Jan 28 2017

These are videos that I like: Vitor Goncalves in studio

 

Today’s featured videos come courtesy of pianist Vitor Gonçalves, whose self-titled debut was yesterday’s daily recommendation (go read it).

This first video is a promo for that album, with an in-studio performance of the song “Winter Landscapes.”

Your album personnel:  Vitor Gonçalves (piano), Todd Neufeld (guitar), Thomas Morgan (bass) and Dan Weiss (drums).

And here’s an in-studio performance of the composition “Samba do Perdão,” which also appears on the album.

And if you want to skip my write-up and just go listen to the album, and purchase it, you should go visit the Sunnyside Records Bandcamp page.

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Jan 27 2017

Recommended: Vitor Goncalves Quartet – “Vitor Goncalves Quartet”

 

The debut from pianist Vitor Gonçalves keeps to a nice chatter.  It’s talkative music.  There is a strong sense of dialog directed from musician to listener, and the tone is frequently one of a sunny disposition.  But the arresting quality of Vitor Gonçalves Quartet is how the pianist plants little pockets of introspection throughout the upbeat tunes.  It’s not so apparent on opening track “Sem Nome,” which is plenty contemplative, but there are moments on tracks like “Cortelyou Road” and “Samba Do Perdão” that enter a quieter state in between passages when the quartet lights a fire under things.  Those shifts in tone, though subtle, change the atmosphere dramatically, and it’s what gives enjoyable tunes a touch of intrigue.

A Brazilian expat now living in NYC, Gonçalves brings some influences from both home turfs, old and new.  Renditions of  “Samba Do Perdão” and “Se É Por Falta De Adeus” fall nicely into line with modern straight-ahead originals like “Winter Landscapes” and “De Cazadero Ao Recife,” and all of it radiates the charm and warmth of an enjoyable jazz piano session.

You really can’t go wrong with this one.

Your album personnel:  Vitor Gonçalves (piano), Todd Neufeld (guitar), Thomas Morgan (bass) and Dan Weiss (drums).

Released on Sunnyside Records.

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

Jazz from NYC.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic

By • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2017 releases • 0 • Tags: ,

Jan 27 2017

These are videos that I like: Omikron Project at Titanium Yiayiannos Gallery and Empros Theater

 

Today’s featured videos come courtesy of the Omikron Project.  Their new album Solstice was yesterday’s daily recommendation (go read it).

The first video is from a 2014 performance at the Titanium Yiayiannos Gallery.  I love all the artwork on the walls.  Some of my favorite venues are shows that take place in museums and art galleries.

Your video personnel: Nikolas Tsilogiannis (drums, percussion), Alex Drossos (soprano sax, didgeridoo, beckophone, electronics), Henk Spies (soprano sax, electronics) and Dinos Zoumperis (bass).  Video by Tolis Mastrokalos.

And this is just video of eight filmed of the show.  Check out the rest on the artist’s YouTube page.

And our second video is from a 2016 performance at the Empros Theater on their home turf in Athens.

And if you want to skip my write-up and just go listen to their album, and purchase it, you can find it on the ensemble’s Bandcamp page.

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Jan 26 2017

Recommended: Omikron Project – “Solstice”

 

There’s a compelling mix of influences and expressions on Solstice, and tracing them as they perpetually come together and pull apart is the album’s winning quality.  Athens-based ensemble Omikron Project additionally sources its regional roots in music to Dutch and French origins, and the way these folk musics lend to the abiding sound is one of several points of interest.  That instruments like Hohner Guitaret, Aegean bagpipes, steel guitar, and didgeridoo are joined with more jazz traditional instruments such as soprano sax, drums, and bass are another source of delight.  But perhaps the greatest source of joy comes from the diverse array of expressions the ensemble produces from the unusual mix of ingredients.  The percussion-heavy “TTC” and the ambient fusion of “Floating” and the post-bop of “Five on Fire” and the electro-acoustic drone of “Zero Option” and the folk-heavy “Lost In Three” all lead to a parade of different sounds that, remarkably, all flow together in a way that makes perfect sense.

A nifty recording, and one not to let fly under your radar.

Your album personnel:  Nikolas Tsilogiannis (drums, percussion, idiophones), Alex Drossos (soprano sax, didgeridoo, beckophone), Henk Spies (soprano sax, electronics) and Dinos Zoumperis (bass, Hohner Guitaret, modular synthesizer, Aegean bagpipe).

This album is Self-Produced.

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

Music from Athens, Greece.

Available at:  Bandcamp

By • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2016 releases • 2

Jan 26 2017

These are videos that I like: Maarten Hogenhuis, in studio, on TV, at the Bimhuis

 

Today’s featured videos come courtesy of saxophonist Maarten Hogenhuis, whose album Mimicry was yesterday’s daily recommendation.

Read more about that album here (LINK).

Our first video is a short promo trailer put together in advance of the album release.

Your video personnel:  Maarten Hogenhuis (saxophones), Thomas Rolff (double bass) and Mark Schilders (drums).

You can listen to Hogenhuis’s new album, and purchase it, on his Bandcamp page.

And here’s a clip from, what I’m guessing, is a TV appearance on a show called De Wereld Draitt Door.  The song is called “The Peter-Cat.”

And our final video is a 2013 performance at the Bimhuis.  Hogenhuis won the Keep an Eye International Jazz Award,  I love the exterior shots of the Bimhuis at the start of the video.

Your video personnel:  Maarten Hogenhuis (alto sax), Thomas Rolff (double bass) and Joan Terol Amigó (drums).

*****

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