Nov 14 2015
This Is Jazz Today: Mike Holober, Tobias Meinhart, Oscar Perez and Will Herrington
Got a short list for you as we try to dig ourselves out of the hole of backlogged new releases. Today, we’re serving up four relatively straight-ahead recordings, and the diversity of their sound goes a long way to illustrating just how varied even the ground at Jazz center can be.
But all that aside, this small batch should keep you occupied before the next pour.
Let’s begin…
Mike Holober – Balancing Act
Enjoyable recording from pianist and big band guy Mike Holober, who heads up an octet for his newest. Nice opportunity to catch drummer Brian Blade and bassist John Hebert synch up, but it’s the duo-saxophone attack of Dick Oatts and Jason Rigby that results in the biggest fireworks. Vocalist Kate McGarry’s contributions, both word and non-word, are pretty damn effective in the way she gets her parts to mingle in with the ensemble like snow settling onto the surface of a winter pond. A rendition of “Piece Of My Heart” should’ve been a disaster, and it speaks to the strength of this outing that it actually has its moments. The rest of the album achieves an even higher level of success.
Your album personnel: Mike Holober (piano), Kate McGarry (voice), Marvin Stamm (trumpet, flugelhorn), Dick Oatts (alto & soprano saxes, flute), Jason Rigby (tenor sax, clarinet, bass clarinet), Mark Patterson (trombone), John Hebert (bass) and Brian Blade (drums).
Released on Palmetto Records.
*****
Tobias Meinhart – Natural Perception
Saxophonist Tobias Meinhart is a pretty reliable guy. His newest gives more of that style of modern post-bop that delivers a mix of heavy propulsion and moody reveries that are just as likely to glitter and sparkle like a diamond as they are to lay deep and heavy on the ocean floor. Leading a quintet that includes trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, Meinhart serves up plenty of likable tunes, a tasteful sort of jazz that knows where its standing at the moment of its creation, two feet planted firmly in place. The album’s oddball tune, a rendition of Bill Frisell’s “Throughout,” is arguably the strongest track, though the genial warmth and brisk cant of “You’re My Everything” could make a strong claim for that title, too.
Your album personnel: Tobias Meinhart (soprano & tenor saxes), Ingrid Jensen (trumpet), Yago Vazquez (piano, Rhodes), Phil Donkin (bass) and Jesse Simpson (drums).
Released on Enja Records.
Listen to more of the album at the artist’s Bandcamp page.
Listen to the album track of that Frisell cover at Fully Altered Media’s Soundcloud page.
Available at: Bandcamp | Amazon
*****
Oscar Perez – Prepare a Place For Me
Nice straight-ahead session from pianist Oscar Perez, leading a trio (plus frequent guest alto saxophonist), and gets a stellar performance from bassist Thomson Kneeland. Old-school fans who like their jazz served up right over the heart of the plate will take to this one just fine. The album’s standout track is a nifty take on Monk’s “‘Round Midnight,” which phases in and out of a Latin form, yet never threatens to leave the realm of the recognizable. Just a solid outing.
Your album personnel: Oscar Perez (piano), Thomson Kneeland (bass), Alvester Garnett (drums) and guest: Bruce Williams (alto sax).
Released on Myna Records.
Available at: Amazon
*****
Will Herrington – Solace
The debut of pianist Will Herrington is thick with the New Orleans sound and beats with a heart full of blues. His trio set with bassist Jon Richards and drummer Andrew Boyle exudes all kinds of warmth, whether upbeat and chipper or deeply introspective. Ambrose Akinmusire adds his trumpet on two tracks, and damn if those songs don’t sing with all kinds of feel. Next time Herrington heads back into the studio, if he doesn’t schedule Akinmusire to work a full shift, he’s out of his mind. This is one of those recordings that doesn’t necessarily make a huge first impression with those opening notes, but over the course of its duration reveals itself as a standout recording.
Your album personnel: Will Herrington (piano), Jon Richards (bass), Andrew Boyle (drums) and guests: Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet) and Kiel Feher (percussion).
The album is Self-Produced.
Listen to more of the album at the artist’s Bandcamp page.
Available at: Bandcamp | eMusic | Amazon
*****
Have a great time digging through the list!
And remember, it’s simple: You like what you like.
Cheers.
***
Dec 14 2015
This Is Jazz Today: Aaron Irwin, Industrial Revelation, Dave Douglas and more!
So, we’re still playing some catch-up here, both from the site downtime and, well, there was a tidal wave of new releases in the last quarter of the year. So, what you’ll get today and next week are some wrap-up columns of notable (and recommended) albums released between October 1st and today. But make no mistake, This Is Jazz Today.
This week, it’s a lot of familiar names offering up new recordings with familiar talents and sound. There’s also a couple new ones to the site, and they have me thrilled to introduce you to them today. So, hey, on that note…
Let’s begin.
Aaron Irwin Quartet – A Room Forever (Self-Produced)
The only reason I haven’t written a stand-alone recommendation for this recording is because the damn album keeps immersing me in its sound so fully that I forget to write about it. This striking album by clarinetist Irwin captures the ear with its captivating melodies, but the alluring ambiance developed from the melodic introduction is what cinches this as top-shelf music. Irwin captures some of the Bill Frisell magic in how songs possess qualities that are ominous, yet warm & inviting. Irwin and his clarinet are joined be trombonist Matthew McDonald, guitarist Pete McCann and bassist Thomson Kneeland. Because this is a wrap-up column that isn’t really tied to any one particular week, I’m not doing an Album of the Week for this column… but this recording is definitely of that caliber. Irwin bottled up moonlight on this one.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp – CDBaby – Amazon
*****
Industrial Revelation – Liberation & the Kingdom of NRI (Self-Produced)
This quartet of drummer D’Vonne Lewis, trumpeter Ahamefule J. Oluo, bassist Evan Flory-Barnes and keyboardist Josh Rawlings make the kind of genre-spanning music that is equally unclassifiable as it is curiously familiar. The key to this album’s success is that the multitude of influences don’t end up tripping over one another. One song rarely sounds like the next, and the common bond they share are catchy melodies, chipper rhythms and an infectious enthusiasm that is pretty difficult not to fall for. Something comparable? How about Fresh Cut Orchestra and their 2015 release From the Vine.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp – CDBaby – eMusic – Amazon
*****
Dave Wilson Quartet – There Was Never (Zoho)
All kinds of vibrancy to this straight-ahead session from the quartet of tenor/soprano saxophonist Wilson, bassist Tony Marino, drummer Alex Ritz, and pianist Bobby Avey, who really shines on this session. Most tracks bop right along, and many of them incorporate different Latin influences (some Afro-Latin, some bossa, some Afro-Cuban). There’s a fun rendition of Grateful Dead’s “Cassidy” and an okay rendition of Beach Boys “God Only Knows” and they take a spin on the Gershwin comp “Summertime,” but the golden stuff of this recording are the Wilson originals. That’s when the music positively sings, just bursting with life. Plenty here to like.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: CDBaby – Amazon
*****
Matt Mitchell – Vista Accumulation (PI Recordings)
The formal alphabet, it could be argued, restricts humanity’s ability to fully interface with reality. The totality of 26 letters imposes a word limitation that can be used to describe the world we live in, further eroded by a natural tendency for personal vocabularies to shrink to familiar and common words, phrases and expressions. As a result, since we aren’t fully able to describe everything we experience, our senses focus only on those stimuli that we are able to absorb via language… at the expense of those stimuli we can’t, which, ultimately, attain a sort of invisibility. Pianist Matt Mitchell’s new release Vista Accumulation sounds like a struggle against those constraints. Blunt, acerbic and harshly spoken, this sprawling work requires some time for acclimation. There are murky influences of jazz, blues and classical all found within, but the quartet of Mitchell, saxophonist Chris Speed, bassist Chris Tordini and drummer Dan Weiss express them along dramatically unconventional lines. And the imagery it evokes, to describe it requires something more than 26 letters.
Artist site | Buy: Bandcamp – Amazon
*****
Dave Douglas Quintet – Brazen Heart (Greenleaf Music)
Another nice set from trumpeter Douglas, whose style is very much in the modern straight-ahead realm, and whose voice on trumpet grows increasingly personal with each subsequent recording. He’s joined by an all-pro line-up of bassist Linda Oh, tenor saxophonist Jon Irabagon, drummer Rudy Royston and pianist Matt Mitchell for a bundle of Douglas originals plus a couple traditionals. About half of the album’s tunes are constructed from ground up like the framework of skyscrapers; the other half nurture the melody to a slow bloom.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp – Amazon
*****
Mostly Other People Do the Killing – Mauch Chunk (Hot Cup Records)
The track “Niagra” is the perfect example of MOPDtK’s talent at giving a heartfelt blues the roughest cut of the blade. The quartet has a remarkable ability to warp the shape of a hard bop expression into the kind of top shelf whiskey that goes down anything but smooth yet is terribly intoxicating. Pianist Ron Stabinsky joins the cast for this set of Moppa Elliott originals. Previous fans of the band will undoubtedly be happy with the newest offering, and I’d point to the thrilling chaotic tumble of “Herminie” as the best evidence of that claim.
Artist site | Buy: eMusic – Amazon
*****
Charles Rumback – In the New Year (Ears & Eyes Records)
This may be one of the more middle-ground positions drummer Rumback has taken in his well-rounded career. Whether it’s his avant-garde solo recordings, his contributions to the melodically-driven Whirlpool or his collaboration in the ambient-electronica duo Colorlist, Rumback tends to push all-in on the particular project, and modulates his form of expression accordingly. For this session, however, which brings him back together with saxophonist Caroline Davis, guitarist Jeff Parker, bass clarinetist Jason Stein and bassist John Tate, you get a little bit of each of those components, and the resulting imagery is the amorphous reflection of straight-ahead post-bop off the surface of a shimmery pond, where nothing is quite normal and nothing is strangely alien.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp – Amazon
*****
Noah Preminger – Pivot: Live at the 55 Bar (Self-Produced)
Blistering live set from tenor saxophonist Preminger. Terrifically reminiscent of that mid-period Coltrane (ie, Live at Newport or classic Impulse Recordings) where hard bop was taking on freer forms of expression without yet shedding the sense of structure. He’s joined by trumpeter Jason Palmer, bassist Kim Cass and drummer Ian Froman. 2015 has been blessed by a number of excellent live performance recordings. This may be the best of the batch.
Artist site | Buy: CDBaby – Amazon
*****
Carlos Henriquez – The Bronx Pyramid (Blue Engine Records)
Excellent debut as ensemble leader from bassist Henriquez, who doesn’t do anything particularly fancy with this Latin Jazz recording, just throws a four-seam fastball right over the plate. Key is that the rich rhythmic display, in perpetual motion, is never an obstacle to the band patiently laying down some solid melodic formations. It’s, arguably, the Latin Jazz pick of the year.
Read more about the album on Bird is the Worm (LINK).
Artist site | Buy: eMusic | Amazon
*****
Kazalpin – Śniežki Schnee (Double Moon)
Intriguing collaboration between the Belarusian folk vocal trio from Akana and the Swiss jazz-folk ensemble Albin Brun Alpin Ensemble. The harmonics are all kinds of cozy warm, and they wrap up melodies that are abundantly friendly and easy to get along with. Plenty of personality to this one, and an album that definitely stands out from the crowd. Fun!
Stream three album tracks at the artist site.
Artist site | Buy: Amazon
*****
Have a great time digging through the list!
And remember, it’s simple: You like what you like.
Cheers.
***
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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations - 2015 Releases • 0