Dec 3 2017
These are videos that I like: Best of Bandcamp Jazz 2017 (Part One)
Today’s videos feature ensembles that were among my monthly selections for Best of Bandcamp Jazz. 2017 saw a minimum of 120 recommendations, so it’s understandable that some might have fallen off the radar over the course of the year. Here’s a chance to reverse that trend and remind everyone how much great music came out this year.
Let’s begin with a performance from Brooklyn Raga Massive and their rendition of John Coltrane’s “Alabama.” This 2015 show happened at Pioneer Works Center for Art and Innovation in Red Hook. It’s also a work featured on their outstanding 2017 release Coltrane Raga Tribute (read about it at The Bandcamp Daily), which explores the connections between Indian music and the works of John and Alice Coltrane.
If you want to skip the write-up, you can go listen to the album (and purchase it) at the artist’s Bandcamp page. It’s also available at Amazon.
Next up is a live performance video from Kati Briens Dream Band. It’s an older video from a 2012 show at Weinstadt, Germany’s Jazzclub Armer Konrad. But it features the song “Beam,” which is the opening track on Brien’s excellent 2017 release Happy Music (read about it at The Bandcamp Daily).
If you want to skip the write-up, you can go listen to the album (and purchase it) at the artist’s Bandcamp page. It’s also available at Amazon.
Next up is a video of Amir ElSaffar performing at Manhattan’s Steve Maxwell drum store, as part of the NPR Field Recordings series. This is an older video and a different ensemble than what appears on his excellent 2017 release Not Two, (read about it at The Bandcamp Daily), but it definitely provides a sense of how ElSaffar brings about a convergence of NYC Jazz and Middle-Eastern musics.
If you want to skip the write-up, you can go listen to the album (and purchase it) at the artist’s Bandcamp page. It’s also available at Amazon.
And let’s end today’s column with a live performance from the ensemble Web Web. This August 2017 show went down at Munich’s Jazzclub Unterfahrt. and features music from their excellent 2017 release Oracle (read about it at The Bandcamp Daily).
If you want to skip the write-up, you can go listen to the album (and purchase it) at the artist’s Bandcamp page. It’s also available at Amazon.
Desert Pulse is a nifty reminder of how addictive and singular the sound a 
And be sure to check out their excellent 2014 release Timbuktu (
A melody from
Dec 4 2017
The Round-up: Isolation games are a game of you
Here is some very good new music.
Burke/Chakrborty/Magnusson/Evans – Barlines & Beyond (Jazzhead Records)
The fusion of modern jazz and Indian Classical on Barlines & Beyond is more than a little bit fascinating. Saxophonist Rob Burke, Indian Classical slide guitarist Debasis Chakroborty, electric guitarist Stephen Magnusson and tabla-percussionist Sam Evans create melodies that can either flicker like a candle flame or melt like its wax. And in either instance, that melody is likely to be a little catchy. The talkative chatter from tabla is an essential balance to all of the melodic intrigue, and gives strange music a friendly personality. There’s a meditative quality to many of these tracks, which is kind of remarkable considering how effusive things get. Music from Agra, India and Melbourne, Australia.
No artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp – Amazon
Hunter Gather – Getting To Know You (Table & Chairs Music)
There’s a charismatic quality to the dreamy folk-jazz of Hunter Gather. Whether the trio adopts a solemn tone on “I Want To Be An American” and “The Expatriot” or jack up the heat a bit on title-track “Getting To Know You,” the way in which melodies drift hazily across the horizon of a song keeps the attention riveted in place. Saxophonist Levi Gillis, electric guitarist Ronan Delisle and percussionist Evan Woodle don’t perform these tunes so much as exhale them, and the patience in which they develop doesn’t prevent spikes in intensity anymore than it becomes a default stance of tranquility. Music from Seattle, WA.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp – Amazon
Ernesto Cervini’s Turboprop – Rev (Anzic Records)
Ernesto Cervini‘s sophomore release with his Turboprop ensemble is even more delightful than the eponymous debut. Rev keeps mostly to new-school territory, but isn’t afraid to show its roots, either by slipping in a streak of blues on “The Libertine” or just swinging the time machine by for a quick stop in the sixties with a take on “Pennies From Heaven.” On Rev, Turboprop expands by two, adding saxophonist Tara Davidson and trombonist William Carn. The sextet formation works in all kinds of benefits, drawing out dimensions of Cervini’s sound that might not have emerged so clearly on the debut. Bonus points for a nifty cover of Blind Melon’s “No Rain.” Music from Toronto, Ontario.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp – Amazon
FAB1 – Fab1.2 (Self-Produced)
Drummer Alexander Belkov and pianist Araik Vietinghoff take a simple melodic phrase and then spend as much time as necessary exploring every little facet. This results in a series of lovely melodic ripples that continuously layer atop one another. The sense of repetition is mitigated by the nuanced changes from passage to passage. Every now and then, with a track like “Bad to the Power of 2,” they’ll toss in something with the succinctness of a pop music tune. And then there are moments, like on “Bipolar Disorder Intermezzo” where the sense of structure is allowed to erode. These qualities simply add definition to the longer melodic reveries. Music from St. Petersburg, Russia.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp
Alkestrand-Pedersen Duo – Medium (Self-Produced)
This is a pretty stunning work. This EP by saxophonist Rasmus Alkestrand and drummer Jonas Pedersen is a heavy drone that comes on like a thick fog and fades away only after hitting its peak. Extra percussion and some healthy servings of electronics go a long way to achieving that effect. Just three songs, and all of them seriously mesmerizing. Music from Malmö, Sweden.
No artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp
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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2017 releases • 0 • Tags: The Round-Up