Montevideo (UY)

Jan 18 2019

Best of 2018 #10: Juan Ibarra – “NauMay”

 

“This kind of melodic drama would leave the Brian Blade Fellowship awestruck” is how I concluded my synopsis of Juan Ibarra‘s NauMay for The Bandcamp Daily, adding that “arguably no other album in 2018 took melodies to euphoric levels” as did the drummer on his 2018 release.  I’m still left awestruck, myself, at this intensely beautiful recording.  I just adore when musicians take a lovely, well-crafted melody and ride it all the way out to the horizon and beyond, giving the sensation of a long, eventful journey, before finally returning to that opening melody, and, appropriately, a feeling of finally returning to a familiar and welcoming home.  This is not groundbreaking or experimental music.  It is an excellent example of how much freedom and power can still be generated by the established modern sound of today, and how the personality of musicians and their combined vision can weave magic from the common tools of their trade.

The album is Self-Produced.

Music from Montevideo, Uruguay.

Read more on Bird is the Worm.

Available at:  Amazon | Bandcamp

By • Recap: Best of 2018 • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Dec 22 2018

Album of the Day: “NauMay” by Juan Ibarra

 

Artist:  Juan Ibarra

Album:  NauMay

Label:  Self-Produced

Style:  School of Brian Blade Fellowship

Favorite Track: “REM”

Music from:  Montevideo, Uruguay

What I like about it:  I like how each track of this album is defined by its intense melodic surges, and how they keep containment even when exploration of that melody threatens to tear everything apart at the seams.  The same qualities that have me eternally addicted to the Brian Blade Fellowship are what holds me in place on NauMay.  Over the course of the last year, I have not been able to stop listening to this album, and I have no intention of ever trying.

Other Notes:  This recording was included in my Best Jazz Albums on Bandcamp 2018 column.  Go check out what else I said about this recording.

Your album personnel:  Juan Ibarra (drums), Gonzalo Levin (tenor, soprano & alto saxophones), Ignacio Labrada (piano), Martin Ibarra (guitar), Antonino Restuccia (double bass) and guests:  Benjamin Barreiro (tenor sax), Federico Lazzarini (trumpet).

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.

By • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2018 • 0 • Tags: , ,