the duration of this mesmerizing set by the 
Gorgeous when viewed as a whole as well as when focusing on the details, this quartet session from drummer
Aug 21 2017
The Round-up: When the world removed its mask, life and memory became as one
Here is some very good new music.
Juan Pablo Arredondo Trio – Piv Midi Toxi (Ropeadope Sur)
This trio session from guitarist Juan Pablo Arredondo, bassist Jerónimo Carmona and drummer Hernán Hecht isn’t afraid to flex some muscle to get its point across. They snap off melodies with the same speed that spurs on their tempos, and both have moments punctuated with bursts of controlled fury. But just beneath the surface, there’s a tunefulness that borders on catchy and a groove that seems determined to get the foot tapping. It’s a quality less hidden when the trio slows things down and lets the music breathe, and it’s difficult to say exactly which form of expression represents the trio in the strongest light, because both instances see the music burning bright. A nifty recording from the Buenos Aires scene.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp – Amazon
The Dissolute Society – Soldiering On (Babel Label)
What’s best described as a theatrical production, this wild session led by trombonist Raph Clarkson possesses a narrative script and a fearlessness to diverge from it at will. Sung vocals, spoken word, a large ensemble jazz roar, and a chamber jazz deep introspection all play a part in this sprawling work that features a string trio, trumpeter Laura Jurd, and vocalist Fini Bearman among its numbers. It’s a pretty thrilling album in its own right, but considering this is a debut, it makes it just that much more promising. This is just one of those unconventional albums where stringing together descriptive words falls far short of the value from just hitting the play button and listening straight through to the album’s final note.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp
Edelman Bayón del Aguila – Trio (Self-Produced)
Nice bop trio set from pianist Nataniel Edelman, bassist Juan Bayón and drummer Nicolás del Aguila. Featuring compositions by Parker, Ellington, and Sonny Rollins, the trio plays it straight. Nothing fancy, nothing groundbreaking, just solid jazz at its most familiar. The album ends on an upbeat note with a nifty rendition of Lou Donaldson’s “Cookin’.” It, as much as any tune on this recording, signifies what this album is all about. It’s also another nice example of the wonderful diversity of jazz coming from the Buenos Aires scene.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp
C.B.G. – Una Noche en Bimhuis (Kuai Music)
There’s an appealing casualness to this live session led by guitarist Guillermo Celano and drummer Marcos Baggiani. Melodies are drawled out slowly and tempos seem haphazardly constructed. The result is unmitigated personality. Songs often reveal traits not immediately hinted at, and the initial direction a tune takes is rarely the same it ends with. This live set at Amsterdam’s famed Bimhuis is free and unbound and strangely tuneful when least you’d expect it. Rounding out the CBG sextet are multi-reedists Michael Moore & Joachim Badenhorst, tenor saxophonist Natalio Sued and bassist Clemens van der Feen. And yet more music from the Buenos Aires scene.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp
Pacho Davila – Invisible Fire (Self-Produced)
Likable free jazz session from saxophonist Pacho Davila & Mia Dyberg, drummer Marcello Busato, bassist Adam Woodwin, pianist Anette Wizisler and trumpeter Nils Ericson. This music is the equivalent of a crowded room dashing about in a mad panic. That said, each piece throws out a melodic fragment like a life ring to a drowning listener, and the ensemble returns to it frequently enough to ride out the song. Loose and fun, this music’s enthusiasm becomes pretty embraceable as the album becomes more familiar. Worth noting I have reason to believe this ensemble might go by the name Berlin Free Jazz Kollektiv.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp
Dave Jorgensen – Astoria Sessions (Self-Produced)
Dave Jorgensen, a trumpeter by trade but multi-instrumentalist at will, recorded all of the instruments (aside from Luke Ydsti on upright bass) on this one-man show. The melodies are catchy as hell, and the rhythmic accompaniment lives to serve those melodies. I just found this album rather charming and wanted to give it a quick mention.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp – Amazon
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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2017 releases • 2 • Tags: The Round-Up