Jan 6 2019
Best of 2018 #36: Christian Balvig 6tet – “Music For Humans”
Just on the basis of its sheer beauty, Music for Humans gets a slot on the Best Of list. Christian Balvig’s chamber jazz 2018 release is pure shot of harmonic joy. But how his 6tet is able to seamlessly weave incisive melodic statements and an absorbing rhythmic conversation into the fabric of those harmonies is what elevates this album up to an entirely new plateau. This is music you can just sink into and never come up for air or, instead, you can engage with it as if a contemplative chess match where there are no sides, only a graceful motion of pieces.
Released on AMP Music & Records.
Read more on Bird is the Worm.
Music from Oslo, Norway.
Available at: Amazon
This inside-out recording from Tim Daisy’s Fulcrum Ensemble possesses an enthusiasm that spreads like wildfire to anyone within listening distance. Sometimes it echoes the swinging affairs from New Orleans past and sometimes it explodes in an avant-garde fury reminiscent of New York City loft scene of the seventies. But in every instance, there’s a strong presence of the modern day, that the form of expression is always focused through the lens of musicians who know exactly where their feet stand and that they breathe the air of today. Back when I first wrote about this recording, I said not to be surprised if this album makes an appearance in a later column. The Best of 2018 is exactly what I had in mind then, and feel no less strongly about it now.
This album is what happens when a melody is perpetually living in only the present moment. The Trio Untold of guitarist Mike Nord, pianist James Miley, and drummer Ryan Biesack conjure up a melodic presence that throws the door open wide and invites you into that world, and then goes about twisting it about, reshaping the melody’s form and distilling its substance down to its barest elements… all before bringing it back to a greater, but different fullness. And as it happens, the music is moody and alive and in possession of a strangely captivating beauty.
Kudu really does come close. In a live setting, the Anteloper duo of trumpeter Jaimie Branch and drummer Jason Nazary are a hyperactive ball of melodic fragments, electronic turmoil, and hopscotch tempos, and the energy they generate from the stage does not allow for detached listening from the audience. It is an aggressive form of engagement that just so happens to occasionally give a warm melodic hug from time to time. On their 2018 release, the duo give a pretty close approximation of the live performance energy. This music is fun, inventive, and the boundless originality that fuels the modern scene today.
Jan 6 2019
Best of 2018 #35: Ledesma Angelillo Hurtado Brandán – “Gato Barbieri Revisitado”
Released on Discos ICM.
I wrote about the album for The Bandcamp Daily.
Music from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Available at: Bandcamp
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By davesumner • Recap: Best of 2018 • 1 • Tags: Buenos Aires, Carto Brandán, Discos ICM, Jazz - Best of 2018, Mono Hurtado, Pablo Ledesma, Pepe Angelillo