Jan 11 2019
Best of 2018 #28: SLUGish Ensemble – “An Eight Out Of Nine”
Steven Lugerner really needs to be not so under-the-radar anymore. His audacious double-album debut in 2011 received mention on this site’s inaugural Best Of list, and since then, the multi-reedist has shown no limit to his expressionism, whether it be channeling a classic hard bop sound, creating avant-garde pieces based on religious text, exploring melodic possibilities with a dedication that rivals that of the Brian Blade Fellowship, instilling a pop tune approach to a modern jazz trio, experimenting at the crossroads of habit & improvisation, and, now, his SLUGish Ensemble and their fascinating rearrangements of modern pop tunes. The details reign supreme on this recording, because even though his ensemble unleashes a big sound that lets the melody ring clear, this sonic gem is best appreciated by the unending sparkle of its facets and how the melody reflects off each curve, bend, and sharp edge. Jazz has an interesting legacy of taking pop tunes, and by rearranging them for jazz performance, revealing aspects not even hinted at by the original compositions. Lugerner has made an excellent addition to that music legacy.
Released on Slow & Steady Records.
I wrote about the album for The Bandcamp Daily. And be sure to check back in there, because my interview of Lugerner should be posting any day now.
Music from San Francisco, CA.
Feb 1 2019
Album of the Day: “BEAK” by Jordan Glenn
Album: Beak
Label: Geomancy Records
Style: Avant-groove
Favorite Track: “Coda 2 – This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”
Music from: Oakland, CA.
What I like about it: I like how catchy melodic fragments disappear into a fog of dissonance and electronic chaos, and how sometimes that chaos is synthesized down to murmurs and slight agitations of motion. I like how much fun this recording is, and how that holds true even when the music intrigues me to the precipice of deep contemplation. Any album with a tuneful persona but so massively wild that it makes me think what the hell is this even the first time I hear it is going to get a write-up.
Your album personnel: Jordan Glenn (conductor), Karl A.D. Evangelista (guitar), Will Northlich-Redmond (guitar, kalimba), Mark Clifford (vibraphone, marimba), Max Judelson (acoustic bass), Robert Woods-LaDue (percussion), Robert Lopez (percussion) and Geneva Harrison (drums).
Available at: 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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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2018 • 0 • Tags: Geomancy Records, Jordan Glenn, Karl Evangelista, Mark Clifford, Oakland (CA)