Songs for Solstice is an album of shifting tides, and the joy to be derived from it is discovered in the changing tones rather than its inherent motion.  In fact, despite tempos that modulate between states of turbulence and tranquility, the abiding motion keeps to a common center of gravity.  The combustible “Insomnia” kicks up some dissonance in between bouts of silence, and yet when the Aleatoric trio switches things up with the tuneful “Deep Sea Diving,” the cadence pops with the same spark of life as its predecessor.  The trio of pianist Aki Rissanen, saxophonist Robin Verheyen and drummer Markku Ounaskari seem to approach this music as would a photographer who specializes in Black & White imagery, and advance with the attitude that the existence of only two colors is belied by the focus on all of the minute shades in between.  And the album’s best evidence of this viewpoint is in how “Riverly/Reflections on Scriabin Prelude op.13 No.1” glides between expressions that span the panorama of solemn reverence to fierce intensity.  And meanwhile, the motion keeps to a tight ball of intensity, radiating strength while refraining from any wild swings in emotion.  This approach snaps right into place with the trio’s focus on all the shades in between.

An intriguing album with a neat, focused perspective.

Your album personnel:  Aki Rissanen (piano), Robin Verheyen (tenor sax) and Markku Ounaskari (drums).

Released on Eclipse Music.

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

Music from Helsinki, Finland.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | CDBaby | eMusic

Saxophonist Alban Darche possesses a strange lyricism all his own.  It has an edge, and plenty of it.  But its delivery isn’t propelled by aggression, and the edges aren’t made to draw blood, and that’s why a melody from his saxophone is received more as sunlight than steel.  But like sunlight, Darche refracts the melody in a way that keeps it approaching from every direction but head-on.  And that he infuses it with strong doses of bop and blues makes the angular nature of the music that much more alien, even as it rings with the echoes of something familiar.

The quartet JASS exponentially raises this sonic effect, since it brings together four like-minded artists who revel in act of creating unconventional music.  Their name, taken from the first letter in the quartet of drummer John Hollenbeck, saxophonist Alban Darche, trombonist Samuel Blaser and bassist Sébastien Boisseau, slyly hints at the music’s origins, but Mix of Sun and Clouds is created by modern artists who are working on the music of tomorrow before the sun sets on today.

The odd geometry utilized to structure each piece is captivating when viewed in isolation.  There’s the way that “Roman I” bops around excitedly in all directions, but seems always guided in diagonal lines perpetually orbiting the song’s melodic center.  There’s also the peculiar tunefulness of “Wagonnet Song” and its foundation of rhythmic and harmonic collisions… as if they’d engineered a subway system from four different starting points and with four distinct junctions in mind.  But what really gives the music its personality is how the odd geometry provides room for details to emerge and resonate with comparative strength.  There’s the comforting familiarity of a thick streak of the blues emerging on “Bio” and the slow build of groove on “Ansia Da Separazione” and how it carries the melody on to greater heights.  And there’s also how a whisper of melody to start “Lonyay Utca” carries all the way to the end as it cycles through endless revolutions of nuance and subtle changes.

A fascinating album from artists who have made it their habit conjuring up fascinating music.

Your album personnel:  Alban Darche (tenor sax), Samuel Blaser (trombone), Sébastien Boisseau (double bass) and John Hollenbeck (drums).

Released on Yolk Records.

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

It appears this album is only available for sale at the Yolk Records store.

The rainy day ambiance of the self-titled debut from the quartet Vulture Forest imposes a strong presence over the recording.  It’s why “Pileregn” can bring some heat as it swings ahead at a brisk pace and “Mormor” can carve out some space for vociferous phrasing, and yet they both remain couched in the abiding peacefulness.  There are times on Vulture Forest when the Amsterdam-based quartet seem ready to break into a Nordic jazz tranquility.  In fact, opening track “Flere Lysår Væk” gives every indication of it with its initial volley of melodic serenity.  But gradually the trio settles into a more general style of European Jazz, where a certain cinematic melodicism is achieved in a rhythmic environment that sits on the periphery of swing and the attitude of cool blues.  “Past Your Bedtime” reflects this approach with a quick step, while “Bittersweet” goes about it at the pace of moonlight crossing the floor.  The album comes full circle with the title-track finale… up to a point, at least.  The tranquility generated in the tune’s first half is abandoned as the quartet grows increasingly volatile before returning, in the end, to a quieter state.

Plenty here to enjoy.

Your album personnel:  Kristoffer Vejslev (guitar), James McClure (trumpet), Luka Benčič (double bass) and Love Ekenberg (drums).

Released on Microtone Records.

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

Music from Amsterdam.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic