Jul 2 2019

Album of the Day: RaaDie – “Vast Potential”

 

Artist:  RaaDie

Album:  Vast Potential

Label:  Traumton Records

Style:  Sunday morning solemn

Favorite Track: “Unterwasserfische”

Music from:  Vienna, Austria

What I like about it:  I like the intimacy between the two musicians, and how they sound always in sync even when they’re twirling away on opposite sides of the dance floor.  I like how immaculately tuneful each of these pieces are, and how they have a catchy quality without really any dedication to patterns of repetition.  I like how this music is a Summer day, sometimes undiluted sunshine and other times like a starry night where the only sound are crickets and a soft, comforting breeze rattling the leaves in the trees.  This is music for daydreaming, and I like spending a lazy Saturday afternoon just kicking back and floating away in imagery, cats snoring nearby, and a feeling that peace has settled into my life.  This is the music for that kind of day.  It’s also one of my favorite albums of 2019.

Your album personnel:  Lorenz Raab (trumpet, effects) and Christof Dienz (e-zither, effects).

Available at:  Amazon | Bandcamp

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

Be sure to check out the artist’s site.

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Jun 20 2019

Album of the Day: Alister Spence and Satoko Fujii Orchestra Kobe – “Imagine Meeting You Here”

 

Artist:  Alister Spence & Satoko Fujii Orchestra Kobe

Album:  Imagine Meeting You Here

Label:  Self-Produced

Style:  Avant-garde big band

Favorite track:  “Imagine Meeting You Here 3 (You)”

Music from:  Newtown, Australia & Kobe, Japan

What I like about it:  I like how this album radiates the energy of an exploding sun and how that display of power still provides the environment for a simple melodic thread to thrive.  I like the modulations in the rise and fall of intensity, and that even during those transitions that are almost jarring, there’s a fluidity to them not unlike slipping into a pool of water and slowly floating away.  I like how this album’s 50 minutes of playing time easily flies on by, a quality that seems counterintuitive to the music’s immense presence… a quality that, under certain conditions, has the potential to be emotionally draining.  There’s an extended bass solo dead center of this recording, and I swear even with all of the craziness on this performance, it snaps right into place… a fascinating moment, but also representative of how the flowing undercurrent of the music is as much a guiding hand as its more volatile characteristics.

Your album personnel:  Alister Spence (conductor), Satoko Fujii (piano), Ko Iwata, Yasuhisa Mizutani (alto saxophones), Eiichiro Arasaki (tenor sax, shakuhachi), Tsutomu Takei (tenor sax), Keizo Nobori (baritone sax), James Barrett, Shojiro Yokoo, Natsuki Tamura, Rabito Arimoto (trumpets), Yusuko Kaneko, Yusuke Imanishi (trombones), Takumi Seino (guitar), Hiroshi Funato (bass) and Yoshikazu Isaki (drums).

Available at:  Amazon

Be sure to check out the artist’s site.

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Jun 19 2019

Album of the Day: Romain Collin – “Tiny Lights”

 

Artist:  Romain Collin

Album:  Tiny Lights

Label:  XM Records

Style:  Electro-acoustic

Favorite Track:  “Overflow”

Music from:  New York City

What I like about it:  This is something completely new from Romain Collin, but the change is not terribly shocking.  The pianist has previously displayed a proclivity for diving deep into a melody, and focusing not just on the depth of its waters, but also the way flickers of sunlight were captured on its rippled surface.  I like how Tiny Lights simply sees that approach to its logical conclusion, and how the dramatic surges of melodic intent are less about an evolving sound and more about Collin wanting to reflect changes through the shapes of the initial splash upon contact.  I like how the pianist amps up the use of electronic effects on some pieces, where before he might have gone more with restraint.  I also like the addition of strings and electric guitar and the huge waves they elicit, but I also like the small touches, like the gentle, tuneful whistle on tracks “Los Angeles” and “Reprise.”  Perhaps most of all, I love the experience of being there as a musician explores new and existing paths over the course of their life, and how those manifest in the thrilling landmarks of new recordings.

Your album personnel:  Romain Collin (piano, moog Taurus, vocal effects), Matthew Stevens (electric guitar), Obed Calvaire (acoustic and electronic drums, kazuma jinnouchi string arrangements) and guests: City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

Available at:  Amazon

Be sure to check out the artist’s site.

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Jun 18 2019

The Round-up: It wasn’t real, not even in my imagination

 

Here is some very good new music.

 

Atomic – Pet Variations (Odin Records)

While the tag Nordic Jazz is most commonly associated with a jazz expressionism where tranquility is the key to everything, it certainly isn’t a full encapsulation of the full breadth of sound from that part of the world.  For quite a many years now, the trio Atomic has been a counterbalance of chaos and liveliness.  Their newest doesn’t stray far from that approach.  Pet Variations is a covers album, and it scoops up in its embrace a scattered set of influences, from Paul Bley to Brian Wilson, from Alexander von Schlippenbach to Jan Garbarek… and all of it in possession of the edgy melodicism and volatility Atomic wields with so little difficulty.  Even a rendition of Olivier Messiaen work simmers with an unmistakable tension.  Music from Oslo, Norway.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Jay Thomas & Mike Van Bebber Quintet – The Promise (CUG Records)

Real nice hard bop session.  Plenty of energy, the kind of bop locomotion that generates an embracing warmth while simultaneously lighting a fire under everything.  It offers up some covers of standards and tunes by George Coleman and Lennie Tristano, but the real gems of this recording are the original compositions by pianist Yuki Hirate.  Hirate builds plenty of beauty into the framework of the composition, but also leaves space for the quintet to develop things according to their own perspective.  A fun recording, and in the context of a modern jazz scene where the sound is more diverse and divergent than at any other time in its history, it’s nice to encounter a straight-ahead session that is both familiar and exciting.  Music from Seattle, Washington.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

Unbound Worlds – Chengdu Dream (Self-Produced)

I can’t say enough about this delightful recording from the ensemble Unbound Worlds.  This intriguing crosshatch of eastern and western musics originates from a 2018 performance at the He Duoling museum in Chengdu, China, where musicians from San Francisco and Chengdu collaborate on jazz, rock and folk songs native to China, jazz works by Ornette Coleman and John Abercrombie, and original works tethered to those influences in some shape and form.  The recording features Baima Wang on erhu, Lin Shi on vocals and keyboards, Shuxen Meng on pipa, Marc Schmitz on guitar and vocals, and Dave Mihaly on drums.  For many of you, this music will be unconventional listening for what you’re typically exposed to… and, yet, the melodies are so inviting and the rhythmic dialog so riveting, Chengdu Dream is an open door held open wide for the listener to walk on through and enjoy.  Music from San Francisco, California and Chengdu, China.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

Hafdís Bjarnadóttir & Passepartout Duo – A Northern Year (Self-Produced)

The music matches the inspiration on the latest from composer Hafdís Bjarnadóttir.  The motion of A Northern Year is like the sun slowly arcing across the sky, methodical in its progress, awesome in its presence, while the album’s imagery and tone mirrors the changing seasons from solstice to solstice.  Performed by the Passepartout Duo of drummer-percussionist Christopher Salvito and pianist-keyboardist Nicoletta Favari, this music can come off as serene or heavy, depending on the season of the composition and the scene out your own window.  Just a two-part suite EP, but plenty engrossing for its brief duration.  Music from Reykjavik, Iceland.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

Cool album art by Anastasia Savinova.  I really adore her architecture-collage series Genius Loci.

 

Ultraïa Octet – Ultraïa Octet (Self-Produced)

I normally don’t include older albums in this column, but not long ago the 2008 self-titled debut from the Ultraïa Octet was uploaded to Bandcamp, and I’ve been pretty well addicted to it ever since.  Heavy on the wind instruments, this ensemble generates plenty of warmth on the harmonic side of things, and with accordion, euphonium, cello and tuba in the mix, the octet seamlessly transitions between influences of chamber and folk at will.  A seriously beautiful and absorbing album.  Music from Amiens, France.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

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Jun 4 2019

Now up: May’s Best Jazz on Bandcamp recommendations

 

And here we go. Brace yourselves, music listeners, because my latest Best Jazz on Bandcamp recommendations just posted on The Bandcamp Daily.  The newest monthly installment covers albums for May 2019.  There’s eleven recommendations in total, plus some bonus recommendations, to boot.  There’s been no let-up on the deluge of new music in 2019, so if you were thinking about maybe settling into a prior month’s purchases, forget about it… you’ve got more excellent new music to discover.  On that note, let’s begin.

Follow this LINK to read those recommendations and listen to music from each album.

And check out past recommendations by running through the archives.

Have fun going through the list!

Cheers.

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