Jan 13 2017
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m now compiling a monthly Best of Bandcamp Jazz for the Bandcamp Daily blog. The newest installment covers albums for December (more of a November 20th – December 20th thing, really). There’s ten primary recommendations in total, plus some side recommendations to boot.
Follow this LINK to read those recommendations and listen to music from each album.
Have fun going through the list!
Cheers.
Jan 10 2017
So, it’s happening again. Tonight, Tuesday, January 10th of our new year 2017, I’m returning as a guest on the Louisville-based ARTxFM show Mingle, hosted by Kevin Coultas.
The show runs from 6-8pm (EST) on WXOX 97.1 FM.
If your location happens to fall outside the station antenna’s range, then you can listen in via the internet. Visit this station site page (LINK) to either listen via their embedded audio player or download one of their recommended apps.
And, remember, if you’re playing the custom ARTxFM Mingle drinking game… each time I mispronounce a musician’s name, you take a shot. Double it if I also misidentify an album title, song title, or geographical location. If I forget either Kevin’s or my own name, then it’s three shots. Might be a good idea to be proactive and call in sick to work for Wednesday right now.
And speaking of artists… here’s a tentative playlist of songs being featured. It’s a Best of 2016 theme this time around.
1. Random Charles Mingus tune, which Kevin always begins his show with.
2. Allison Miller – “Shimmer”
3. Jeremy Cunningham – “Bembe”
4. Paraskevas Kitsos – “Fovos”
5. Jonathan Finlayson – “Space And…”
6. Jon Armstrong – “The Earth Slides Slowly”
7. Taylor Ho Bynum – “The Sleeping Giant”
8. Moker – “Mind the Gap” and “Kruidsteen”
9. Alexis Cuadrado – “Song of Fulton & Gold”
10. Rob Clearfield – “Ralph Towner”
11. Julian Shore – “Which Way Now?”
12. Brandee Younger – “Ruby Echo” and “Afro Harping”
13. Ian Carey – “Interview Music I”
14. Arthur Vint – “Heyoka”
15. Greg Ward – “The Menacing Lean”
To learn more about any of the music on this list, go check out the Bird is the Worm Best of 2016 list, which will give you some music to listen to and a synopsis and a link to where you can discover even more about the music.
And hopefully that’s enough music to fill up the two-hour show duration. Otherwise, I’m gonna have to start singing Stone Temple Pilot tunes to a live studio audience (aka Kevin Coultas, poor poor Kevin Coultas)
And here’s a link to the audio archive of the show, where you can listen to this show afterwards, as well as previous guest appearances or, mercifully, those shows where Kevin takes the reins solo.
UPDATE
Here’s an audio embed of my radio appearance in case you weren’t able to tune in live or, perhaps, because you’re a sick puppy and have fallen in love with my voice and need to hear it again at all costs. Note: We did not run out of music to play, so if you were hoping to hear me sing Stone Temple Pilots, you’re going to be massively disappointed.
The playlist is posted above.
Enjoy! And seriously, thanks for listening. I really hope you find some cool new music.
Cheers.
*****
Jan 10 2017
One of my very favorite albums of 2015 was The Aviators’ Ball by bassist Matt Owens. Despite a busy listening schedule, it still gets played pretty frequently. I noticed that he recently uploaded a performance of the album’s compositions to his YouTube page. That led to a couple related videos, and, ultimately, to today’s post.
The first video is a performance of the album’s title-track. It went down at The Bridgewater Hall Foyer as part of the Little Bite Concert series.
You can check out more of the performance on Owens’ YouTube page.
And you can read more about The Aviators’ Ball on Bird is the Worm (go read it).
Putting in a guest vocal on The Aviators’ Ball is Ríoghnach Connolly, whose rendition of “Black is the Colour” is one of the more stunning vocal pieces I’ve heard on any album, anywhere, ever.
This performance of that song is with her own ensemble at the 2012 Manchester Jazz Festival.
You can see more of that performance on Connolly’s YouTube page. At that time, she was touring in support of her 2012 release Black Lung, which you can listen to and purchase on her Bandcamp page.
The tune “Mouse Song” is one of the many standout tracks on “The Aviators’ Ball.” Tom Davies does a lovely job with the vocals.
I know the sound kind of sucks on this video, but it’s still a pretty song and, damn, I’ll feature any halfway decent video that takes place in a beautiful church with stained glass and lush greenery on the other side of the glass. Pretty sure this is St Werberghs’ Church for the album’s official launch.
And I happened across this next video when looking to see if there were any other new Matt Owens videos out there. This is the Amika Strings performing the Matt Owens composition “Returning” at the Chorlton Arts Festival. And I believe it’s the same church.
*****
Jan 9 2017
There’s nothing wrong with an album getting right in a listener’s face with ceaseless waves of intensity. Under the right circumstances, it can be pretty thrilling. Under the best circumstances, it’s seriously fun. What separates the visceral impact of the former from the boundless joy of the latter is the substantive depth of the music’s personality. The measure of the success of PointCounterPoint is how the trio of guitarist Harvey Valdes, violinist Sana Nagano and drummer Joe Hertenstein detail out precise character traits even as they set everything on fire.
On “Coil,” it’s expressed in the way Nagano’s violin forms a helix pattern for Valdes’ guitar to wrap itself around as Hertenstein’s drums batter it from all directions. A sense of conversation radiates from all that intensity, and the nature of the motion leans more toward sharp repartee than it does brutal shouting. There’s the way that Valdes pours gasoline all over “Shuffle” and yet it doesn’t prevent the trio from giving the tune a delightful bounce for a tempo. Or how “Finalized” gives the impression of the grand finales of every show on the tour spliced together into one composite tune. On its face, “Untitled 21” is no less aggressive than its counterparts, and yet the trio’s delivery leads to an incongruously laid-back tone. It’s these kinds of little surprises and inspired nuance that allows the huge sounds to breathe a little easier. Now, when guitar blasts and violin strikes and percussive thunderstorms knock everything over, it can be a celebration of their impact and not a fallback plan to fill a vacuum of character.
And that’s why this very smart album is very seriously fun.
Your album personnel: Harvey Valdes (guitar), Sana Nagano (violin) and Joe Hertenstein (drums).
The album is Self-Produced.
Listen to more of the album at the artist’s Bandcamp page.
Jazz from the Brooklyn scene.
Jan 14 2017
A Best of Bandcamp Jazz “These are videos that I like” edition
Today’s featured videos have a Best of Bandcamp Jazz theme. The musicians you’ll see in today’s column all had an album recommended in my most recent column on The Bandcamp Daily (go read it).
The first video is courtesy of trombonist Tony Cattano , who recently released a new album, Naca. This video has him with his Ottett0, from a March 2015 performance at Teatro Sant’Andrea in Pisa.
The next video up is an album preview for The Parade, the new recording from Yonathan Avishai Modern Times. It’s another nifty new release on the Jazz & People label.
And next up is a fun animated promo from saxophonist Ayumi Ishito and her debut album View from a Little Cave. This tune, which appears on the album, is titled “Lack of Elegance.”
And last up is a video from the Tom Csatari band Uncivilized. I’ve been rather intrigued by several of the works from Csatari. Not sure this particular video sufficiently encapsulates the intoxicating mix of influences that go into much of his work, and the captivating melodicism that often results from it. But here’s your video anyway. It’s the song “Stupid Gurus” from the Melted Candy EP. FYI, the album version of the song features Jib Kidder, which is a topic for another discussion.
And remember, you can check out the latest batch of recommendations, and every other column I’ve written for my Bandcamp gig, over at The Bandcamp Daily.
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By davesumner • These are videos that I like • 0