Jun 27 2018
Recommended: Nolatet – “No Revenge Necessary”
There’s a cheerfulness to these pieces that is positively addictive. They’re catchy, though they don’t cast out any blatant hooks. It’s the same magnetism generated by a friendly smile that means it… it just draws the recipient in. At times, No Revenge Necessary hints at a re-envisioning of classic holiday tunes much in that same way John Zorn’s Dreamers ensemble gave fresh life to music of the holiday seasons. Or that way some of you incorporate John Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things” into your winter holiday soundtrack; This, too, will a find a place in that playlist. Heartbreak and hurricanes are some of the inspirations that led to the latest from the quartet Nolatet, but, ultimately, the music shakes out in an atmosphere of optimism and joy.
Sometimes it’s an impression from the very start, as on “Homer and Debbie” with its delightful bounce and a melody as welcoming as Christmas lights beckoning through a frosted window. Other times, as on “Malabar,” the personality emerges suddenly from a flurry of rhythmic snowfall. The album has more than a few reminders that the holiday season is perfectly capable of delivering an icy blast, but it’s never long before it’s followed with a comforting warmth. The electric buzz and sizzle of guitar and bass go hand-in-hand with the sunny tones of vibraphone and piano, a complementary relationship beneficial to the best of each their melodic traits.
You really can’t go wrong scooping this one up.
Your album personnel: Mike Dillon (vibraphone), Brian Haas (piano), James Singleton (bass) and Johnny Vidacovich (drums).
Released on Royal Potato Family.
Music from New Orleans, LA.
Depending on how you go about looking at it, the sense is that Horizon is rooted to New Orleans in a number of ways. To start with the obvious, it’s where Helen Gillet lives. The Tephra Sound ensemble began in the cellist’s living room, and the resulting album was recorded there, too. There are also those moments in this dynamically diverse recording that key into a traditional New Orleans sound. And then there’s the idea of how Jazz, at its birth, was music that represented the melting pot of the city… that, with blues as its base, added the ingredients of disparate cultures as it all came together. That, too, is reflective of Horizon… measured by the diversity of its influences and the backgrounds of its members. The mix of old-school, new-school and no-school leads to moments that are joyful or ferocious or introspective or all of that and more. It’s also a whole bundle of fun, setting a charge for both head and heart. And the spontaneity that set the whole thing in motion is present throughout the recording session. Tephra Sound conjures up a unique kind of magic.
Jan 31 2020
Best of 2019 #16: Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah – “Ancestral Recall”
Your album personnel: Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah (trumpet, Adjuah trumpet, siren, sirenette, reverse flugelhorn, percussion, synth percussion, SPDSX, Malletkat, MPC, keyboards, synth bass, Pan African kit, drums, vocals, Sonic Arcitexture) and guests: Saul Williams (vocals), Elena Pinderhughes (flute), Logan Richardson (alto sax), Corey Fonville (drums, SPDSX, Pan African Kit), Lawrence Fields (piano), Kris Funn (bass), Devan Mayfield, Chris Turner, Mike Larry Draw (vocals), Weedie Braimah, Themba Mkhatshwa, Amadou Kouyate, Munir Zakee Richard (djembe, mande drums, dundunba, sangban, kenkeni, ewe drums, sogo, atsimevu, agboba, kidi, kaganu, tambourine, kalimba, bata, congas).
Released on Ropeadope Records.
Music from New Orleans, LA.
I wrote about this album for The Bandcamp Daily.
Listen | Read more | Available at: Amazon – Bandcamp
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By davesumner • Recap: Best of 2019 • 0 • Tags: Best Jazz of 2019, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Elena Pinderhughes, Logan Richardson, New Orleans (LA), Ropeadope Records