Jul 21 2017

Recommended: Yoko Miwa Trio – “Pathways”

 

There’s an immensely pleasing tunefulness to the newest from Yoko Miwa.  The pianist has a way of taking a crisp melody, simply stated, and locking the ear’s attention in place.  On her newest album Pathways, Miwa’s trio adopts the approach of sticking to a small patch of turf and examining every inch of that melody and exposing every little facet.  Sometimes her trio swings contentedly along, like on “The Goalkeeper,” and sometimes the trio works modern territory, as they do with the moody “Lantern Light.”  Miwa’s rendition of Marc Johnson’s “Log O’Rhythm” is a nice example of how the blues can generate an abundance of warmth with a cheerful attitude.  Those same qualities carry on over to the Miwa original composition “Lickety Split” and its classic hard bop sound.

Covers of two pop tunes bring about a nice dose of intensity.  It’s a slow build of emotion on Joni Mitchell’s “Court and Spark,” whereas a rendition of The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence” utilizes the song’s combustible melody as a launching pad to sudden spikes in tension.  Both interpretations are plenty enjoyable, but it’s the original pieces that represent the album’s stronger force.

Plenty here to like.

Your album personnel:  Yoko Miwa (piano), Will Slater (acoustic bass), Scott Goulding (drums) and guest: Brad Barrett (acoustic bass).

This Self-Produced album was released on Miwa’s Ocean Blue Tear Music.

Music from Boston, MA.

Available at:  Amazon

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Jul 20 2017

Alex Jonsson has two new albums you should be listening to

 

I first became acquainted with the music of guitarist Alex Jønsson when I crossed paths with the debut album from the ensemble I Think You’re Awesome.  It was a seriously catchy mix of modern jazz, Nordic folk and indie rock, and its thick hooks and foot-tapping tempos didn’t get in the way of some complexity or introspection.  It was fun music that could certainly lead to contemplation.

Here’s two new releases from the Copenhagen-based guitarist.

 

I Think You’re Awesome – Books

The sophomore release from the sextet I Think You’re Awesome is no less compelling than its predecessor, nor any less catchy.  “No 5 With a Bullit” opens things up with the same kind of embraceable melody and strange loping cadence that marked their debut.  That cadence carries over to “Alting Hele Tiden,” and the ensemble punctuates it with a rock ‘n roll roar.  And that melody, god, it just puts a smile on my face how much fun this music is and how easily is forges a connection.  “People Who Love” is the ensemble showing they still remember how to shift into a contemplative mood, and “Three Day Open Season” is the reminder that when they groove, it’s never standard operating procedure.

About as friendly as an album can be.  Worth noting that there’s a live version of this album recently released, too.  And don’t forget to check out their debut (go read about it).

Your album personnel:  Alex Jønsson (guitar), Jens Mikkel Madsen (electric & double basses), Morten Kærup (banjo, guitar), Kasper Staub (piano, synth), Andreas Skamby (drums, percussion) and Frej Lesner (drums, percussion).

Released in 2016 on Jaeger Community.

Listen to more of the album on the artist’s Soundcloud page.

Available at:  eMusic

 

Alex Jønsson – Heart of Gold

This trio set is comprised of half of the I Think You’re Awesome ensemble, but the music is far more straight-forward.  Heart of Gold is a nice laid-back guitar session recorded at a house concert in Aarhus, Denmark.  The material is situated firmly in modern territory, but that doesn’t prevent the bass and drums duo of Jens Mikkel Madsen and Andreas Skamby from inciting some motion that swings and shuffles and bops in its own particular way.

“War is Peace” growls out the melody whereas the melody of “I Kveld Blir Det Snø” is a night sky of glittering stars, but most of the album falls in line with tracks like “Puzzle,” “Niðaróss” and title-track “Heart of Gold,” where the melody is quickly sketched out so the trio can spend most of their time developing it as far as the horizon will take them.

Plenty enjoyable, and a nice example of where jazz guitar is on the modern scene.

Your album personnel:  Alex Jønsson (guitar), Jens Mikkel Madsen (double bass) and Andreas Skamby (drums).

Released in 2016 on Jaeger Community.

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

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

 

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Jul 19 2017

Recommended: Cuong Vu 4tet – “Ballet”

 

It’s an interesting change from the last time Cuong Vu and Bill Frisell worked an album together.  2005’s It’s Mostly Residual saw the duo trading in imagery, two painters side-by-side with one canvas between them and with one eye on their counterpart’s work while the other eye was lost in their own separate world.  Their newest is a conversation.  The back-and-forth banter of Ballet exists is a state of perpetual causation, and the accumulation of ideas bounced between the two becomes seriously enchanting.  They’re never apart on this session.  The motion of their dialog takes different forms and sets off on different directions from track to track, but the two sound perpetually at the hip.

Ballet is a tribute to the music of composer, arranger and trombonist Michael Gibbs.  Of particular interest is that the last few years has seen Frisell work with Gibbs on a number of projects, including an excellent 2015 release with the NDR Big Band.  Frisell’s music was the focus then, and now the guitarist returns the love with some special work-ups of Gibbs pieces.  Based on Vu’s fascinating perspectives on the music, it mustn’t have needed a hard sell to get Vu and his trio (with bassist Luke Bergman and drummer Ted Poor) to sign on.

Trumpter Cuong Vu has an almost casual way of delivering up a focused intensity, as if he’s slowly exhaling a melody into the heart of a tornado.  And seeing how Frisell possesses the talent of absorbing gale forces of sonic chaos to channel them into the structure of a melody, it’s one reason why these two snap right into place.  The effects are often stunning.  And on this live performance recorded at Meany Hall, on the University of Washington campus, a track such “And On The Third Day” is the proof, and reward, of those results.

But this album is about the dialog between artists, and how it manifests in different sonic environments.  The quartet slows things down on “Feelings and Things,” but that doesn’t alter the strength of the expressions or the crispness of the interactions.  The playful groove and fun little bounce of “Blue Comedy” goes to extremes on title-track “Ballet,” but the quartet’s amicable chatter keeps steady, just as it does when the intensity gets drawn back in on “Sweet Rain.”  And all of it resonates like crazy.

Ultimately, that balance between conversation and imagery, focused intensity and personable demeanor rates this a must-have recording.

Your album personnel:  Cuong Vu (trumpet), Bill Frisell (guitar), Luke Bergman (bass) and Ted Poor (drums).

Released on RareNoise Records.

Music from Seattle, WA.

Available at:  Amazon

And be sure to check out the prior Cuong Vu – Bill Frisell recording, 2005’s It’s Mostly Residual

(Go check it out!)

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Jul 18 2017

Recommended: Moskus – “Ulv Ulv”

 

Think of a city that is the physical manifestation of a state of serenity.  It is constructed with the building blocks of tranquility, and peacefulness is the binding agent that keeps its infrastructure in place.  The daily commute is traversed via meditation.  Birds chirp happily in the trees, cats curl up purring in your lap, and it’s a battle between a cheery sun and a cool breeze for which is the most soothing balm to your troubled soul.  Everything is perfection- that’s what the tourism pamphlets would state, and nothing about the surroundings would give any other indication.

The trio Moskus, however, would show you otherwise.  They’d be your tour guides to serenity’s dark underbelly, the city’s haunted abandoned buildings and its dangerous alleyways and sketchy neighborhoods.  You’d be shown where the shadows reign and sunlight dares not show its face.  Moskus illuminates the scars and the disturbed emotions of serenity, and reminds us that no state of perfection exists without the flaws to define it.

With each new album, the trio of pianist Anja Lauvdal, bassist Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson and percussionist Hans Hulbækmo hone their talent as tour guides, and the unsettling Ulv Ulv can almost make you forget you were visiting serenity in the first place.  For this session, Nils Økland brought his Hardanger fiddle and sat in for a couple tunes.  His contribution amplifies the discomfit already present, which is exactly as Moskus would want it.

Your album personnel:  Anja Lauvdal (piano, harmonium, synthesizer), Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson (double bass), Hans Hulbækmo (drums, percussion, Jew’s harp, saw, wind instruments) and guest:  Nils Økland (Hardanger fiddle).

Released in 2016 on Hubro Music.

Listen to more of the album at the artist’s Soundcloud page.

Music from Oslo, Norway.

Available at:  eMusic | Amazon

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Jul 17 2017

The Round-up: Looking to the future, we saw the past stretched out before us

 

Here is some very good new music.

 

Alexi Tuomarila – Kingdom (Edition Records)

This new release from Alexi Tuomarila dishes out some seriously vivid imagery.  Melodies are like live wires and rhythms are the snap of their sparks, and all of it crackles with ceaseless energy.  The pianist’s 2013 release Seven Hills was pretty damn good in its own right, but with this new recording, his trio with bassist Mats Eilertsen and drummer Olavi Louhivuori really sound to be gelling.  There’s a presence to this music that transcends the depth of its beauty.  And one other thing… when it comes to bassists and their solos, not many are able to generate a wealth of riches from an economy of sound quite like Mats Eilertsen.  A wonderful recording.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Rasmus Oppenhagen Krogh – Distill (Centrifuga)

There’s an appealing instability to the melodies of Distill, as if they might come apart at the seams at any moment, or, perhaps, that they are merely dreams of melodies that fade away with wakefulness.  The quartet of guitarist Rasmus Oppenhagen Krogh, bassist Anders Christensen, drummer Oliver Louis Brostrøm Laumann and trumpeter Kasper Tranberg maintain a tranquil ambiance for the duration of the recording, so the album doesn’t really suffer from the absence of any truly striking moments of beauty, because the atmospherics instill the kind of moody serenity to just kick back and bliss out to.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

Heisenberg Uncertainty Players – We Tear Down Our Coliseums (Self-Produced)

Chicago-area composer John Dorhauer has been on my radar for a little while now, as has the music from his Heisenberg Uncertainty Players, so I’m pleased to finally make the introductions here in today’s column.  This live performance just this year at Elmhurst College’s Mill Theater of his baseball stadium themed project displays plenty of the quirkiness to be found in his compositions, and it’s the kind of thing that leads to all kinds of fun.  But what I adore most about this current recording is how he threads the most lovely melodic tones through the thick warmth of the big band pieces.  Opening track “Royals” gets right to evidencing that point, but it’s the powerfully concise beauty of “Plasma” that catches the ear, hook line and sinker.  Be sure to check out the artist link below… it leads to some nifty photo art of the stadiums that inspired the music.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

Almeida Amado Franco – The Attic (Self-Produced)

This live trio session doesn’t hold back any punches.  Bassist Gonçalo Almeida, tenor saxophonist Rodrigo Amado and drummer Marco Franco throw a series of hooks on “Shadow,” work side-to-side on “Hole,” lay on the inside on “Spring,” work the body on “Board,” and let it all go for the final bell on “Nail,” and every punch is thrown like they mean it.  When the trio settles into a boozy melodicism at the 5-minute mark of the opening track, and the bass arco and tenor sax solo mix like ice and fire, damn, it’s a thing of beauty.  Some solid free jazz ferocity, and yet more cool music coming out of Portugal.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

Woody Black 4 – Curiosity (Unit Records)

It’s as delightful as watching shadows and sunlight dance upon a wood floor.  The clarinets and bass clarinets of the Wood Black 4 can sure deliver a pretty melody, but the joy is listening to them under construction.  The rhythm as the shaping force is nifty as hell, but the aftereffects drifting down as lovely harmonies is what clinches the album’s success.  Oscar Antoli, Stephan Dickbauer, Daniel Moser and Leonhard Skorupa crafted an album that possesses the solemn tones for early mornings and the liveliness for a late-night listen.

Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp – Amazon

 

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