Nov 1 2018
Recommended: Stu Mindeman – “Woven Threads”
There’s an effortless beauty to this album that’s quite affecting. It’s got plenty of moving parts and they’re constantly on the move, but it’s a graceful motion. That grace is what allows Stu Mindeman to achieve a grand unity to Woven Threads. Melodic fragments are matches to light a fire under casual grooves. When harmonies sweep across a song, they scoop up everything within their embrace. Of the many dialogues in play, the rhythmic form of expression is that which behaves as the guiding force. Nothing makes an imprint upon this music in isolation.
Mindeman returned to his Chilean roots and made the music and words of his childhood home the focus of Woven Threads. The pianist enlists a wealth of talent to augment his own on, with Miguel Zenon, Juan Pastor, Matt Gold, Makaya McCraven, Greg Ward, Marquis Hill and Matt Ulery among the highlights. And special mention must be made of the vocal contributions of Francesca Ancarola, Ana Tijoux and Kurt Elling, which are everything you could want from voices wading into the center of the ensemble.
Your album personnel: Stu Mindeman (piano, keyboards, organ), Geof Bradfield (tenor saxophone, bass clarinet), Francesca Ancarola, Ana Tijoux, Kurt Elling (vocals), Milton Russell, Matt Ulery (basses), Carlos Cortes Diaz, Makaya McCraven, Juan Pastor (drums, percussion), Yuri Hevia (bombo legüero, percussion), Matt Gold (guitar), Quentin Coaxum, Victor Garcia, Marquis Hill (trumpets), Greg Ward, Miguel Zenón (alto saxophone), and Sally Blandon, Devin Velez, Sarah Marie Young (background vocals).
Released on Sunnyside Records.
Music from Chicago, IL.
KWESTIA is hyperactive and perpetually in motion and melodic ideas are tossed about by the forces of motion. The music doesn’t try to make a connection so much as demand the listener absorb its heavy flow of electricity. And yet, somehow the trio of guitarist Ronny Graupe, violinst Laura Schuler and drummer Alfred Vogel develop a charisma that makes it difficult to do anything other than remain engaged. The trio’s process for achieving this effect with seemingly counterproductive qualities gains greater clarity on tracks like “Latarnik.” While no less expressive and possessing much the same convulsive motion as the other pieces, by slowing things down a bit, the music’s personality takes on a different light. And much in that same way some good friendships don’t begin until after an extended acclimation period has passed, so too it is with KWESTIA and the slow emergence of its charming qualities.
I sometimes forget that the music of 
Nov 2 2018
Oh hell yes another Jakob Bro recording
Historically, I’ve found Bro’s trio work not quite as compelling as his quartet, quintet and large ensemble works. Don’t get me wrong… I listen to all of this stuff, and often. But that fuzziness to Bro’s music and the way it spreads out, it’s a quality that provides room for other musicians to fill that space with some of their own loveliness. But Bro’s latest trio session, Bay of Rainbows, is about as beautiful as it gets. This live performance at the Jazz Standard with bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Joey Baron doesn’t require other musicians to fill the space opened up by the trio… they do the job themselves. Whether it’s Bro stretching out a melody like morning sunlight filling room or Morgan spreading complementary shadows in all directions or Baron developing a comforting chatter, the trio’s presence is everywhere, and it’s like looking through the water’s surface at an entirely different world.
Here’s some beauty your life deserves and needs.
Your album personnel: Jakob Bro (guitar) Thomas Morgan (double bass) and Joey Baron (drums).
Released on ECM Records.
Music from Copenhagen, Denmark.
Available at: Amazon
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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2018 • 0 • Tags: Copenhagen, ECM Records, Jakob Bro