From the duo of Javier Vercher and Jorge Rossy, Filantropía is an album of duality.  There are heavy brushstrokes of post-bop and healthy doses of folk-jazz, and the edge of the former would seem an imperfect match for the rustic charm of the latter.  The duo alternates between these two forms of expression, and one rarely does less than dominate the other when its turn arrives.  But the dual persona of this recording isn’t limited just to jazz influence.  There is also the question of form and structure.  In addition to album tracks that flit between something familiar and something different, they also transition between proper tunes and highly improvised randomness.  Add to this the mixing of the album itself, and how the artists layer different instrumentals into the same stream of thought.  So, as a result, each track is marked by shifting ratios between multiple sets of dual properties.

“Decoding” switches between passages of a straight-ahead sound and its utter and complete destruction, whereas title-track “Filantropía” applies a delicate touch when transition from each of the two schools of expression.  “Cleptocracia,” on the other hand, displays a strong ambivalence at each extreme.  Even those tracks that take a melody from start to finish undergo changes.  The tuneful “Stay There” has a springtime melody that flows light and free between states of bop and folk.  And while “The Newcomer” is no less sunny, its delivery is a world apart; Rossy’s marimba staggers the cadence in a way that makes it lag behind the melody before suddenly jumping ahead, as if a cat chasing its tail.

A strangely compelling session.

Your album personnel:  Jorge Rossy (vibraphone, marimba, piano, drums) and Javier Vercher (tenor sax, bass clarinet, flute, percussion).

Released on Supertone Records.

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

Music from Valencia, Spain.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

Each piece comprising the new album from Giuseppe Finocchiaro is strikingly picturesque.  The Italian pianist adds some Spanish and Arabic influences to his trio’s modern sound, but these seem less like attempts at music inventiveness than simply additional textures to manifest his potent imagery.  The swirling melody of “Taranta” and the brisk cant of “Verana” and the cheerful tones of “Español” chart a range from focused intensity to bright sunniness, while tracks like “Suspendido a Ti” and “Winter” and “Paris” sink into contemplation and stillness and peace.  On its face, it might appear that Prospectus presents two separate tones, running parallel to one another and never quite coalescing.  However, no matter how the trio ultimately expresses each musical scene, the music radiates an intimate warmth, and that is what joins these pieces into one cohesive series of images.

Just a really enjoyable modern piano jazz recording.

Your album personnel:  Giuseppe Finocchiaro (piano), Giovanni Arena (double bass), Riccardo Gerbino (tabla, cajon) and guest: Martin Romero (vocals).

Released on Dodicilune Records.

Listen to another album track on the artist’s Soundcloud page.

Music from Catania, Italy.

Available at:  Amazon | eMusic