Los Angeles (CA)

Jan 20 2020

Best of 2019 #59: Danketsu 9 – “Towards a Walk in the Sun”

 

Patrick Shiroishi knows how to make edgy music feel warm as sunlight. He takes the talent to its extreme on this gorgeous live session, 47 uninterrupted minutes of a tenuous serenity, like how a tiny splash from a pebble on the placid lake surface sends ripples everywhere, unending, an undercurrent of tension in an otherwise peaceful life.  Some of Shiroishi’s music gets pretty volatile, but even then, the comforting, almost contemplative presence that’s on full display here will exert its influence during moments of extreme intensity.  In terms of recorded music, the saxophonist had an excellent 2019; Let this be your launching point to discovering more of it.

Your album personnel:  Patrick Shiroishi (alto & tenor saxophones), Ang Wilson (flute), Dylan Fujioka (accordion, percussion), Jason Adams (cello), Ken Moore (double bass), Kelly Coats (flute), Mallory Soto (voice), Noah Guevara (guitar), and Pauline Lay (violin).

Released on Patient Sounds Records.

Music from Los Angeles, CA.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Bandcamp

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Apr 11 2019

Album of the Day: Sinkeater – “Purge”

 

Artist:  Sinkeater

Album:  Purge

Label:  KMAN 92.5

Style:  Postmodern jazz, Roots music

Favorite Track: “Hammond Song”

Music from:  Los Angeles, CA

What I like about it:  AJ Kluth.  I was idly looking to see what AJ Kluth has been up to, and here we go.  I hadn’t heard anything by him in a long while.  His 2011 release Anvils & Broken Bells was one of this site’s Best of 2011 selections, and since then, nothing has come up.  But now we’ve got Purge, from his Sinkeater project.  This is music that has gone one step past the modern post-bop sound, yet still has a folk music quality with blues and jazz that sometimes ring out loud and clear.  It’s got modern effects and electronics and the blurred lines of demarcation between genres.  There are times this music has the lovely heartache of a ballad and other times it unleashes the growl and roar of an indie rock-jazz hybrid.  It’s the same nebulous concoction of influences and expressions that made Kluth’s 2011 release so damn compelling.

Your album personnel:  AJ Kluth (tenor & soprano saxophones, wind controller), Chili Corder (electric guitar), Anthony Lopez (drums) and Nashir Janmohamed (upright bass).

Available at:  Bandcamp

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

Be sure to check out the artist’s site.

And be sure to check out Anvils & Broken Bells, the excellent 2011 release from AJ Kluth’s Aldric… still highly recommended by this site.  And an interesting release, too, by the Origin/OA2 label.

 

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Feb 28 2019

Album of the Day: Jake Leckie – “The Abode”

 

Artist:  Jake Leckie

Album:  The Abode

Label:  Outside In Music

Style:  New old-school

Favorite Track: “Bam Bam”

Music from:  Los Angeles, CA

What I like about it:  I like that it doesn’t matter whether Jake Leckie runs with an old-school or new-school approach, the result is a warm sound crackling with life.  A lot of that warmth comes courtesy of trumpeter Kenny Warren, who has a talent for finding the blues at the center of everything.  I like how a string trio guesting on three tracks adds some nice harmonic textures, and how the same applies with the guest percussionists and their textural effect on the rhythmic dialog.  The bassist’s core quartet also includes nice contributions from drummer Nathan Ellman-Bell and pianist Sebastien Ammann, and I like how they adapt to the different guest influences, simultaneously keeping the album’s overall cohesion while allowing those guests to shine for all they’ve got.

Your album personnel:  Jake Leckie (bass), Kenny Warren (trumpet, flugelhorn), Nathan Ellman-Bell (drums), Sebastien Ammann (piano), and guests: Caroline Davis (sax), Alexis Morrast (vocals), Daniel Prim (percussion), Andrei Matorin (violin), Tomoko Omura (violin), Agustin Uriburu (cello), Ivey Paige (organ) and Brenda Trotter-Workman (tambourine).

Available at:  Amazon | Bandcamp

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

Be sure to check out the artist’s site.

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Feb 4 2019

The Round-up: It seemed like ages ago. Maybe it was.

 

Here is some very good new music

 

Restroy – Restroy (1980 Records/Milk Factory Productions)

Pretty sure I’ve never used the phrase hauntingly tuneful before to describe an album, but that’s what you got with the self-titled debut from Restroy.  The ominous tones and ethereal presence combined with striking melodic inspirations gives the sensation of a band that is channeling the spirits of forgotten pop songs.  A solid line-up of bassist Christopher Dammann, trumpeter James Davis, cellist Kevin Davis, keyboardist Paul Giallorenzo, pianist Mabel Kwan and drummer Avreeayl Ra bring about a communion of organic and electronic sounds that comes off as an uneasy alliance… a quality that kicks up the undercurrent of tension a few notches.  Music from Chicago.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp

 

Soon – Something Out Of Nothing (Caligola Records)

This is one of those recordings you just sink into like the most comfortable sofa at the end of a long week.  The melodies on this trio session are an open door, but the depth of the recording is felt in the waves of harmonics that wash over everything.  With this lovely piano trio recording in hand, pianist Roberto Soggetti, bassist Giulio Corini and drummer Emanuele Maniscalco are here to make everything right in your world.  Music from Brescia, Italy.

No artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Mauro Gargano Mo’Avast Band – Born in the Sky (iOSA)

The casual lyricism on Born in the Sky can lull you into a place where it’s easy to forget just how powerfully these melodies are gonna get delivered.  And Mauro Gargano‘s quartet does lean into these melodies, returning to them frequently between some wonderful soloing.  And while those solos will keep the attention locked in place, the album is at its strongest when the entire quartet gets involved, meshing into and criss-crossing the trajectories of their counterparts.  Music from Paris, France.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Alvaro Severino – Ngen-Kürüf (Discos Pendiente)

That Alvaro Severino takes a sonic road trip across South America’s folk musics is plenty absorbing all on its own, but it’s his airy, free-flowing delivery on acoustic guitar that represents this recording at its most captivating.  The Chilean guitarist’s quartet (with trumpet, double bass and drums) keep up an amicable chatter throughout the session, and a tone that could give a beam of sunlight a run for its money.  Music from Essen, Germany.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

Evil Genius – Experiments on Human Subjects (Orenda Records)

The enthusiasm of Evil Genius is pretty damn infectious.  The music is too volatile to contain, too fast to keep pace with, and so damn fun.  The trio of guitarist Max Kutner, tubist Stefan Kac and drummer Mike Lockwood get a whiff of a melody and take off after it, never looking back.  Those brief, rare moments when they enter a fugue state of harmony are captivating as hell.  Punchy attitude, party atmosphere.  Music from Los Angeles, CA.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

 

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Dec 9 2018

Album of the Day: “Vanished Gardens” by Charles Lloyd & The Marvels

 

Artist:  Charles Lloyd & The Marvels

Album: Vanished Gardens

Label:  Blue Note Records

Style:  Jazz Americana

Favorite Track:  Vanished Gardens

Music from:  Los Angeles, CA

What I like about it:  Lucinda Williams adds her vocals to half of the tracks on this live performance, and I like that the band’s sound doesn’t change with her presence.  They coalesce around her, like the current navigating the circumference of a small island at sea.  I like that everything is melodically focused, which is implied on the instrumental tracks, and made perfectly clear on the vocal ones.  I like how Bill Frisell’s guitar and Charles Lloyd’s sax just melt into one another, indistinguishable as sunbeams on a cloudless day.  I like how the group generates an intensity from a casual delivery, that every passage, every phrase has that feel.

Extra notes:  Hi, Bill & Lucinda, please feel free to adapt “Are You Alright?” for this or any similar project, thanks.

Your album personnel:  Charles Lloyd (tenor sax, flute), Bill Frisell (guitars), Greg Leisz (pedal steel, dobro), Reuben Rogers (bass), Eric Harland (drums) and Lucinda Williams (vocals).

Available at:  Amazon

Be sure to check out the artist’s site.

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