Barcelona

Jan 19 2020

Best of 2019 #65: Iago Aguado – “Festina Lente”

 

This is rainy day music that retained some of the sunlight that preceded it.  This is rainy day music that respects how the streaks of lightning and grumbles of thunder are equal contributors to the serene ambiance of the gentle patter of rain hitting the window sill.  Iago Aguado achieves all of these perspectives by matching languorous cadences with melodies that bend like light, melt like wax.  There’s liveliness to balance out the introspective tones, and a tuneful catchiness to keep the contemplation reined in.  David Soler’s pedal steel adds tons of character, and Joana Gomila’s vocal contributions frame the instrumental pieces, as if two sides of the same picture.  This is music for lazy days, and for busy days to make them seem a little calmer than they are.

Your album personnel:  Iago Aguado (guitar), David Soler (pedal steel), Joana Gomila (vocals), Miguel Villar (tenor sax), David Mengual (double bass), and Oriol Roca (drums).

Released on Underpool Music.

Music from Barcelona, Spain.

I wrote about this album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Bandcamp

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Mar 8 2019

Album of the Day: Peter Fields – “Tesoro”

 

Artist:  Peter Fields

Album:  Tesoro

Label:  Underpool Music

Style:  Jazz folk

Favorite Track: “A Caballo”

Music from:  Barcelona, Spain

What I like about it:  I like how this music cuts the difference between a late-90s Bill Frisell jazz country and an Ennio Morricone soundtrack.  The quartet of two guitarists, a bassist and drummer who go by the name of Peter Fields go all-in on their melodies, letting them be both the introduction and driving force of each tune.  I like how the quartet keeps things simple, letting complexity unfold under cover of nuance, and never becoming a distraction from the trajectory of a particular melodic inspiration.  This is music for kicking back after a long week, the kind of music that can incite thick daydreams or a soothing self-awareness that nothing is immune to the comforting qualities of good music.

Your album personnel:  Pedro Campos (double bass), Enric Peinado (electric guitar, effects), Jordi Bastida (electric guitar, effects) and Jose Benítez (drums).

Available at:  Amazon | Bandcamp

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

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Feb 18 2019

The Round-up: I never really slept anymore

 

Here is some very good new music.

 

Jorge Rossy Vibes Quintet – Beyond Sunday (Jazz & People)

For many, the name Jorge Rossy will be associated with the drums via his long stint in Brad Mehldau’s trio, and so it’ll always be a refreshing change of pace for those times when he leads out on vibraphone.  This modern session with saxophonist Mark Turner, guitarist Jaume Llombart, bassist Doug Weiss and drummer Al Foster has a rhythmic drive at its core, but it’s their melodic compulsions that steer each tune.  In fact, it’s a formula not far removed from Rossy’s FOX trio with Pierre Perchaud and Nicolas Moreaux.  There are some subtly captivating passages on this recording.  Music from Barcelona.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

E Scott Lindner – Port of Dreams (Infinity Gritty)

This album has been a refuge for me since it first got on my radar.  This post-jazz recording from E Scott Lindner has a massively cinematic presence, inciting in me imagery so strong that I remain convinced that I must’ve seen it originally on a movie screen.  Incorporating a bevy of wind instruments and strings go a long way to explaining the rich textures and soothing harmonies Port of Dreams has to deliver.  Of those contributions, familiar names like Tomoko Omura, Hailey Niswanger, Sara Schoenbeck and Andrew Gould are among the album personnel.  There are moments this album is so beautiful that I feel like my heart can’t take it all in and remain in one piece.  Music from NYC.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Piet Verbist Quartet – Suite Réunion (Origin Records)

Piet Verbist is far more off the radar than he should be.  The bassist has a real talent for creating modern works that balance expertly between new- and old-school forms of expression.  The axis of this meeting point is where deeply melodic forays and from-the-heart blues occupy the same space, unconflicted.  His latest is yet another example, and well worth scooping up.  Note that Bram Weijters is the pianist in Verbist’s quintet; Weijters is a site favorite, and is on a whole bunch of new releases right now.  Music from Antwerp, Belgium.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Johnaye Kendrick – Flying (Self-Produced)

Johnaye Kendrick first hit my radar via her captivating vocal contribution to John Ellis’s 2014 release, MOBRO.  Her sound is one that generates a huge feel out of a seemingly effortless delivery, and it’s a quality that she puts to excellent use on her sophomore release, Flying.  While Kendrick certainly knows what to do with a ballad, it’s an upbeat track like “Scorpion” that really allows her innate tunefulness to shine bright.  Pianist Dawn Clement, bassist Chris Symer and drummer D’Vonne Lewis keep to a straight-ahead sound that’s a perfect fit for this session’s choice of originals and renditions.  Music from Seattle, WA.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Amazon

 

Alfie Copoví Trio – Flight (Sedajazz Records)

I’m really taken with this modern trio session from the Alfie Copoví Trio.  They craft a pretty melody, nothing fussy, and then let it sail for as long as the breezy rhythm will take it.  Sometimes it’s hints of gospel, sometimes hints of the blues, sometimes the music hops, but mostly this music grooves.  Music from Valencia, Spain.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

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Jan 11 2019

Best of 2018 #27: Marc Cuevas – “Carta Blanca”

 

Easily one of the most intriguing albums of 2018 is the electro-acoustic Carta Blanca from Marc Cuevas.  It’s not a union of electronic and organic elements and it’s not a battle of the wills… instead it comes off more like peaceful cohabitation, as in that way a thick fog falls away as the ship cuts through it.  Sometimes the electronics obscure a trumpet’s cry of melody until it suddenly breaks into view, and sometimes the motion of a modern piano work keeps the electronics in a perpetual state of dissipation… except for those moments that the quartet chooses for it to rise up within a brief moment of silence.  I am endlessly fascinated with this recording.

Released on Underpool Music.

I wrote about the album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Music from Barcelona, Spain.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

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Dec 24 2018

Album of the Day: “Ithaca” by Xavi Molero & Guillem Callejón

 

Artist:  Xavi Molero & Guillem Callejón

Album:  Ithaca

Label:  Tres Ceps

Style:  Free floating jazz

Favorite Track: “Houston, TX”

Music from:  Barcelona, Spain

What I like about it:  That the melody is expressed as if it were a rolling fog, changing directions without warning, and possessing no clear lines of demarcation of where it begins and ends… and yet there is a clear and defining presence to this music, framed by the rustle of percussion and a rhythmic point of view that balances succinct dialog and its limitless forms of communication.  I like how moody and edgy this music gets, but that this doesn’t prevent the duo of guitarist Guillem Callejón and drummer Xavi Molero from creating an atmosphere that borders on soothing.

Your album personnel:  Xavi Molero (drums) and Guillem Callejón (guitar).

Be sure to check out the artist’s site.

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