London

Feb 12 2020

Best of 2019 #11: Laura Jurd – “Stepping Back, Jumping In”

 

When I originally wrote about Stepping Back, Jumping In for The Bandcamp Daily, I talked about how Laura Jurd has hopscotched around the modern jazz landscape, from the chamber jazz of her debut Landing Ground, to the intoxicating mix of brass harmonies and indie-rock tunefulness on Human Spirit, and the electronic fusion she explores with her ensemble, Dinosaur.  On Stepping Back, Jumping In, it’s as if Jurd has taken a survey of all she’s done before, and created a cohesive landscape from its components.  The end result is something entirely different, completely new, and arguably her most fascinating work to date.

I become more impressed with this recording the more I listen to it.  It also reveals more sources of enjoyment.  It’s a recording that rewards a listening state of full engagement, with its tiny surprises and masterful subtleties just waiting to be discovered.  But there are times I just let it all go, immersing myself in daydreams or kicking back with a new book, and even in my state as a detached listener, the music sweeps me off to a new place.  It’s presence is that strong.  It’s sway is even stronger.

It’s been a treat hearing Jurd’s development over the years, and after this retrospective statement, the curiosity for what comes next is already burning strong.

Your album personnel:  Laura Jurd (trumpet), Raphael Clarkson (trombone), Alex Paxton (trombone), Martin Lee Thomson (euphonium), Soosan Lolavar (santoor), Rob Luft (banjo, guitars), Elliot Galvin (piano), Anja Lauvdal (synth, electronics), Conor Chaplin (double bass), Liz Exell (drum kit), Corrie Dick (drum kit), and The Ligeti Quartet of Mandhira de Saram (violin), Patrick Dawkins (violin), Richard Jones (viola), and Cecilia Bignall (cello).

Released on Edition Records.

Music from London, UK.

I wrote about the album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Bandcamp – Amazon

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Jan 29 2020

Best of 2019 #24: Madwort’s Menagerie – “Madwort’s Menagerie”

 

Crossed lines at a big band rehearsal, compositions for saxophone quartet, and the mercurial prerogatives of a free improv duo are the components that brought a curious unity to the self-titled debut of Madwort’s Menagerie.  Tom Ward’s sextet with cornetist Alex Bonney, double bassist Tim Fairhall, flutist Julie Kjær, baritone saxophonist Cath Roberts, cellist Adam Spiers added to Ward’s own bass clarinet are responsible for a curious beauty, where melodies have the ephemeral quality of dreams and harmonies like their lingering aftereffect upon waking, slowly and greeted by soft daylight, and the motion of the music is fitful and anxious, as if children unable to sit still in church pews during a morning service.

Your album personnel:  Alex Bonney (cornet), Tim Fairhall (double bass), Julie Kjær (flutes), Cath Roberts (baritone sax), Adam Spiers (cello), and Tom Ward (bass clarinet).

Released on Madwort Records.

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

Music from London, England.

Available at:  Bandcamp

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Jan 26 2020

Best of 2019 #36: Kit Downes – “Dreamlife of Debris”

 

Kit Downes has spent the last decade performing in churches.  His duos with Tom Challenger were an intriguing display of how the convergence of organ and tenor saxophone played with the strategic acoustics of these places of worship.  His duos with cellist Lucy Railton had much the same effect, even if the venue was something more conventional.  But the value of many of those recordings were measured in intrigue, and there was a tangible sense that Downes was still deep in exploration.  His 2019 release Dreamlife of Debris is far closer to proof of a discovery.  Switching between piano and organ, and adding drummer Sebastian Rochford and guitarist Stian Westerhus to the mix (along with Railton and Challenger), Downes presents some rather stunning pieces that range from an ethereal presence to a striking harmonic pose.  Judged on its own merits, Dreamlife of Debris is one of the strongest recordings of 2019, but in the context of following an artist’s creative trajectory, it’s the precious and exhilarating experience music fans live for.

Your album personnel:  Kit Downes (piano, organ), Tom Challenger (tenor sax), Stian Westerhus (guitar), Lucy Railton (cello) and Sebastian Rochford (drums).

Released on ECM Records.

Music from London, England.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Amazon

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Jan 24 2020

Best of 2019 #46: Nérija – “Blume”

 

There’s so much joy that emanates from this music.  It’s irresistible, and, really, why would you even want to resist?  But it’s more than that.  The way grooves advance forward in unison and how melodies are cast like rays of sunlight beaming in all directions and how the musicians become entwined in a harmonic embrace, this joy has a shared quality, as if sprung from a collective, a collective joy that makes it easy to envision others enjoying this music at the same moment as yourself.  This is the kind of experience that makes a live performance so special, of mainlining great music like so much happiness and being surrounded by people doing no different.  The 2019 release from Nérija brings that collective experience, that shared joy, right into the home.  And that is something truly special.

Your album personnel:  Nubya Garcia (tenor saxophone), Sheila Maurice-Grey (trumpet), Cassie Kinoshi (alto saxophone), Rosie Turton (trombone), Shirley Tetteh (guitar), Lizy Exell (drums), and Rio Kai (bass).

Released on Domino Recording Co.

Music from London, UK.

I wrote about this album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Listen | Read more | Available at: Bandcamp – Amazon

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Jan 20 2020

Best of 2019 #62: Led Bib – “It’s Morning”

 

There’s always been something seriously appealing about the raucous electronics jazz of Led Bib.  Some of it has to do with how their exuberance transmits an abounding sense of fun, a quality that increases the more over-the-top their music becomes.  There’s also the aspect of their music that extracts a cerebral reaction, in how the chaos of a particular piece exhibits a sturdy melodicism, not unlike an unsinkable ship in the middle of a malleable hurricane.  But it’s the addition of vocalist Sharron Fortnam to this session that elevates their latest recording up to a whole new plateau.  It was never apparent that a vocalist would ever mesh with this outfit, and yet the way it all shakes out, a vocalist in the fold was the most natural, logical decision ever.  That the music goes through this transformative effect while retaining all of the things that make the music so enjoyable to begin with was no easy task, and its achievement is a trait that makes It’s Morning one of the best recordings of 2019.

Your album personnel:  Sharron Fortnam (vocals), Chris Williams (alto sax), Pete Grogan (alto and tenor saxophones), Elliot Galvin (keyboards, piano), Liran Donin (bass, backing vocals), Mark Holub (drums), and guests:  Jack Hues (vocals), Susanna Gartmayer (bass clarinet), Irene Kepl (violin) and Noid (cello).

Released on RareNoise Records.

Music from London, UK.

I wrote about this album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Listen | Read more | Available at: Bandcamp – Amazon

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