Mar 1 2019
The Round-up: It threatens to scatter me everywhere and nowhere at all
Here is some very good new music.
Richard Sears – Iron Year (Slow & Steady Records)
The melancholy quality to the melodies of Iron Year make this music smoulder like mad, like a fireplace that is mostly embers but still kicks out enough heat to fill up the room. It’s an effect that holds tight when Richard Sears‘ sextet picks up a headwind, but it’s especially true when they settle into a patient hard bop cadence. The combination of melancholy and propulsion is a potent one, and it makes for the perfect kind of album for standing in a window and watching the rain fall… just before deciding, screw it, I’m going to the bar to have a drink… and these melodies stick with you the entire time. Music from Brooklyn, NY.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp – Amazon
Tenderlonious – The Shakedown, featuring the 22arkestra (22a Music)
Of the many tedious bullet points offered up by the knuckleheads stating Jazz is dead is that jazz used to be dance music, but no more. Well, The Shakedown is Ed “Tenderlonious” Cawthorne‘s deafening fuck you to those jackasses… because this is music for the clubs and it’s music made to get people moving and it’s music for kicking back with friends on an electric Friday night, some whiskey and good laughs. Jazz is life and life is a groove, and The Shakedown provides all kinds of ways to move on through it. Music from London, UK.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp – Amazon
Muze Jazz Orchestra – New Horizons (Self-Produced)
It’d take a real black heart not to fall for this mix of folksy charm and boisterous grooves from the Muze Jazz Orchestra. The way the large ensemble begins with some laid-back playfulness of melody and suddenly shifts gears into a hard charging cadence gets increasingly addictive with each successive revolution of the cycle. That they bind it all together with some lovely harmonic voicing puts it over the top. Music from Heusden Zolder, Belgium.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp
Tal Arditi Trio – Portrait (Ancor Records)
There’s a dreamy melodicism that boosts the enjoyment potential on this straight-ahead session from Tal Arditi. There’s something about the way the guitarist lets a melody breathe that makes it resonate with just a little more strength than what might otherwise be expected. The result is a shimmering effect, a subtle motion that makes a bright tone shine with a softer, but more brilliant tone… like in that way a fireflies light attracts the eye’s attention more than a nighttime sky full of stars. A solid debut. Music from Berlin, Germany.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp – Amazon
Michael Brenneis – Plutonium (Rattle Tick Buzz Records)
This album doesn’t advance one foot after the other. This octet session led out by Michael Brenneis isn’t shy about taking detours and shifting the pace of action. Sometimes there’s a lot of parts in motion, and sometimes this spreads things out to where the center of the music loses its focus. I’m not sure that’s even a criticism, really, because it’s during those passages when the ensemble seems to abandon the idea of moving in a singular direction that leads to some of the more exciting moments. Six woodwinds, bass, and drums. Music from Madison, Wisconsin.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp
Artist: Dakhla Brass
The question of influence is not just one of music theory, but also of perspectives. On his 2018 release My East Is Your West, 
No matter how you look at this album, you’ll see a statement. There’s the political context, of the idea of royalty and the fracture of racism cutting down the center of society. There’s the media context, and of who is presented to the public as role models and heroes. There’s the musical context, of the roots of folk music stretching across continents, of cross-pollination of influences, and of musicians stamping their mark on the present day scene. But in ascendance over all of those, the statement that rings most clear, is that a heavy message need not clip the wings of music that simply wants to go soaring. There is an unmissable sense of importance that radiates from every note of Sons of Kemet‘s Your Queen Is A Reptile; so are its expressions of joy.
Apr 4 2019
The Round-up: I nodded off and waited for the sun to rise
Here is some very good new music.
Human Feel – Gold (Intakt Records)
Some of this music still feels like I only discovered it yesterday. This comment is particularly useful in explaining my disbelief that Human Feel has been together for thirty years. Alto saxophonist Andrew D’Angelo, tenor saxophonist Chris Speed, guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel and drummer Jim Black, as a quartet and on their own separate projects, have been responsible for some of the more forward-thinking and adventurous music to rain down upon jazz territory in this century. This has been true for a while. And, yet, it still feels strange to be speaking of them as veterans of the scene. Some of this disconnect has much to do with how fresh and vital and forward-thinking their newest music is, sharing those same qualities that made past recordings so special on their own merits. Gold continues the musicians’ habit of eschewing genre conventions and standard expectations of the current day, and instead letting a melody go where it chooses and capturing a sound in the moment to coalesce around it and create something beautiful, something edgy, something that will always sound young and new and exciting. Music from NYC.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp – Amazon
Peter Hess – Falling (Diskonife)
There’s everything to like about this trio session from tenor saxophonist Peter Hess, vibraphonist Matt Moran and drummer Jeff Davis. The music dances with a light step, yet doesn’t refrain from touching down with a stomp. That contrast between motion and impact yields all kinds of riveting moments. So, too, does the limitless supply of endearing melodies that make it so easy to connect with everything that follows. This music hops, it smoulders, and it sometimes takes flight. This album really needs to be registering on people’s radars. Music from Brooklyn, NY.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp
Blessing in Disguise – Live Exchange (Lava Thief)
There’s all kinds of intriguing moments on this live improvisation session from Get the Blessing ensemble members. Trumpeter Pete Judge, bass guitarist Jim Barr, and saxophonist Jake McMurchie play both sides of the thunderstorm… there’s moments of intensity that swell up like lightning and rain crashing down upon the world, and then there’s those interludes when the electricity settles into a serene state of existence, and a certain peacefulness expands outward from that volatile core. Music from London.
No artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp
Træ – Træ (Self-Produced)
There’s an appealing dreamy presence to this trio set from guitarist Johannes Maikranz, saxophonist Simon Spiess and drummer Samuel Dühsler. They settle into a melody and then launch it skyward like a kite riding the wind on a calm, summer day. The album is retailing at Name Your Price, so it’s a nice opportunity to buy some good music that’ll fit your budget. Music from Basel, Switzerland.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp
Marco Moura Quartet – The Quadrant (Self-Produced)
This four track EP splits its time between old-school and new-school forms of expression, and while there’s plenty to like about the way Marco Moura‘s quartet expresses each jazz era, it’s when things shade to the modern day that the music really shines strongest. Music from both London, UK and Porto, Portugal.
No artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp
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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations - 2019 • 0 • Tags: Andrew D'Angelo, Basel (Switzerland), Blessing in Disguise, Brooklyn (NY), Chris Speed, Diskonife, Human Feel, Intakt Records, Jake McMurchie, Jeff Davis, Jim Barr, Jim Black, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Lava Thief, London, Marco Moura, Matt Moran, Pete Judge, Peter Hess, Porto (Portugal), Self-Produced, The Round-Up, Træ