The most compelling aspect of Leave the Door Open is the steady stream of transitions between genres, like a poetic game of word association laid out on a brightly lit path.  Multiplicity, a collaboration between the genre-bending guitarist Joel Harrison and classical Indian sarodist Anupam Shobhakar, brings together the music approaches of jazz, classical Indian, rock, folk, and blues, and rather than include them all as ingredients in some sonic cocktail, instead they identify the commonalities, the soft points of connectivity between the varied music forms, and create a single fluid stream of expressionism where one bleeds into the next with a seamless precision, an act made more impressive in the way the previous genre continues to linger even as the subsequent sound is under way.  It is where change and constant become indistinguishable from one another.  It is why this music is so damn thrilling.

Your album personnel: Joel Harrison (electric, national steel, acoustic & baritone guitars), Anupam Shobhakar (sarode), Gary Versace (piano, B3 organ & accordion), Hans Glawischnig (double & electric bass), Dan Weiss (drums, tabla), and guests: David Binney (alto sax), Todd Isler (percussion), Bonnie Chakraborty (voice), and Chandrashekar Vase (voice).

Introductory tracks “The Translator” and “Leave the Door Open” get right to it, moving from simmering modern jazz pieces to an electric rock burn before returning to opening forms.  It doesn’t reflect the breathless display of genre-bending of later tracks, per se, but the way in which Shobhakar’s sarode fits in with the crowd is a strong statement in itself.

The sarode, similar to the sitar but possessing a bit more gravitas, flaps wings with an affecting display of intensity that mirrors Harrison’s armory of guitar.  Yet of even more intrigue is the way in which sarode mirrors the fluttering motion David Binney’s sax on “Madhuvanti” and how sarode and Glawischnig’s bass behave as the light and dark sides of the moon on the ensemble’s nifty rendition of the Willie Dixon blues classic “Spoonful.”

Title track “Multiplicity” combines vocal chant with anthemic organ blasts, drum rips that hit the balance between the jazz and rock, and electric guitar with a bit of menace to it.  Gary Versace is a great fit for this kind of project.  Aside from his work on a variety of recordings that could fit under the Something Different category, his versatility on different keyboard instruments and his talent on accordion offer up an impressive accessibility to the very same sound that he warps and molds into shapes that fall outside mainstream conventions.

The charming “Kemne Avul” is a Bengali folk song with a sunny personality and a catchy turn of phrase, both with Chakrahorty’s vocals and Shobhakar’s sarode.  There is something short and sweet about this tune, sitting at the center of an album replete with dynamic textures and a whirlwind of varied sounds.  And its relative simple expression greatly accentuates the rhythmic torrent of “Turning World,” a tune that hangs its hat on a firework display of syncopation.  And while Shobhakar’s sarode provides the greatest thrills in that display, it’s Dan Weiss’s percussive contribution that shepherds the tune along successfully.

The inclusion of drummer and percussionist Weiss was almost a no-brainer for this project.  His involvement with Chhandayan, Inc , a non-profit that seeks to advance Indian classical music, as well as his own recordings and collaborations with Rudresh Mahanthappa, another musician who explores how Indian musics can find common ground with jazz improvisation, sees Weiss operating in an environment he was more than acclimated to the moment he stepped into the room.

The album ends with the spiritual “Deep River.”  The first half has an atmospheric drifting ambiance, with sarode and electric guitar offering up rustic twang and refracted light via strings, while organ hums soulfully in tune with the comforting hush of Weiss’s brushwork.  The second half of the song is an excitable duet between guitar and sarode, displaying both the liveliness and virtuosity of composition and musician, and serving as a final reminder of this album’s thrilling embrace of change and challenge.

Released on Whirlwind Recordings.

Christopher Drukker is responsible for the cool album cover art.

Available at:  eMusic | Amazon CD | Amazon MP3

Or you can purchase the CD & MP3 directly from Whirlwind Recordings by following this LINK.

It’s where saxophonist Ben Flocks is able to make old songs sound new and new songs sound indescribably familiar that renders his debut Battle Mountain an impressive success.

Originals like title-track “Battle Mountain” and “Eagle Rock,” though brand spanking new, possess wrinkles of age like stories from the soil.  Both contemplative in nature, the former is an undercurrent of activity that lays back and roars its melody, whereas the latter track floats on by like big clouds across a lazy afternoon sky.  They present strong melodies, thick as smoke, and a tendency to trail off in the most seductive curls and wisps.

As to the covers, Flocks reveals their identities with a stingy insistence, perpetually beguiling the ear into believing that it and the song have never before met.  There is “Shenandoah” with its uneasy serenity and Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” which trades in the original’s darker edgier tones for a sunnier back porch optimism.  Further evidence of Flocks’ confidence in giving his own personal voice to the songs of others are his renditions of the Buena Vista Social Club’s “Murmullo” and the jazz standard “Polkadots and Moonbeams.”  Neither sound like the Cuban or G.A.S. inspirations of the originals, yet by embracing the melody of each and using that as his thematic lens, Flocks gets the heart of the songs pumping with his own sonic blood.

His 1960s R&B groove of “Boardwalk Boogaloo” and a zydeco-influenced rendition of Leadbelly’s “Silver City Bound” are other appealing aspects of this fine recording.  They are tracks that romp their way through the blues, the celebratory nature of these songs serving as a nice counterbalance to the album’s languorous presence, lighting a fire under its feet without burning away any of the essential ingredients.

A terrifically enjoyable album with an exquisite tunefulness, and a confident expressive sound.

Your album personnel:  Ben Flocks (tenor sax), Ari Chersky (guitar), Sam Reider (piano, Fender Rhodes, accordion), Garret Lang (bass), and Evan Hughes (drums).

The album is Self-Produced.

The nifty album cover art by Chris Elfving.

Jazz from the Brooklyn scene, though it’s worth noting that the artist states that this album was heavily influenced by his upbringing in the Santa Cruz Mountains in California.

Available at:  Bandcamp | CDBaby CD&MP3 | Amazon: CD – MP3